We can flood our body with stress hormones and this can create a vicious cycle making us more and more stressful. Brain scientists are gradually moving away from the view that the brain is an electrically driven organ. Extensive research over the past 25 years has produced convincing evidence that hormones and not electricity is the stuff of thought. Many neurosurgeons are now persuaded that thinking is hormonal and that it takes place all over the body. This could explain why scientists have never been able to find the anatomical site of memory.
Hormones affect behaviour and thinking.
For example, tests have shown that the brain thinks differently if the gonads are removed. Chemical analysis of the brains of suicide victims have shown hormonal profiles different from those of normal people. Extreme rages floods the brain with hormones that significantly affect behaviour. Opiate-like hormones such as endorphin and encephalin are produced by the brain and are responsible for the intense pleasure associated with sexual orgasm. Scientists have now identified 45 different hormones that are associated with behaviour such as sleep, sorrow, fear, peace, pain, obesity, arthritic stiffness, addiction, hunger, depression and stress.