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Cigarguys The adrenaline dump takes some time. What causes the madness is that when you are frightened and the fight or flight instinct kicks in, there’s nothing to fight and nothing to flee from. Your body is screaming DO SOMETHING and you would if you knew what to do. Long before rational thought is possible, your body chemicals have taken over the thought process and you can see nothing except that very terrifying thing…empty beds.
You are by no means alone. Adrenaline causes a lot of problems. Fights, going on a mad flight from a traffic stop, shooting at shadows at your door, screaming for no visible reason.
In our genetic history, adrenaline was quite useful. It helps you run faster, fight harder. These days, not so much.
Be gentle with yourself. That was a scary time and your bodily mechanisms kicked in. When the threat has passed, the adrenaline takes time to exit. Then there’s an intense weariness and often, depression. You’re suddenly not a super hero with nowhere to go.
Decades ago I was driving home from a baby shower when a vehicle going in the other direction swerved sharply at my car. I jerked the wheel, dropped into a ditch and before it was over, rolled over three times. The car was totaled, the only salvageable parts the trunk lid and the battery. I didn’t need a Bandaid. I crawled out through the window and the police arrived pretty soon.
I don’t remember how I got home. And I could not stop moving, pacing the house, sitting down then jumping up. I didn’t sleep at all that night and the next day. My body was not hurt at all, but adrenaline was shouting WE’RE GOING TO DIE.
Adrenaline doesn’t know when to quit.
