You hear about adrenaline, how it spurs you on and gives you uncanny strength, but there’s a flip side. The feeling is heady, out of control. It heightens your senses to the point of paralysis. You have to harness the power or it’ll choke you down. ~ Tell No One
As with many physical prompts, we have to direct adrenaline to make it work for us. But what causes it, exactly, and what are its various consequences?
How does adrenaline demand a response?
As I mentioned in the May 16 post, the adrenal gland releases adrenaline, aka epinephrine, in response to stressful situations, but there are other initiators. Extreme sports such as rock climbing and base-jumping with help you out with that, too.
Health Direct tells us that once we receive that powerful hormone, our hearts beat faster and our lungs breathe more efficiently. Our bodies subsequently operate as well as possible, with newly enriched muscles and brains on high alert. We temporarily overlook any pain as we seek to overcome the challenge in front of us. Of course, adrenaline is used medicinally in cases of allergic reactions and cardiac arrest, but that’s not the facet of adrenaline that we’re looking at today.
What negative door might adrenaline open?
Sadly, nothing in this world is 100% good. Negative effects can result from too much adrenaline. These include, once again from Health Direct, symptoms ranging from dizziness to heart palpitations to irritability. But why would you have too much adrenaline?
I don’t know all the answers, but there are at least two. One, according to Cedars Sinai, is an overactive adrenal gland. If you’re constantly feeling the rush, see your doctor to determine the cause. The body cannot function continually on high-alert without something (or many things) deteriorating.
A rush can also be induced artificially. Of course, a medical professional can provide an injection when it’s needed, but there’s another method. Nicotine impacts the adrenal gland to the extent that it secretes adrenaline. Smokers may have already known that, but I did not. It explains why it’s so difficult for so many people to drop the habit, but it also explains why there is so much potential damage to so many organs. Adrenaline is intended to shake our bodies into hyper-alertness (is that a word?) for a brief period. People who smoke several cigarettes each hour are putting a strain on their hearts and lungs, at a minimum.
With that, it’s time to move to the sunny side of this topic.
And how might adrenaline be positive?
As mentioned earlier, an adrenaline rush enables the human body to perform at peak levels. While this sometimes occurs in fight or flight situations, it’s quite often a factor in races, ball games, and other non-life-threatening moments. However, there are benefits other than excelling in athletic pursuits. More advantages than becoming a super version of yourself for a few minutes so that you are better able to defend yourself.
Psychology Today shares that adrenaline can make people feel energized and vibrantly alive, and it can combat feelings of boredom. But let’s go back to the word energized. This implies that with adrenaline, we tackle our to-do lists in a get-er-done sort of way. Who doesn’t want to be productive? That brings its own reward, with or without adrenaline. That’s terrific, but wait. There’s more!
An adrenaline rush doesn’t just deliver extras to muscles and the heart. When your adrenaline surges, your brain is living its best life, amped up. It’s your chance, for a few fleeting moments, to channel Sherlock or Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) or Dr. House. What. A. Rush. But it passes. As with so many opportunities in this life, we must relish them and then let them go.
Like this post. 😉
Interesting piece. If adrenaline causes people to smoke, then adrenaline is a bad thing even if it is sometimes helpful. At first take one could think adrenaline outlived its usefulness once past the caveman days but there are many dangerous jobs where a boost might be needed. Law enforcement, firefighters, and soldiers would be a few of those. My personal experience with adrenaline is motorcycles driven over 100 mph, faster the better. That is a high.
Adrenaline can be a bad thing when it isn’t naturally generated, yes. It’s also bad when a tumor develops and the body isn’t performing as designed.I’d say that’s true about other processes, too. 😉