Next time you’re anxious about a job interview, exam or other stressor, try calling your mom. A new study out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that simply hearing your mother’s voice triggers a profound soothing effect that zaps the stress hormone cortisol and raises your body’s level of the calming hormone oxytocin, making you feel instantly relaxed. In fact, in the study, girls who were stressed out by having to give a speech and answer math questions in front of a panel of strangers—a major stress-inducer for most people—experienced the same hormone changes whether their mother was physically comforting them in person or doing it remotely over the phone. Best of all, the stress-busting effect was long-lasting, sticking around hours after the task was over, the researchers found.
[photo: kevindooley]
