007 - The Harmful Effects of Adrenaline Rushes in Compulsive Gamblers

As an addicted gambler, did you experience the “zombie-like trance” as you played, or feel utterly confused at how you couldn’t feel the pain of losing your entire paycheck and playing down to zero? Did you ever play while hyper-focused, blocking out everything else around you? Did you ever feel intense, teeth-chattering cold and get the shakes after you finally put your phone down or walked out of the casino? 

There are lots of resources, podcasts, and articles about the feel-good effects of dopamine, but I want to share with you what I learned about adrenaline. Compulsive gamblers receive a true, biological adrenaline rush while gambling. Our bodies were designed only to have rare or occasional flashes of adrenaline during life-or-death situations. Adrenaline junkies, like bungee jumpers or sky divers seek out that rush of adrenaline, but that only lasts a few seconds—maybe minutes at most. Yet many compulsive gamblers will sustain high-levels of adrenaline for hours on end, which causes significant harm to our bodies and immune systems. Adrenal fatigue is a condition in which your adrenal system is worn out from overuse. It wasn't intended to work that hard, for that long. Too much adrenaline over long-periods of time can produce some serious side-effects. It’s literally poisoning our bodies with something that biologically never should’ve existed in the natural world. In today’s modern times, though, we can find ourselves plagued with numerous health issues as a result of constant, repeated cycles of long-lasting adrenaline rushes that come from gambling.