ADRENALINE
USEFUL WHEN MANAGED WELL, BUT...
BENEFITS, TRADE-OFFS AND BATTLES
Adrenaline stems from our physiology - therefore, it is also largely curable through manipulating our physiology.
When it "runs out," it can be frustrating, as nobody likes to feel flat and exhausted and to have the effects on our productivity from the lack of energy.
However, if we trigger our bodies to react to emergencies and threats, the two stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) fire us up, often into eventual burnout, for meeting the big threats with our turbocharging system called the "fight or flight" system! This necessitates that we do what is necessary to stop the mental miscalculations that have everything be a threat and/or cut off the response as soon as possible, so that those stop flowing. (Cortisol actually eats away the body - and it causes the loss of serotonin, too, which then causes cravings which then causes weight gain and other malfunctions - and then insulin tries to come to the rescue, causing more fat storage, and a big battle that damages the body.) Since individuals seem not to cozy up to the idea of straightening out there false thinking, we are left with the physical maneuvers that are all very doable and very, very helpful - and psychologically beneficial even. See Physiological Psychology - Manipulating Psychology Through Physiological Means, Often The Easier And/Or Fastest Effective Means.
VERY USEFUL
Adrenaline, like all the chemicals in the body, is good if not driven to being badly out of balance.
Adrenaline is extremely useful for motivating us to handle threats, but it evolved only up to the Caveman days, when there were big actual threats. However, we now "conjure up" threats in our mind that are not "real" threats. If this were just occasional and infrequent that would be no problem, but we are constantly manufacturing "faux" threats that do not really constitute "threats", as they are more like "possible inconveniences along the way in life".
Adrenaline helps imprint memories, which serve to help us survive. Unfortunately, much of what causes adrenaline is fear, so "bad memories" tend to be strongly imprinted - and fear tends to be the automatic result when the imprints are coughed up by the primitive brain to attempt to match them to a current situation. (See There Is No Reason To Fear Fear - It Can Be Managed For What It Is.)
HOWEVER...
When adrenaline and cortisol are excessive it also depletes our "feel good" neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine), while causing excess, dysfunctional inflammation, which in turn causes disease! And eventually overactivation will stop us from getting our high from the "adrenaline rush."
It must be stopped - and never misused to get an "adrenaline hit" from.
Over 70% of people who say they are stressed have some form of adrenal imbalance." Sharon Melnick, Ph. D. in the book cited.
The adrenal imbalance is further exacerbated by a high sugar, low protein, junk food diet, which will trigger stress reactions merely because it throws our bodies out of balance (homeostasis). "Ironically, over 70% of us eat the very worst junk foods in order to relieve our emotional stress."!!! (Melnick) Go high protein, gluten free, high vegetable diet, with B-Complex supplements and Omega-3 (3 grams) to begin your recovery, which is possible to do in 30 days.
Test your adrenal functions with your doctor!
THE CAUSAL CHAINS
There is a downward spiral involved here (as is true most of the time when we throw things out of balance).
As with most causal chains, intervening in the chain as early as possible is the most effective. (See and understand thoroughly: Cause And Effect - And Power.)
A simple diagram/picture:
Continual stress --> activate imbalance --> adrenal depletion
Adrenal depletion --> negative thinking --> more stress --> cycle continues
frustration at tiredness unless intervened in
Adrenal surges --> anxiety
feeling of loss of control
Whenever the body is thrown out of high functioning balance, the body goes into hypermode looking for solutions and also looking for threats. A byproduct of that is that the threat recordings that pop up are the very essence of what we call negative thinking - and they come up with their own sets of more "feel bad" chemicals, exacerbating the situation even more. And we get frustrated from feeling tired and being unable to stay productive or to feel good. Then we criticize ourselves with a "I should be able to do better" type of crappola comment.
Also, whenever we are upset that results in a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty and it is associated (by our primitive, undifferentiating brain) with a feeling of loss of control. We need to engage our higher brain, but that is difficult to do when we are in "upset" mode, as the primitive cuts off flows to the "less essential to survival" or gain in order to muster all the energy to fight or flee (but there is nothing to fight or to flee!).
INTERVENE IN THE CHAINS!
You must intervene at the level of testing the adrenal functions with your doctor and changing your diet and rest to maximize balance. And to do everything you can to solidify more of a feeling of certainty, by using The Certainty Generators.
FILLING IN THE CHEMICAL CAUSES
Epinephrine, emitted by the adrenal glands, is also known as adrenaline. It is a hormone and a neurotransmitter (to the "adrenoreceptors"). It causes increased activation of the sympathetic system (usually called the "up" system) to effect our energy and excitement in the fight-or-flight response.
The difference between animals and humans is that animals will cease the fight-or-flight response when the actual danger is over.
