Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with adrenaline

Healthy ways to get anger and aggression out of my system?

heatherann — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:38:38 -0800

Things have been super-stressful at work. My therapist keeps asking if I have a way to get all this anger and aggression and stress out of my system... and I don't! I usually just rant and get more angry. What are some better ways to get the frustration out? I'm trying to avoid going full-on into burn-out mode, but the stress at work has been high enough and lasted long enough that my fuse is really short and I come home frustrated and irritable. It's disturbing my sleep because I can't seem to relax. I'm working with people at work to change the things that are causing the problems, but that's going to be a long process, and I'm at the end of my rope now.

Rather than ranting at my partner for hours (which just gets me more worked up), how can I get all this adrenaline out of my system? I'm usually a "sit and stew and rant" sort of gal, and that's really not working for me. I need to figure out a way to let myself be angry and actually get the adrenaline out so I can be tired and get some endorphins and maybe even move on and think about other things.

My therapist says he has another client who has an unfinished basement who throws plates at the wall. I live in a condo and I'm pretty sure the neighbours wouldn't be down with that. I thought of learning to shoot guns and going to a shooting range, but there are none in downtown Toronto, so it wouldn't be an accessible "had a bad day at work" kind of thing. I don't usually play sports, and don't have a gym membership, but would be open to those suggestions. But I would probably be more open to non-sports options, if I could only think of any. Let's be inventive!

And before we diagnose me, yes, I have anxiety and depression (and perfectionism and INTJ-ness and first-child-syndrome, etc), and my psychiatrist is fabulous and my meds are good. I just need to get the anger and frustration out of my system.

Pins and Needles instead of the rush

AzzaMcKazza — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:12:08 -0800

Why am i getting a weird Pins and Needles feeling instead of an adrenaline rush? Lately I've noticed that when I get a sudden shock (say, nearly getting hit by a car on my bike) I get a weird Pins and needles feeling in my chest and both arms where usually there is an adrenaline rush. Naturally, I'm a bit concerned. Should I be?

Did I blow my funny fuse?

joseph conrad is fully awesome — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:36:56 -0800

I don't experience butterflies in my stomach anymore, not even before important events such as job interviews. Normal? I don't experience butterflies in my stomach like I did for the majority of my life. For instance: I go to a job interview and although I feel a bit tense and anxious, I don't feel that fluttery feeling I used to get in my stomach. And I used to feel it really strongly.

Not sure I miss them, not even sure why I need to know, except that I feel a bit robotic now before important events. I'm wondering if I "blew my funny fuse" for my adrenalin, although it seems unproven that adrenalin causes butterflies in the stomach.

Wondering if anyone else has lost this "ability", and if they have an explanation.

Don't know much about dopamine, don't know much about neurochemistry

EatTheWeak — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:12:58 -0800

I'd like to plan activities and experiences around the stimulation of certain neurotransmitters. So, as I read up on this notion, my ignorance of neurochemistry is becoming painfully apparent. So if this question counts as further evidence of that shortcoming, I apologize, but I'd like to run this by the hive mind anyway. Basically, my goal is to come up with a bunch of different ways to elevate the levels of adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin in my brain and in the brains around me.

What sort of activities are conducive to high production of these chemicals? Are any foods or types of music especially suitable for any of them? What sort of experiences trigger natural production of these neuortransmitters and what sort of experiences are best for keeping levels of them high?

THIS IS MY ANGRY FACE

Rhaomi — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:37:09 -0800

Are "fast zombies" really plausible? I've watched a few "fast zombie" movies over the last few months -- 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, I Am Legend, etc. I also have a habit of reading up on movies I see afterwards, to find the trivia and background details that help flesh out the storylines. So it was interesting when, in the course of reading various interviews with the filmmakers, I found that they all had the same basic explanations for why their zombies were the way they were.

They're not supernatural or "undead" like in the old movies. They're just regular humans infected with a virus that makes them psychotic. These viruses were also said to leave the victim's adrenal glands open all the time, making them super-strong, ultra-fast, and impervious to pain.

I was also intrigued by this article from Cracked (an outstanding scientific resource, I know) which discussed this concept. At one point they assert, "you are just one brain chemical (serotonin) away from turning into a mindless killing machine" and link to a study showing the effects of serotonin depression in rats.

This all seemed a little fantastical to me, a doomsday scenario made to sound way too easy. It made me think of the ridiculous way radiation was used in comics a few decades back. In the Marvel Universe, gamma rays give you invisibility and the ability to fly. In the real world, it gives you leukemia. Surely the same must be true for the zombie thing. Of course, all the googling I did lead to a bunch of unrelated medical papers.

So I'm wondering: are these ideas plausible? What would be the effects of a constant adrenaline high on the human body? Would it really turn you into a hyperventilating superhuman, or just wreck your nervous system?

And what about that serotonin thing? Could the lack of one brain chemical really turn a person into a murderous psychopath? Or would it cause something much more mundane, like depression or schizophrenia or dissociation?

Lastly, what are the odds of any of these chemical changes being effected by a contagious virus (or a bacterium or injection, for that matter)? Could Rage or KV be created in the real world?

Why am I getting these heart rushes

Barrows — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:10:59 -0800

Every once in a while but at least once a day I get this weird feeling that I just figured out how to describe. Imagine you really have a crush on someone and they unexpectedly enter the room and maybe smile at you - the feeling I get when that happens is similar to this unprovoked random feeling that I'm asking about. Basically, out of nowhere, for like one second, I seem to stop breathing, have a tightness in the back of my throat and experience what feels like a wave of low pressure in the center of my chest. It's a little like what you might call an adrenaline rush or a panic wave but I'm not stressed.... and there's no sudden change in external stimuli. It kinda makes me take a deep mouth breath and then back to normal.

My info: male cuacasian 44yo 200lbs 6ft generally healthy taking prozac wellbutrin and ritalin . yes those last two are stimulating but this is a new feeling and I have pretty good experience with ritalin going back a few years and feel certain that this hasn't happened before for me.

I have a GP and a Psych and will meet with them when I return from travels but what do you MeFites who are not my doctors think?

Danger, Miss Robinson!

MarkLark — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:49:57 -0800

I need suggestions for songs that evoke a sense of 'danger' or a dangerous situation. I'm putting together a short 'montage video' of sorts for a friend who teaches a women's self-defense course. He has provided me with some video clips (mainly women being grabbed, attacked, etc - all fake of course) to put together and has asked that I overlay some music tracks that evoke a sense of danger and would help get people's adrenaline pumping. The goal is to motivate women for the self defense course they are about to take.

The only thing we came up with is "Highway to the Danger Zone". I could use that but for me it evokes images of Tom Cruise. I think there may be something better out there, I'm just coming up with blanks. Have any suggestions?

The song doesn't necessarily have to mention danger or have danger in the title. It just needs to evoke a sense of 'danger'. Ie, someone being grabbed and thrown into the back of a car or being grabbed in a dark alley, etc.

Thanks in advance -

That scary tingly feeling

chiababe — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:08:27 -0800

So today, I was driving down the road in pretty thick traffic and had to hit my brakes really hard to avoid a crash. As always, with every adrenaline related incident, I got this very sudden tingly feeling all over, most notably in my neck. What is the physical cause of this? Muscles tightening, increased blood flow or something completely different?