Seeking out the latest thrill

We all have that one friend that seems to be constantly seeking out that adrenaline rush. Whether it is skydiving, swimming with sharks or perhaps taking part in Tank Driving from companies such as https://www.armourgeddon.co.uk. If you aren’t naturally the thrill seeking type it can be difficult to understand why these individuals seem to seek out danger.

Well, it is all down to biology and is found within all of us. It is down to your individual personality as to whether it is something that you will actively seek out.

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Adrenaline is a hormone that resides in all of us and is released during periods of high stress or as a result of the feelings of fear. The release of this hormone causes the heart rate to increase and also increasing the amount of oxygen that is available to our cells and in particular to our muscles. This is because of the fight, flight or freeze phenomenon. This would have been a part of our human make right from early time and your response to a wooly mammoth running at you would either be to run away, stay and fight or freeze in complete fear. All of these reactions are driven in your body by the release of adrenaline and it is what allows you to find the strength to run or fight.

As well as causing an increase in blood flow and oxygen levels adrenaline is also linked to the release of another chemical found naturally in our bodies and is that of dopamine. Dopamine is a natural feel good hormone that is regulated by our pituitary gland and it is this hormone that gives you the rush and high feeling when you take part in an extreme sport or achieve something you never thought was possible. The feelings that dopamine creates is usually felt after you have relaxed or ‘come down’ from the activity and it is this feeling that people seek time after time.

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Both adrenaline and dopamine can become addictive in the sense that once you experience the high related to them you will often enjoy the pleasurable feeling that comes along with them and you will then seek out this feeling once again. This is where you can find the term adrenaline junkie being linked to individuals who are continually seeking out the next thrill based experience, whatever this may be!