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Dopamine and Skiing

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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
So, I saw something on the discovery channel about adrenaline junkies being addicted to dopamine and that people who need crazy stuff in their life generally have a lower amount of dopamine in their system at any given point.

Understood. Now I'm reading an article about how introverts are overly sensitive to dopamine and don't like the adrenaline rush.


When I look at my ski/snowboard world friends, there are more introverts compared to extroverts than there are in other groups of people that I know. In Mammoth I'd go as far to say that 1/3rd of the people I knew there could be considered introverts... in LA/OC I'd say 1/10 maybe.

I'm a total introvert, but I LOVE cliff jumping and skiing and roller coasters and haunted houses and all that sort of stuff.

Is this the same for anyone else? Do you know more introverts in the ski world than outside of the ski world?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200803/the-addicitve-nature-adrenaline-sport

http://www.keswickhousepublishers.com/Keswick%20House%20Publishers/Blog/70F3E3BC-C8A4-4BD2-8C11-60FC54B2C6AA.html


Aug 8 2011 8:44PM
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intifada
Posts: 931 - Karma: 263
I'm scared of people, but i go big.
Aug 8 2011 8:54PM
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notadoctor
Posts: 404 - Karma: 640
that's actually really interesting. I consider myself an introvert as well but also enjoy hucking my meat and the adrenaline rush associated with it.

I am curious to see if fellow ns'ers are intro or extroverted
Aug 8 2011 8:54PM
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Nuno812
Posts: 432 - Karma: 1,792
I am defiantly an introvert and would agree that more of my mountain/skiing or boarding friends tend to be introverts. Of course it could just be who I know...my friends where I live and go to school certainly are more on the extrovert side. I love rollercoasters (no fear) but I certainly get a lot of fear trying new things or even hitting some stuff I have done/know I can do on skis. So pushing myself within my limits and accomplishing something usually leads to incredible euphoria/adrenaline rush.
Aug 8 2011 8:56PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Thinking more into this...

My friends that go the biggest are all mostly awkward/introverted like myself.
Aug 8 2011 9:04PM
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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
Haha im an introvert. All my friends also are most likely introverted. I swear every jump on our bikes/skis get bigger and so do the tricks. My friend the other day 360 a gap and now wants to do it on a road gap. Idk come to think about. I am addicted to hitting bigger jumps. I dont want to stop and wake up early the next day to build the ramp 10 feet farther back or build the lip taller. Haha
Aug 8 2011 9:36PM
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chuck_testa
Posts: 1469 - Karma: 52
Sorry for two posts here but i dont fit into the extrovert description at all.
Aug 8 2011 9:37PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9215 - Karma: 5,398
Hmm that is odd. imma say this.

maybe some introverts do like the adrenaline rush feeling and since they're apparently oversensitive to it, it makes them feel really good. I shall loo into this as i'm getting some surgery soon: something to keep me busy.

also while i'm on the topic, check out google body for a bit.i've never seen it before recently and it's pretty cool.
Aug 8 2011 9:42PM
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
This is interesting I'm not sure what i would fall under because I am a calculated person in Mountainbiking and Skiing. I wont do it if i dont think i'll land it but on that same note i am addicted to that accomplishment of landing a new trick in skiing or new line, jump or skill in mountainbiking
Aug 8 2011 9:49PM
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emilyiscool
Posts: 1628 - Karma: 60
im definatly extroverted and i love going huge so i dunno mabey its more of a person to person thing then an overall thing?
Aug 8 2011 9:53PM
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andstuff
Posts: 1118 - Karma: 61
I don't ski for the adrenaline rush, I do it because its soothing. Guitar gives me a bigger adrenaline rush than skiing ever has anyway.
Aug 8 2011 9:59PM
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shiftyparty
Posts: 284 - Karma: 291
yeah i mean im an introvert also but definitly an adreneline junkie,...skiing, cliff jumping, rollercoasters, anythign really but i dont think there is realy a corelation between whether someone is introverted or extroverted as to whether they are adreneline junkies.
Aug 9 2011 12:51AM
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KRAMPUSNTROLLZ
Posts: 2715 - Karma: 355
I would say im more of an introvert but I am addicted to adrenaline rushes
Aug 9 2011 1:33AM
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biglurch
Posts: 91 - Karma: 10
BANG


that explains alot
Aug 9 2011 1:37AM
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biglurch
Posts: 91 - Karma: 10
its got a lot to do with dopamine, but not anything about being shy
Aug 9 2011 1:43AM
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TheButterHashira
Posts: 9691 - Karma: 1,702
Could explain why shaun white said he didn't have a lot of friends as a kid.
Aug 9 2011 1:51AM
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OMGHEDIDNT
Posts: 706 - Karma: 12
Results here wont have much meaning, as i think the actively posting on an internet forum vs not actively posting on an internet forum plays a role.
Aug 9 2011 2:03AM
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razors-chaz
Posts: 2255 - Karma: 1,250
We all know he dint have many friends as a kid because he's coughgingercough. On topic though i would say im an ambivert as i have tendacies in both extraversion and intraversion.
Aug 9 2011 4:25AM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
The articles I posted said that by being an introvert, you shouldn't like activities that cause adrenaline rushes...

Yet I love them. And so many skiers/snowboarders/skateboarders/surfers that I know are major introverts as well.

I understand that it has an appeal since it is an individual sport rather than team, but it isn't exactly like they all picked up golf or running. Given those things can give you a rush, but not to the level of jumping off a cliff for a few hours.
Aug 9 2011 4:26AM
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Gstrong
Posts: 4776 - Karma: 519
I enjoy a bump of ecstacy every once and a while.
Aug 9 2011 4:43AM
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inactive
Posts: 4772 - Karma: 97
fuck that i blow bath salts
Aug 9 2011 12:34PM
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Karma_Police
Posts: 2655 - Karma: 1,628
I do like a girl named molly.  Anywho I'm an extrovert and I sky dive, surf and cliff jump(whenver possible).  I also ski for the rush of stomping a big cliff.  So, yeah............
Aug 9 2011 2:42PM
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Karma_Police
Posts: 2655 - Karma: 1,628
This can be explained by his hair color.
Aug 9 2011 2:44PM
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TheButterHashira
Posts: 9691 - Karma: 1,702
I can see why newschoolers is so popular now. It is so important to skiers because there are a bunch of weird kids who leave their rooms only to ski. There are normal skiers, but kids on NS seem to almost always be a little introverted. Nothing is really wrong with being introverted, but the extroverted world will think you're weird.
Aug 9 2011 3:35PM
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array.
Posts: 2439 - Karma: 202
this
Aug 9 2011 3:39PM
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OldDirtyPete
Posts: 453 - Karma: 299
You have to be extrovert to spin past nine, I read that somewhere
Aug 9 2011 4:39PM
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90053
Posts: 2565 - Karma: 3,728
i'm pretty introvert as well, i think it appeals to us because your competing against your own limitations rather than other people whereas in other sports you have much more of a direct competition against other people. that said i'm also really into tennis and team sports but not at the same level as skiing.

Aug 9 2011 7:14PM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,199
Maybe certain introverts' -those who do 'extreme' sports- enjoy the increased rush dopamine provides due to their high sensitivity to it.

Although in typical introverts higher levels cause discomfort, some may get attached to the heightened sensation, even more so than extroverts, who's experience isn't as intense.

Just a hypothesis. Personally I consider myself an extrovert.. But to be honest I think the whole introvert/extrovert is a bit arbitrary. What would be considered introverted in one culture could be extroverted in another, and vice versa. These studies are usually conducted similar individuals, with similar socializations from similar cultures. To me, they aren't very representative of true 'human' nature and the findings are for the most part inconsequential.

Lastly, the psychologist in the second article is unbelievably biased towards introverts. You can't be an introvert and study introverts, that's not good science.

/rant
Aug 9 2011 7:46PM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5852 - Karma: 4,531
Very interesting, but I'd like to know the true classification of an introvert and extrovert. I tend to display tendencies of both depending on my mood and yet love anything that provides adrenaline. As the guy above me said it also seems a very bias and flawed experiment and could be easily manipulated by the subject selection and experimenter effect, but interesting all the same.
Aug 9 2011 8:20PM
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andstuff
Posts: 1118 - Karma: 61
Agreed. I'm going to have to call bullshit on the way this is being framed.
Aug 9 2011 8:24PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
They should really study weather the over production of dopamine from skiing alot at a very young age retards the body's production or absorbtion of dopamine for those as they get older. Very much like a drug addict, they get addicted to the dopamine produced, then need more and more drug to do the same thing. If that were true of skiers, it would cause them to produce less dopamine when off the mountain, causing higer rates of depression, which could explain being higher rates of introversion
Aug 9 2011 8:25PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 924
Introversion vs extroversion is a scale rather than a black and white thing. For example according to my MBTI results I'm a 'moderately expressed introvert'. Most people are going to express a mixture of introverted and extroverted tendencies because they fall somewhere on the middle of the scale.

I think there are too many other aspects of somebody's personality that have an effect on whether they like action sports for the dopamine study to really apply. It's like saying that somebody is left handed so they're going to be super artistic or more susceptible to alcohol.

As for classification of introverts, they tend to look for more meaningful interactions with people (discussions rather than idle gossip etc) so they're more likely to have a number of really close friends rather than tons of sorta-friends. Similarly they tend to feel drained if they're surrounded by people all the time and need some time on their own to re-energize. It shouldn't actually be associated with being shy - shyness comes into play when somebody is uncomfortable in a situation, some introverts have very good social skills, what matters more is what they place value on.

If you wanted to see where you fall on the scale you can take a MBTI personality test. I'm not sure how accurate this one is but I got approximately the same results from it as from the other tests I have taken.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
Aug 9 2011 9:49PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Of course nurture affects things, but the studies show that introverts brains process differently. They can see this. It isn't just a hypothesis.

Anyone a psychology major? You should do a project on this and figure out some way of testing this.

Aug 9 2011 11:56PM
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jca
Posts: 4171 - Karma: 6,311
im pretty sure im neither introverted or extroverted, just a mixture of both but I do know that if I don't scare the shit out of myself frequently, I start to go insane.
Aug 10 2011 12:59AM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,199
I'm a Psychology major, no thanks.
Aug 10 2011 3:11PM
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caliskigirl
Posts: 393 - Karma: 67
I would say that I know a pretty good mix of introverts and extroverts in skiing. Personally, I am a total adrenaline junkie and I would consider myself an extrovert (at least most of the time). I know that natural dopamine levels have a strong affect on the likelihood of drug addiction-naturally lower dopamine levels in the brain make the rush from drugs, sex, adrenaline, etc more intense, and people with lower dopamine levels are more likely to be affected by such things, at least in a more intense manner. So I can see that being a possibility but not sure, because, like others have said, there are introverted adrenaline junkies.
Aug 10 2011 5:06PM
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artrud
Posts: 598 - Karma: 1,471
pics or it didnt happen
Aug 10 2011 5:40PM
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Willgum
Posts: 3254 - Karma: 3,066
Yeah im introverted too, and im still into adrenaline and driving fast and whatever. Weird...
Aug 10 2011 5:47PM
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