Adrenaline addiction can creep up on you and you may not even realise you suffer from this. A sure sign the push, push way of living. The hyper-arousal, the hyper-vigilant way of living. Living is survival for you. Then it’s time to go from Adrenaline addiction to authentic living.
Deciding you want to change this and live in a calmer way; a thriving way is a personal decision and often brought on because it’s affecting the quality of your marriage.
Signs that you are overcoming adrenaline addiction
- Automatically drift off to sleep – Perhaps the easiest way to know that you’ve overcome this addiction is by your sleep pattern at night. When you are truly done with this addiction, you will lie down and not really be able to control when you fall asleep. Your brain will automatically switch gears and the subconscious will take over as you drift to sleep. In other words, your brainwaves will shift on their own and you will NOT be able to stay awake at will.
- More relaxed – You will feel less anxious and more relaxed in all situations. This relaxation may initially feel uncomfortable because you have been so sensitised to the adrenaline.
- Carefree – Fewer things will bother you and you may not be afraid of anything.
- Natural feeling – You will feel more natural in your thinking and physical abilities. You will feel less hyped up and more like a normal human being should feel.
- Emotions – The increased production of adrenaline will have numbed you to the point where you forgot what it was like to experience natural human emotions. These emotions will slowly start to come back as your body slowly returns to homeostasis.
- Desensitisation – You will become desensitised to things like sounds, smells, sights, etc. You will no longer panic at hearing normal volume music – it will sound normal. You’ll be able to handle loud music without thinking you’re going to lose your hearing. You will be much less fearful and won’t panic at things that before would’ve induced the fight or flight response.
- Relaxed body – You will begin to notice changes in your body like noticing when its tense and being able to relax it. Your body in time will begin to relax.
- Relaxed mind – Lastly, your mind will start to slow back into normal mode. If you have had an adrenaline addiction for years, it may be very tough to transition. You may feel weird and not really like how slow your thinking becomes. Just go with the flow and try not to panic – things will get better.
- Self-Awareness – Checking in with yourself that you’re not doing behaviours that feed your addiction, e.g. Unrealistic deadline
What caused the adrenaline addiction in the first place?
Only you know what lead to the addiction in the first place. Was it some uncontrollable event? Perhaps drugs? Or was it a bunch of consecutive stressors and trauma? Sometimes self-analysis is helpful for closure. When you have finally overcome this addiction, raw emotion will come back that you may not be prepared to deal with. You will start feeling more natural, and initially, you may feel a little depressed.
The adrenaline was like a drug for you, getting you through the day and making your life more exciting. When you live this away, you may notice that your motivation subsides, your energy lessens, your thought process is less organised, and you feel mentally slower. This is all normal – the whole key is to just let it pass and know that you are on the right track to becoming a healthier, authentic, human being.
Sometimes Counselling is needed to transition through this time. I have found Psychotherapy the most effective way to overcome this using Emotional Mind Integration. An extremely helpful and permanent way to heal disturbances and connect with your true authenticity and personality. By working on this you are then going to be a better version of yourself and in your marriage.
Tune into to my Empowered Marriage Podcast to learn more. This week’s podcast is available now and discusses this topic in more depth. From Adrenaline addiction to authentic living – Part 2: https://www.powerofchange.com.au/empowered-marriage-podcast/
