Are you an adrenaline junkie?

We tend to think of adrenaline junkies as people who participate in high-risk sport such as motor racing, sky-diving or swimming with sharks. However, ordinary people who live everyday lives may also be adrenaline junkies. Take this quiz to find out if you qualify!

Adrenaline junkie quiz

Tick the answer that applies most to you at each of the questions.

Question 1: You find coming home from a long day of work to a totally quiet house:
a) Soothing, enjoying the peace and taking time to relax
b) Boring and, as a consequence, immediately turn on the TV or radio to have some background noise

Question 2: When you hear advice to cut things out of your life so you can be less stressed, you’re thinking that:
a) It would be nice to be less busy and a less busy schedule would definitely cut down on stress
b) Scaling down on things would cause stress because everything is important and necessary to feel alive

Question 3: Your friendships and personal relationships tend to be characterised by:
a) Mutual supportiveness and shared interests
b) Excitement and drama (both positive and negative)

Question 4: Which of the following better describes what you do when you have a big project due with a distant deadline?
a) You generally make a plan and pace yourself so that you can get it done in a timely manner without stressing
b) You usually put things off until the last minute and then work like crazy to get it done in time

Question 5: If you should try to meditate:
a) After some practice, you would enjoy the relaxation of the process
b) It would drive you silly trying to think of “nothing” for a length of time

Question 6: You regularly tell yourself that you will have time to do the things you’ve been putting off once things calm down in your life. However, when your schedule does begin to open up, you immediately look for new things to do.
a) False
b) True

Question 7: Do you skimp on sleep and load up on caffeine to get through the day?
a) No, you get enough sleep and don’t have more than two cups of coffee in a day
b) Yes. You get less than seven hours of sleep per night and use coffee to compensate

Question 8: When you have some quiet time to yourself, you generally:
a) Relax and enjoy the moments of peace
b) Fill it with something exciting or urgent

Question 9: Do you work best when you have a deadline you’re trying to beat?
a) No, you pace yourself and get the job done with or without a deadline
b) Yes, and you usually work right up to the last minute

Question 10: Do you tend to get into conflicts with others pretty regularly?
a) No, if you disagree with someone, it doesn’t usually turn into a conflict
b) Yes, you usually don’t go more than a week without being in an argument with someone

If you’ve marked more than three a answers above, you are considered an adrenaline junkie. Between one and three a’s show that you may be heading towards this condition unwittingly.

How to recognise an adrenaline junkie

An adrenaline junkie may be someone who:

• • Prefers stressful activities for the release of adrenaline

• • Has a constant need for urgency, even panic, to get him or her through the day

• • Has difficulty relaxing or sleeping

• • Tends to create drama and crises in his or her live

• • Doesn’t merely survive well under pressure, but works best under stressful circumstances

• • Always seems to have a crisis going in their life or surrounds him- ore herself with others who constantly need help

• • Is always rushing, with a packed schedule

• • Has dramatic conflicts with people in their lives, exploding in anger

• • Waits until the last minute to begin a project and then need to really scramble to get it done

• • Gets easily bored

• • Works long hours and sometimes never gets the job done

• • Is good at starting relationships, but has trouble sustaining them

• • Is uncomfortable with too much closeness and intimacy.

Not every busy person or crisis-ridden soul must be seen an adrenaline junkie, but if this becomes a pattern of behaviour, it may cause health and performance problems that need attention.

Read more about how adrenaline works in your body and the dangers of constant stress:

• • How adrenaline works

• • Biology of stress

 

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://stress.about.com (Adrenaline Junkie Quiz)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
http://www.wisegeek.com
http://www.yourhormones.info