Dopamine Versus Adrenaline

Water skiing is a lot of fun. For other people. I spent some of the recent school vacation watching other people do it. I’ve tried it, but it wasn’t for me. I’d rather speed down a black run on a pair of snow skis than hitch myself to a speeding boat.

But my wife loves it, and so do my grandkids.

Why doesn’t it light up my emotions? Well, it kind of does, but in a negative brain-chemical way. Dopamine doesn’t show its face. Adrenaline does–in bucket loads. Forget fight or flight. I get the freeze response. Muscles I thought I had control of suddenly take a life of their own. Walking to the water’s edge in ski pants and a buoyancy vest is an exercise in determination.

I’m determined to get there; my muscles are determined to prevent it. In the end, muscles triumphed over brain power. I stayed dry and watched. 

I did other things to assist the skiers. I tended the cooking fires because thirty people, hungry after a day’s strenuous skiing, needed feeding that evening. 

Oh, I worked on blog posts as well. So, it wasn’t an entirely lost day. Eventually, dopamine re-surfaced from whatever lake it had sunk itself in. My muscles gave in to my nagging brain, allowing me to walk again.

Last time, I asked about the speed at which your students entered your classroom and had you compare it to the speed at which they left it.

Was it something you consciously observed? If not, give it a go this week. Remember, adrenaline causes fight, flight, or freeze. 

How many kids fought before they entered? 

How many flew in, ready for a day of exciting learning?

How many froze at the door?

It’s a good measure of dopamine versus adrenaline.