Fight or Flight:

Understanding the Adrenaline Dump

And How it Affects the Body

An adrenaline dump is a physical reaction to a perceived fear stimulus. This fear

response causes a specific hormonal reaction that in turn triggers the fight or flight
response.

The fight or flight response is an ancient protective mechanism designed to enhance

survivability by physically priming humans to either fight or run.

While the adrenaline dump is essentially a useful tool it is also a powerful tool that needs to be
managed; it is often mistaken for sheer terror, which can result in misinformed reactions to a
perceived threat.

Knowing what to expect will help you navigate your fear response to allow for increased
decision-making power while under duress.

Where It All Begins

An adrenaline dump begins with the senses; when our eyes, ears, skin, or instincts perceive a
threat this information triggers activity in certain parts of our brain, which begins to interpret
the data and prime our body for action.

Here’s a look at how the brain processes sensory information under fear-inducing
circumstances:

Parts of the Brain Involved in Activating the Adrenaline Dump

Functions of the Parts of the Brain

 Thalamus: The entry point for sensory

data. The thalamus decides where to
send the information next.
 Sensory Cortex: Interprets sensory data.
 Hippocampus: Where conscious memory
is stored and sensory stimulus gets
contextualized.
 Amygdala: Where fear memories are
kept, threats are determined, and
emotions are decoded
 Hypothalamus: Activates “fight or flight”
response.
Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/other-emotions/fear.htm
This is the chain of events that occur at lightning speed when we are confronted with
something that startles or frightens us. The next step in the process is the ‘decision phase’,
when we decide to fight, run, or stand down because it was all just a misunderstanding.

Two Pathways :
Tracing the ‘Primitive’ and ‘Cultivated’ Trajectory of the Fear Response

Two responses occur simultaneously after the senses have sounded the alarm. The ‘primitive’
response is immediate and animalistic and wastes no time trying to contextualize the threat; it
acts immediately. The ‘cultivated’ response is the path of reflection; this is the part of the brain
that considers the options and verifies perception.

The following diagram illustrates that both processes begin with the senses sending
information to the thalamus, but from there the primitive road takes a short cut right to the
high-strung amygdala while the high road continues on to the more worldly sensory cortex.

The Primitive Path

Fear Stimulus Thalamus Amygdala Hypothalamus

The Cultivated Path

Fear Thalamus Sensory Hippocampus Amygdala Hypothalamus

Stimulus Cortex

Regardless of which path is taken, all roads lead to the hypothalamus...

The Hypothalamus: Setting Fight or Flight in Motion

The hypothalamus is the gate-keeper for activating the fight or flight response and it activates
two different systems simultaneously: the central nervous system and the adrenal-cortical
system. This is where the actual adrenaline dump occurs; both of these systems ‘dump’ a vast
array of hormones into the bloodstream at once rather than releasing it slowly. This is why the
effect is so immediate and so intense.

Hormones Released Into the Bloodstream During an Adrenaline Dump

The Central Nervous System Adrenal-Cortical System

-Activates glands and muscles -System activated by the release of CRF1

-Activates Aderenal Medulla, which releases -ACTH2 secreted from the pituitary gland
epinephrine and norepinephrine, which -When ACTH arrives at the adrenal cortex it releases
enter the bloodstream. around 30 hormones, all of which enters the bloodstream.

The hormones dumped into the bloodstream by these two systems mix with each other as well as
neural activity to produce the flight or fight response.
1
corticotropin-releasing factor, 2 adrenocorticotropic hormone
You now know what happens to you physically when you experience the flight or fight response
but an important aspect of this process is understanding not only how it works, but how it feels.

How It Feels: The Physical Effects of an Adrenaline Dump

Once a sensation has lost its novelty and its power to surprise it is much easier to control.
Recognizing an adrenaline dump will help you control your panic and move more easily to the
problem-solving stage of a confrontation.

Adrenaline: Primary Effects on the Body

Body Systems Negatively Affected by Adrenaline

Vision:
 Loss of near vision
 70% reduction in peripheral vision
 Disrupted depth of perception

Cognitive Processing:
 Inhibition of higher brain functions
 Deterioration of immediate threat
recognition
 Deterioration of decision making skills
 Inability to comprehend or communicate
complex thoughts or ideas

Motor Skill Functioning

 Loss of fine and complex motor skills such as
martial arts technique and precision
shooting.

Source: http://www.atomicmeme.com/learninghub/stressbio/fight_flight.htm

Adrenaline: Potential Secondary Effects on the Body

Aside from the physical effects listed above several perceptual distortions may occur during an
adrenaline dump. Although these secondary effects do not always occur the following distortions are
the most frequently and consistently experienced by a majority of people:

 Altered auditory perception

 Heightened visual clarity: though 70% of your peripheral vision may be gone what you do see
is more detailed than what you would normally see
 Time moving in slow motion and/or the feeling that everything happened ‘so fast’.
  Intrusive or distracting thoughts; completely irrelevant ideas popping into your head
 Intensified sounds
 Emotional dissociation; the feeling that nothing is really real

Although the effects of adrenaline can be intense and very disorienting, there are ways to
manage the process and work through it more effectively.

The Benefits of Understanding the Fight or Flight Response

Understanding the adrenaline dump and our hardwired flight or flight response is an
important component of self management. Somewhere along the line someone came up with a
popular acronym for the word FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.

While the source of your fear response may be in fact be real, panicking will not help you and
more often than not will do you harm by causing you to freeze or inadvertently escalate the
situation while decreasing your ability to process information rationally.

Self defense classes, or any relatively safe situation that allows you to practice recognition and
problem solving while undergoing an adrenaline dump will fine-tune your skills, and basic
knowledge of this system and how it works will at very least de-mystify the experience.