The body was designed to produce adrenaline in direct response to an immediately threatening physical encounter. Signals from any of the five senses alert the whole body through the autonomic nervous system of immediate danger to life and limb. The big deal about adrenaline is that man has learned to stimulate its production with his mind when no actual physical danger exists. Both fear of the future and fear of a charging tiger cue adrenaline production.

Adrenaline has much the same effect on the body as the sympathetic nervous system. However, its effects are more far-reaching. Adrenaline can affect the metabolic rate of every cell of the body. Although the sympathetic system can control body-wide functions such as arterial pressure or metabolic rate, the nerve connections of the sympathetic system directly affect only a small portion of the body’s cells. And since adrenaline and norepinephrine are delivered into the blood, the adrenaline effects last five to ten times as long – up to a minute or two – as sympathetic nerve stimulation. When you become excited in your conscious mind, your subconscious activates sympathetic and parasympathetic responses, and epinephrine and norepinephrine flood your body. The result is defense physiology.

For example, there you are at your workstation, chaffing under the pressures of the job. What’s happening in your body? Your sympathetic system responds to a job stress “threat,” and adrenaline is coursing through your body. But you don’t run. You don’t fight. And the adrenaline, with its residual effects, keeps coming. Your internal systems stay on guard. Your body is in a constant state of sympathetic tone. Tense. Ready to fight. Sympathetic dominance. So, what’s a body to do?

Well, unless you do something to “burn off” the adrenaline, your body will stay uptight. You could scream, rant, and rave, and jump up and down. You could put your fist through the wall. You could have a temper tantrum. But none of those responses is socially acceptable. So, what do many of us do? We grit our teeth, clench our fists, knot our stomachs, or tense our muscles and go on with our day. We go on with our bodies working faster and harder. But we don’t “work off” the adrenaline. Then, at the end of the day, we wonder why we are tired when we haven’t even done much in the way of physical exercise. So, if your internal systems are constantly prepared for flight or defense, you must find a civilized way to uncork the pressure bottled up by daily stressful frustrations. Exercise is a very good corkscrew! And exercise itself is good. However, it isn’t the last word in becoming healthy! Those who must run several miles a day to feel good are, in effect, taking an “exercise aspirin.” Running can be enjoyable and health-enhancing, but routinely running to get rid of excess adrenaline is just treating symptoms. Different choices in attitude and response are called for to reduce the mind-generated adrenaline.