physiological stress of long term exposure to adrenaline

[emidamma 0]

I GUESS I NEED TO PREFACE THIS- THIS IS NOT ABOUT ADRENALINE JUNKIES IT IS SIMPLY AN INTREST IN PHYSIOLOGY AND BEING INFORMED !
Anyone know where to find some good research on the positive and negative impacts of continual exposure to adrenaline on the body? Does the body habituate to the sympathetic arousal experienced during skydiving? Eustress vs. stress.....I have a list of questions.

[JohnRich 4]

The biggest danger is that the ego gets inflated and turns the participant into an asshole.

Okay, you may return to serious discussion now.

[Buried 0]

why post this Q on a skydiving forum?
There is no adrenaline in this sport. Go ask a golfing forum

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[skymiles 3]

Please fill out your profile or at least say why you’re asking.

Phil

[emidamma 0]

I am new to the sport, happen to be studying stress physiolgy and am looking for skydiving specific research.

[LawnDart21 0]

My only regret of entering this sport is that prior to skyidving, I could sleep soundly for 8 straight hours. I can trace back, almost to the day I started jumping, that I started having sleeping problems. Now I can't sleep more than 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time. Like clockwork, if I go to bed at at 11:30pm, I am wide awake at 2am-2:15am, fall back asleep at 2:30am, back up at 4:30-5am wide awake, fall back asleep again until 7:30, wake up wide wake, then up for the day. I don't feel groggy or anything, its just my new sleep cycle. My doc keeps telling me I OD'd on adrenaline and it screwed up my internal sleep clock, but its only a thoery. Only downside, I can't sleep in on rainy days, still up at 7:30am on weekends, rain or shine.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[ScottMcC 0]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

Pubmed, the only place to find your medical knowledge (for free).

It's a bit of a pain to read if you don't speak medical though.

[emidamma 0]

Thank you. I am also finding some intresting journal articles on medline.

[darrenspooner 0]

Adrenalin is a neurotransmitter produced by your adrenal glands, which are on your kidneys. We only produce a certain amount of it each day, and once its gone its gone. Its why newbies are less anxious after a few jumps on any given day than after their first jump.

We habituate to anxiety with repeated exposures to any given stumuli, in theory. But this is to do with behaviour and learning theory and not really a change in physiological functioning. The anxious response is activated by perception and cognition, unless you are talkikng about a startle response, which is hard-wired and very physiological.

If you want to learn about the neurophysiology of anxiety read Jeffrey Grey's stuff, and if you want to learn about behaviour and habituation of the anxious response then read about B F Skinner, pigeons and operant conditioning, both of which you will find on medline. In simple terms though, over repeated exposures to a stimulus we become desensitised, and therefore habituate to the emotional response, whether its anxiety or pleasure.

So if you're anxious about skydiving just jump your arse off and you will over time become less anxious.

[emidamma 0]

hmm...I understand how from a learning theory perspective one would habituate and become desensitized to the anxiety provoking stimulus. It's the old saying that the only way to conquer fear is to face it. OK.

But You say there is only a finite production of adrenaline/epinephrine....
Do multiple jumps produce adrenal fatigue then? How does the body not experience jumping as a chronic stressor if you do it regularly? What about cortisol, chronic sympathetic arousal etc...?

I'll check out Grey

[12500ft 2]

The only journal article I've been able to find on skydiving focuses not on the adrenaline, but on the cortisol release in expereinced skydivers. If it helps, I'm putting the citation at the bottom:

Thatcher, J., Reeves, S., Dorling, D., & Palmer, A.
Motivation, Stress and Cortisol Responses in Skydiving. Perceptual and Motor Skills.Dec. 2003, Part 1, Vol 97, Issue 3, P. 995.

[tdog 0]

Quote

My only regret of entering this sport is that prior to skyidving, I could sleep soundly for 8 straight hours. I can trace back, almost to the day I started jumping, that I started having sleeping problems. Now I can't sleep more than 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time. Like clockwork, if I go to bed at at 11:30pm, I am wide awake at 2am-2:15am, fall back asleep at 2:30am, back up at 4:30-5am wide awake, fall back asleep again until 7:30, wake up wide wake, then up for the day. I don't feel groggy or anything, its just my new sleep cycle. My doc keeps telling me I OD'd on adrenaline and it screwed up my internal sleep clock, but its only a thoery. Only downside, I can't sleep in on rainy days, still up at 7:30am on weekends, rain or shine.

And I thought I was the only one... Serious, even after my short 6 month experience at this sport, I still have a hard time sleeping at night and concentrating at work... At first - skydiving was on my mind 24-7. I thought I would cure it once the initial excitement wore off... And some did get cured...

It is not that I am always thinking about skydiving (anymore)... It is as if my body chemically changed...

[GeordieSkydiver 0]

Quote

My only regret of entering this sport is that prior to skyidving, I could sleep soundly for 8 straight hours. I can trace back, almost to the day I started jumping, that I started having sleeping problems. Now I can't sleep more than 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time. Like clockwork, if I go to bed at at 11:30pm, I am wide awake at 2am-2:15am, fall back asleep at 2:30am, back up at 4:30-5am wide awake, fall back asleep again until 7:30, wake up wide wake, then up for the day. I don't feel groggy or anything, its just my new sleep cycle. My doc keeps telling me I OD'd on adrenaline and it screwed up my internal sleep clock, but its only a thoery. Only downside, I can't sleep in on rainy days, still up at 7:30am on weekends, rain or shine.

You've just described my sleeping pattern.

I'm currently eating celery and drinking camomile tea in the late evening to try and help me sleep better, I hope it works.

I too used to sleep anytime, anyplace, for as long as i wanted.

Lee _______________________________

In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy?
http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk

[Kris 0]

Over 400 jumps and I sleep like a rock every night. I can fall asleep within 15 mins of laying down usually.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[daveb 1]

Quote

The only journal article I've been able to find on skydiving focuses not on the adrenaline, but on the cortisol release in expereinced skydivers. If it helps, I'm putting the citation at the bottom:

Thatcher, J., Reeves, S., Dorling, D., & Palmer, A.
Motivation, Stress and Cortisol Responses in Skydiving. Perceptual and Motor Skills.Dec. 2003, Part 1, Vol 97, Issue 3, P. 995.

You know what would be cool? If someone could translate that into lay terms:

Quote

Respondents were mainly paratelic-conformist dominant and most occupied the conformist and arousal-seeking states prior to skydiving, assessed respectively, with Apter, et al.'s Motivational Style Profile and Cook, et al.'s measure of metamotivational states.

I don't know if I'm offended, indifferent, honored, in the normal distribution or outside it. But I suppose being like everyone else, seeking a state of arousal would be okay. ;-)

Seriously: is the entire article available (all I can get is the abstract)?

[Superman32 0]

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We habituate to anxiety with repeated exposures to any given stumuli, in theory. But this is to do with behaviour and learning theory and not really a change in physiological functioning

I definately agree. Repetitive exposure to a specific stimulus (e.g. skydiving) will not envoke the same release/uptake of it, i.e. receptors will not become desenstized by the stimulus, but you do.

Problems with desensitization can be easily seen with drug abuse, eg. emphetamines and cocaine will affect the among others the re-uptake of dopamine, leaving it more of it in the synaptic gap longer than it should.

If I remember it correctly

Inveniam Viam aut Faciam
I'm back biatches!

[skr 1]

>I still have a hard time sleeping at night

I think this indicates that you are not drinking
enough beer. Keep practicing.


I'm not sure about this:
>and concentrating at work...

but this only lasts a couple decades:
>At first - skydiving was on my mind 24-7


>It is as if my body chemically changed...

Yeah, pretty cool, huh?

You'll be OK, tdog ...
(but keep practicing on that beer :-) :-)

Skr

[tdog 0]

Quote

but keep practicing on that beer :-)

I come from a long line of people who abuse these sorts of things, so I will have to live thru other's experiences... Just means more $$$ for skydiving, so it ain't that bad, huh???

[darrenspooner 0]

Fatigue usually follows any prolonged period of anxious arousal. Adrenalin acts as the messenger which tells your body what to do when you are exposed to something that you perceive as dangerous. Your major muscle groups tighten in order to prepare you to deal with something. It is the overworking of most of your major muscle groups for a prolonged period that gives fatigue, but you are right that this response is a consequence of the activation of the anxious response, which in part, is related to adrenalin.

[Orange1 0]

It's my own wacky theory that human beings are hardwired to NEED adrenalin exposure. Since we don't get it from hunting mammoths and running away from lions these days, we need to get it by skydiving and other "extreme" sports. (Any of these as extreme as getting chased by lions? nah.)

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[kelpdiver 2]

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It's my own wacky theory that human beings are hardwired to NEED adrenalin exposure. Since we don't get it from hunting mammoths and running away from lions these days, we need to get it by skydiving and other "extreme" sports. (Any of these as extreme as getting chased by lions? nah.)

Most humans do just fine with absolutely no fear in their life. I read that teachers are discouraged from correcting papers with red ink now - it's too harsh on the kids.

But I am wondering if we jumpers do develop some sort of physiological craving for the adrenaline - I think I'm much more irritable after a couple weeks on the ground, and this rainfest in CA this year has been ridiculous.

[Orange1 0]

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Most humans do just fine with absolutely no fear in their life.

hmmm... i dunno, i suspect the frustration comes out in other ways - road rage, wife beating etc.

Like I said, my own wacky theory. But I have become a much calmer driver since I started jumping

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[udder 0]

Shit...What happens if I get road rage cause someone cuts me off while beating my wife on the way to the dropzone?

"In one way or the other, I'm a bad brother. Word to the motherf**ker." Eazy-E

[BenediktDE 2]

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It's my own wacky theory that human beings are hardwired to NEED adrenalin exposure.

100% true - at least for me.
I expected skydiving to be a total Adrenalin motor but it is not on most jumps. I just enjoy flying. Adrenalin only joins the game when something happens that was not 100% planed. In most situations Endorphines are the ones that do the synapse's massage. ;-)

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

[darrenspooner 0]

We all have adrenalin and an anxious response. We're talking individual differences and baseline arousal levels here.

Its a bit like how it only takes me 2 beers to fall over, but little scottish people can drink about 12 gallons and still hold a conversation.