After an adrenaline rush, why do humans experience a sudden severe drop in energy? Would this not be disadvantageous for primitive survival?
In: Biology
The question implies that humans typically experience a “sudden severe drop” in energy after an adrenaline rush, but the reality is we do not: the body simply goes back to normal. Your sudden drop in energy is not a general after-effect of an adrenaline rush, it’s particular to your specific example and is not a generalised issue.
It is of course the case that, because your body releases increased amounts of energy during an adrenaline rush, your muscle-stored energy levels will be lower after a rush, but not to the extent that you are no longer functional, unless you were already in a low-energy state with no food in your system.
What might have happened here is that when your body is inundated with hormones during a rush, you suddenly become much more alert than you were and your feelings of pain, tiredness, etc, are both muted and toned down by the hormones, so when the hormones’ effects are over you suddenly feel more tired in contrast.
Incidentally there is a now-known “let-down” effect after somewhat lengthy periods of heightened stress (you survive through a hectic week at work with a deadline on the Friday, only to collapse on the weekend and be sick) but this is a different issue altogether.
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