Adrenaline makes us stronger. We get a stronger response from our muscles when adrenaline is dumped in our system.
This also applies to smaller movements. Your brain sends a signal that normally moves your arm 2cm to the left. The over-responding muscles move it 3cm. Your body’s feedback mechanisms say “whoa, too far, let’s bring it back a bit!” Your over-responding muscles bring it back too far… You experience this over-response as shakiness.
You’re not used to the adrenaline. Adrenaline is a drug, but just a hormone that does a series of things in your body, most noticeably, opening capillaries and flooding your body with blood to allow muscles to act more rapidly. If I recall correctly, it also enhances the effects of endorphins, making pain a lot less noticeable/ incapacitating. Just like any drug, though, you can develop a tolerance to it and learn how to function on it. Just like the 60 years old alcoholic never shows signs of being drunk, a person constantly in stressful situations doesn’t shake or jitter as adrenaline floods them. Adrenaline also allows the heart to go into overdrive and is used medically in a few conditions in the hospital, but I suspect doctors are very picky and choosey on when to use it and probably want heavy sedatives nearby if they do use it.
This is not the same as a fighter in a ring who is comfortable through exposure, but more like the people who have lived in battlezones their entire life. I wouldn’t be surprised if the constant exposure to adrenaline also caused permanent damage to their brains like other drugs do a well, but am unsure if any research has been done into the topic.
Your body prepares to deal with the stressor, interpreting the anxiousness as a signal that you’ll need to stand your ground or escape from danger. Your muscles become primed to act, leading to a trembling sensation, twitching, or shaking. Tremors caused by anxiety are called psychogenic tremors.
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety-shaking
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