Better known in the medical field as epinephrine, this hormone is crucial for our body, in addition to promoting our performance and physiological functioning, when over-secreted can cause serious side effects, including causing someone to get lost in addictive behaviors, this is precisely what happens to adrenaline junkies.
These people are immersed in a constant adventure. In a euphoria that makes them feel intense desire to seek events that bring them to the limit, the amount of adrenaline that runs through their veins leads them to perform all kinds of daring behaviors that, in many cases, are reckless, insatiable and vital threatening.
- This chemical occurs in the adrenal glands when faced with situations of stress.
- Emotion or nervousness.
- Stimulates the heart and increases breathing.
- This accelerates your heart rate.
- So your blood oxygenates faster.
- Resulting in more oxygen and nutrients reaching all parts of your body.
In addition, it stops bowel movements, dilates pupils to sharpen our vision, and captures glucose from our reserves so that our muscles react quickly, while increasing blood pressure so that fundamental blood vessels widen, while secondary vessels widen. That’s why we’re pale in these types of circumstances, the veins of the face, hands or ears are left with less blood flow because they’re not as fundamental.
How do you feel after the roller coaster?Before you go up you are nervous, but when you go down (if you are not dizzy) you have a very pleasant feeling of euphoria, the same thing happens when you are in good company at a dance party, after making a physical effort for which you are very motivated, or if you have sex with your partner.
As we see, adrenaline has many advantages that facilitate our adaptation to the environment and prepare us to face at best an exceptional situation, however, pleasant sensations can be really dangerous, because the secretion of adrenaline generates chemical effects in the body very similar to those of an orgasm.
The production of epinephrine stimulates the release of dopamine, a substance that induces a general sense of well-being. Therefore, the desire to feel this constantly leads some people to have exciting behaviors and become true adrenaline junkies. Therefore, this hormone becomes addictive when the person has to experience it continuously and regularly.
The ways adrenaline addiction can take are very varied, all they have in common is that they constantly make the brain look for the limits of the impossible, in addition to extreme sports, people can also feel this feeling of euphoria when doing the forbidden. , illegal or illegal, for example, stealing from the supermarket, leaving restaurants and cafes unpaid, or irritating and injuring other pedestrians.
Adrenaline junkies also like to take risks. For example, leave everything at the last minute: paying bills, delivering reports, medical examinations, economic emergencies. . . it is an insatiable form of rebellion that keeps our bodies alert.
Dangerous and potentially fatal behaviors are also a form of dependence. The “BASE jump”, the “wings suit”? (combination with wings) or?bungee jump? (empty jump) are extreme sports that can, in seconds, end your life. In fact, bungee jumping is the most dangerous in the world, as its mortality rate is 1 in 2,300. it can once be interesting, but doing it regularly can mask an addiction.
The extreme desire to feel the sensations that are generated around the secretion of epinephrine is manifested by a series of behaviors and emotions:
According to traditional psychology, when one is addicted to a substance, one tries to fill an internal vacuum, so this injection of additional energy alleviates this need, but this calm is superficial and momentary. Adrenaline addiction continues to increase and, in the end, the addict must constantly stimulate his secretion.
Whether the intention is to risk life, face frustration or “feel alive,” it’s best to go to a specialist. For this type of habit it is best to follow a psychotherapeutic treatment. So, instead of dealing with constant stressful situations, the pain ends with understanding.