There are a lot of physiological processes involved in our fight or flight response, and more than one hormone has a part to play. If you ask most people, however, the one they’ll know about is adrenaline. The adrenaline rush is one of the most recognizable parts of our response to stress, and it has a big impact on the body.
Adrenaline is sometimes called epinephrine. It’s produced in the adrenal glands, like cortisol, another hormone that shows up in our fight or flight response. Fight or flight is what sometimes happens when we’re stressed and the body prepares to either hit back or run away. It can be important as an immediate survival instinct, but staying in that mode for too long can cause some serious health problems.
Now, a stressful situation might be something life-threatening, like an avalanche tumbling toward your head or a tiger on the prowl. It might be an extreme sport, like skydiving or bungee jumping, something adrenaline junkies do because they love that rush so much. It may even be emotional rather than physical stress, like relationship problems or studying for an exam.
When the adrenaline rush starts, you can experience a range of symptoms. Your heart rate will increase, allowing you to pump more oxygen around the body. You can take in that oxygen because of your widened air passages (you’ll likely take quicker, shallower breaths) and your blood vessels will narrow to direct it to the right muscles.
Your liver starts to release stored glucose to provide more energy, while your insulin production stops so it can’t inhibit that glucose in your bloodstream. Your ability to feel pain will also be inhibited, allowing you time to fight or escape before you have to deal with any injury. Widening pupils improve your vision so it’s easier to see what you’re doing and your mouth may become dry.
All that surging adrenaline can make you jittery, dizzy and anxious. If you don’t burn off the extra energy with a fight, flight or other high-energy action, the buildup of glucose in your blood can make these negative symptoms worse. Chronic stress and the accompanying elevation in adrenaline are associated with insomnia, headaches, stomach problems, anxiety, depression, and issues with memory and attention.
Knowing how to recognize your stress response is the first step to managing it.
