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Adrenaline Overload

Too Much of the Fight-or Flight Chemical

Based on Andra Medea's Virtual Tranquilizer ®

Adrenaline is a powerful “fight-or-flight” chemical, and everybody experiences “adrenaline overload” from time to time.  Any situation where we feel threatened, insulted, guilty, etc. can signal the stress system to raise our levels of adrenaline.  Adrenaline overload is one of the most common things that gets us into situations we’ll regret later.

You can think of the brain as having higher, rational “thought” centers—and more primitive centers that run on instinct.  Adrenaline overload blocks access to the higher brain and throws you down into the primitive brain.  It hijacks your thought processes.





When adrenaline has shut you out of the higher brain centers:
  • Without those brain centers, you might not even know you’re on adrenaline overload.
  • You might misinterpret what others are saying (and see it as insulting, threatening, or accusing).
  • The things you say might not make a lot of sense to other people.
  • It might seem like you have no choice but to do something dangerous or illegal.
  • You might make risky or expensive decisions, with consequences you don’t want.
  • That adrenaline rush may even feel good at first, but it’s easy for adrenaline overload to get painful—and to bring on painful consequences.

Of all the resilience skills you’ll learn, bringing down your adrenaline levels may be one of the most important.  Not only will it improve your decisions, but it can also help you learn to avoid or manage other common post-trauma effects.

The first step is being able to notice when you’re under adrenaline overload:

  • Watch for physical symptoms first:  Pounding head, racing heart, short breath, sweaty palms, dry mouth, heat rising in the body, tense muscles and jaw, etc.  Make a list of your personal signs.  Check the list when you’re under stress.  Checking the list is more important than yelling at someone.
  • Watch for mental symptoms:  Jumbled thoughts;  circular thinking;  or difficulty seeing options, remembering time sequence, or handling math.  Also watch for a sudden loss of ability to speak clearly, and for a tendency to believe things without questioning them.