Is Post-Adrenal Rush Lethargy a Reality for Trial Lawyers?

Nearly twelve years ago, I jumped out of perfectly good plane just to see what it felt like. It was an amazing experience that is way past time to repeat.

If you decide to do it, I warn you to eat something at least an hour before you go. Little did I know that there would be such an adrenaline rush followed by the shoot opening that my blood sugar would drop dramatically causing sever nausea. There is not much worse than being sick on a slow Earthly homecoming.

Fortunately, I didn't actually barf because my sky-master told me to focus on the horizon. This is similar to what you should do if your suffer car sickness by NOT looking out the side window of things speeding by, but look out the front window as things slowly move toward you. Try it. It works.

Now that I am almost 60 (in February 2022), it's probably time to jump again, but this time I will be sure to eat something. However, even today, I find that I am struggling with a sense of lethargy following an intense period of trial preparation and focus that was suddenly halted by the trial being continued at the last minute (over my strong objection).

Perhaps the continuance involved some Devine intervention because this morning, my wife had serious car trouble and I needed to help her. Obviously, if I were in the midst of trial, I wouldn't have been available. So maybe you don't believe that, but that's not really the point of this blog.

Today, I am addressing the issue of post-adrenal rush lethargy following intense preparation for a project that suddenly halts without completion or resolution. Unlike a case that settles at mediation or resolves through litigation, some matters get halted without resolution. All the preparation gets postponed, not resolved. The resolution itself gets postponed.

What a major let down. Not entirely unlike jumping out of plane, feeling the sensation of floating and then a rapid deceleration. I have read that the average person falls 200 feet per second. From 10,000 feet, this means you’ll be in freefall for approximately 30 seconds. From 14,000 feet, you’ll fall for 60 seconds. From 18,000 feet, it’s about 90 seconds. All in all one would be falling at about 120 mph before the deceleration.

I have no clue about the physics of Skydiving. There is something about Newton’s Second Law. Whatever. All I know for certain is that I felt sick from the deceleration or whatever was happening when my adrenaline suddenly dropped.

Trial preparation causes anxiety. Don't think it doesn't. Every trial lawyer knows it exists and to act otherwise is foolish. We compensate as best we can, but when anxious, our body incorrectly assumes danger and releases adrenaline, which acts as a stimulant to fight or flee that danger. This is an adrenaline rush.?

When an adrenaline rush ends there’s a crash, as there is with all stimulants. This can cause?sudden and severe tiredness. Add to the mix, if there is significant trial-anxiety, such as preventing a person from getting the death penalty or preventing a company from being bankrupted from unreasonable damages, then your body will be in a permanent cycle of adrenaline rush/adrenaline crash, leading to feelings of total exhaustion.

When you’re regularly exhausted, it completely changes the way you live. You stop doing the things you love. Life becomes a mundane series of tasks you don’t have the energy to carry out.

Perhaps, there was at time when testosterone and adrenaline were sufficiently abundant in my body that the plummet of the post-adrenal rush didn't impact me as much. Maybe it has more to do with the sudden change that is the problem. I don't know. I just know that it exists. It's as if there is a constant barrage of traumatic events, not life-threatening events, commonly referred to as "Big-T, " "little-t" events that can still have significant impact on activities of daily living.

I believe that there is a constant fight or flight mode that most trial attorneys feel, particularly those who are defending claims. Perhaps, all litigation attorneys struggle with some form of anxiety, but when one feels attacked and is trying to fight (go to trial) or flee (settle), there is constant change of adrenaline. One thing we cannot do is "freeze," which is another response to trauma.

"Big T" trauma is is most commonly associated with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Events that can cause “Big T” Trauma include things like:

• Experiencing violence
• Witnessing violence
• Living through a natural disaster
• Life threatening events?
• Witnessing a death?
• Sexual violence?

"Little-t" trauma is caused by ongoing drips of distressing events that that disrupt emotional functioning and, for some, exceed their ability to cope. "Little-t" events can actually?can cause more harm than "Big-T" trauma if there’s repeated exposure. Some examples of little t trauma would be:?

• Emotional abuse
• Ongoing financial concerns?
• Divorce?
• Bullying
• Non-life threatening injuries
• Harassment?

"Little-t" trauma often results in what is known as chronic trauma. Repeated exposure to emotional distress is the definition of chronic trauma.?"Research shows that individuals who have experienced trauma of any type, Big T or little t, are at higher risk to develop addiction and substance use disorders. In response to traumatic events, our systems engage in “fight, flight, or freeze” mode and often need assistance to relax and recognize that they are now safe," says Tess Taylor in May 6, 2021 BRC Recovery Blog.

Taylor goes on to say, "While our bodies are trained to recover quickly, our brains often remain hyper-vigilant in order to protect us from experiencing the trauma again. Remaining in this hyper-vigilant state can cause symptoms including depression, fear of recurrence, avoidance of emotions and activities associated with the trauma, nightmares, exhaustion and fatigue (which can sometimes lead to sleep disorders). These symptoms can lead a person to seek various coping mechanisms, including substances, to calm down or numb themselves both physically and emotionally."

Now that we know the problem exists, what do we do about? I found the following ideas reported by Alex Taylor in "Preventing Your Panic." Okay, so most of us may know these, but they bear repetition. There are 4 methods that work well in reducing or eliminating anxiety-related sleep disturbances:

• clockwork sleep?– go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, and don’t take naps during the day.
• exhaust yourself?– healthy exhaustion is good and it will have a big impact on the quality of your sleep. Brisk walks are good, and so is light jogging. Anything physical that makes you tired will help you get more quality sleep
• no late stimulants?– exposing yourself to any stimulant before bed will make it hard for you to fall asleep and it will ruin the sleep you do get when you manage to drop off. Stimulants to be aware of are heavy foods, drinks that contain caffeine or chocolate, television, loud music, and stress-filled communication in person or via phone, text, or the internet
• magnesium before bed?– a magnesium deficiency can cause hundreds of problems in the human body, but 3 of the more common ones are anxiety, tiredness, and insomnia. Many people with anxiety find that three 225 mg magnesium tablets a day. Make sure that the final one is about an hour before bedtime. Magnesium is very well tolerated by most people, but obviously check with your doctor .

Because adrenaline crashes and adrenal fatigue are caused by constant, severe anxiety, you need to find ways to interrupt constant anxiety. Interrupt anxiety often enough and adrenaline levels will gradually fall, hopefully resolving a lethargic crash.

Two methods recommended to reduce chronic stress/anxiety are:

1. anxiety timeouts?– a 5 or 10 minute break from your anxiety a handful of times a day can be enough to get your adrenaline levels back down to normal. Anything that gets your mind off your worries and lasts for at least 5 minutes is a timeout. Try to make time for as many of them into your day as possible (difficult for the billable hour attorney).

Longer anxiety timeouts include hot baths and showers, short meditations, singing along to a song you love, brisk walks, playing a video game, talking to someone in person or on the phone, and daydreaming about something wonderful from your past or in your future.

Maybe it seems too "therapeutic" for some us, but developing timeouts often may make a difference. Try it.

1. respect your ultradian rhythm?– this is the rhythm that controls your mood and mental energy. The rhythm lasts 90 minutes, starting when you have high energy and alertness and ending when you have low energy and alertness.

"Work on any one thing for longer than 90 minutes and your ultradian rhythm will kick in and give you signals to take a break, such as fidgetiness, restlessness, drowsiness, hunger, and anxiety." says Taylor

Modern life has made most of us ignore our ultradian rhythms. We never disengage. We never take a mental breath. So the following solution is simple, but a driven personality focused on success and who must pay the bills by one-tenth of an hour production will find this most frustrating:

Take a 30 minute break every 90 minutes, whatever it is you’re doing. Working at your job, doing chores around your home, playing with your kids, reading. Don’t do any of them for longer than 90 minutes without taking a break where you disengage and do something light and totally unrelated. This simple practice will allow your mind, your mood, and your mental energy to renew every 90 minutes, and the psychological relief this gives you will be massive.

Ugh, I know. Who has time for breaks and mental health, right? Look, I just report what I study based on my own personal experiences for better mental health for lawyers. Maybe it's all a bunch of hooey, but the older I get and the less I can rely on the "plowing through" with testosterone and adrenaline, the more I realize that perhaps some of these recommendation are worthy of consideration.

Thoughts?