#Musing about brainstuff

[sea-salted-wolverine]

I have a lot more experience with small aircraft than most, but I maintain that skydiving is mostly just good marketing. You could just as easily package it as peaceful weightless meditation floating in the sky, parachute assisted nirvana, and change absolutely nothing. Actually, brb, I'm gonna go pitch that to some billionaire as an elite relaxation spa retreat and fleece some rich kids.

Got distracted for a sec. I'm back.

Yes, you're right I am describing mastery, but there is the added physical reaction of intentionally scaring the shit out of yourself. Calling it an adrenaline rush feels a little reductive because I know there's plenty of other things firing off, (cortisol, oxytocin, norepinephrine, more fun stuff I can't spell) but there is a chemical aspect, and while the nature of an adrenaline rush kinda precludes measuring it, its definitely noticeable. Anecdotal data, but apparently if you are the kind of person to enjoy and seek out an adrenaline rush, you will notice the adrenaline in the injections during a root canal, according to my dentist.

Which is interesting because that would imply a lower threshold than average or maybe something like more efficient pathways due to familiarity.

I need somebody with a background in psychology or a history of anxiety disorders to help me out here. I am drawing a line between adrenaline junkies and panic attacks. Though to be perfectly fair I'm not sure if this is a dividing line or a connection.

AFAIK, there isn't a ton, or really any research on adrenaline junkies, which is kinda wild if you think about it. At its foundation it is intentionally provoking the physical reactions of a panic attack and hijacking the fight or flight response for endorphins. This tends to get written off as thrill seeking or irresponsible behavior, not in the least because we refer to it in the language of addiction. But I am inclined to think it's something more akin to emotional detachment. Fear and a fear response can be entirely separate things.