An adrenaline junkie is a person that appears to be addicted to the affects of adrenaline. Many people that participate in extreme sports are often considered to be adrenaline junkies or to have mild cases of seeking adrenaline rushes.
Adrenaline is a hormone that comes from the amino acids and plays a role in the short term stress reaction of the body, traditionally. The physiological response to threats seen towards the body is that the element of adrenaline or epinephrine is released into the bloodstream and creates a reaction to the threat.
This can increase heart rate, stroke volume, dilate the pupils, and constrict the arteries in the skin and in the abdomen. When adrenaline is released, people often become uncomfortable as their bodily systems begin to work with the release of the chemical from the brain.
The term adrenaline junkie first came into use at around 1993. It was originally intended to be used to refer to argumentative people that deliberately get into arguments because of the "explosive action" that comes out of an argument or out of a conflict. The psychologists began to label these people are adrenaline junkies because it appeared they had an addiction to the rush that came with conflict.
The mode of addiction was often seen as being very explosive and very damaging. It was even related to drugs such as cocaine and it was claimed that being an adrenaline junkie in this fashion was more harmful than conventional drugs because the addiction involved other people.
The term soon became used in other avenues as well, in which adrenaline was thought to be the desired effect of an action.
The adrenal glands is, more specifically, what is affected by adrenaline junkies and their actions. The glands are stimulated through activities and situations in which the heart rate increases and a host of other physiological signs go off, leading to the aforementioned biochemical reaction. The adrenaline junkie openly seeks this out and attempts to coerce the body into reacting in a way that will stimulate the glands and release the epinephrine.
The response that comes out of this is often called the fight or flight response and is credited to human survival throughout prehistoric times. Adrenaline junkies thrive on the fight or flight response and enjoy challenging the body’s internal notions to resist danger and to remain calm.
There are lots of options out there for people seeking to get an adrenaline rush from activities. Extreme sports, such as snowboarding, white water rafting, and skydiving respond nicely to adrenaline junkies’ demands, as do many others like horse or auto racing, rock climbing and surfing.
Some career choices are based on the rush of adrenaline and excitement an individual can achieve. Many police officers, gamblers and stock market traders live for that particular high.
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