Crossing the Line
By Indigo Irwin Kennedy
copyright © TheWaveRiders.com™ http://www.thewaveriders.com (PI0406crossingtheline)

These assignments are based on the book "The Wave Riders" (order here), and it does help if you have already read the book. Don't worry if you have not as you will find a lot of good information here that will help. If you missed the online workshops and assignment here is where we started...
http://www.thewaveriders.com/newsletters/jan05.html

Is there a fine line between making it work and making it worse?
How close are you to crossing the line?
Do the numbers scare you?

"Research suggests that 1 person in 4 will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year."

The Mental Health Foundation - data derived from Goldberg, D. and Huxley, P. 'Mental illness in the Community.' 1980. Also Goldberg, D. 'Filters to care', in 'Indicators for Mental Health in the population.', Jenkins, R. and Griffiths, S, (ed.) The Stationary Office 1991

There are millions of people with severe mental disorders. What is it that takes us from great, to okay and finally to dysfunctional? I believe there is a point where, as in any addiction, we cross over the line.

Often, addictions have measuring scales to determine if for example you are a casual drinker or you have a drinking problem. Addiction might be determined by measuring the amount consumed or how often you use the substance, but how do we measure "adrenaline consumption"?

SubstanceAbusePrevention.org defines addiction as, …"Dependence on a substance that is harmful to physical or mental health, social well-being, or economic functioning."

How do we fit "use of adrenaline" to create art or to make it through a tough business project into this definition?

EASY…we often use adrenaline to feel good, and to get things done, even at the detriment of our mental health, relationships, and our finances.

We continue to use this adrenaline when we see that it throws us into depression and after we have acknowledged the many "wild goose chases" we have followed. The main response I hear is, "So, what is wrong with adrenaline? - I love adrenaline - life would be boring without it". I can even imagine that many readers now are agreeing with those statements.

Boredom comes when we are low, into the state of depression … not the mid-wave. Most of us never visit "the middle" and so we assume that "middle = boring" and this belief fuels the use of our adrenaline. The more we use it the more sensitized we become to stress, like an alcoholic that become severely impaired after only one drink.

People have a tendency to jump to the conclusion that we spend our weekends running naked in the streets or hallucinating when we mention bipolar emotions. They do not understand that what they are thinking of is only the extreme forms. This higher state is where we might finally admit …there might be a problem with using adrenaline. I would like us to look at our adrenaline use before there is a problem and to look at how we are using adrenaline in our everyday work.

I recently read a book titled, "Manic Depression and Creativity" and a few things started to become very clear to me. The book contained quotes and observations from friends of some of our greatest artists and writers that exhibited unusual behavior. What became apparent to me was that their behavior did not always appear to be "strange".

When life began for them, they were talented, and they were productive and social, but something happened to change all of that. As I continued to read, It did not appear to me to be "an event" that triggered the insanity, as much as it was an attitude change. It seems to me that there was a point where their core values changed to place adrenaline and creativity higher than everything else, including sleep and nutrition. The end result was a decrease in the creativity that they valued and a decrease in their ability to function.

In the past, some philosophies, placed artists high in value and status and this philosophy allowed the mood changes and the irrational and anti-social behavior to be accepted as "normal" or part of "the gift" of the creativity. We know practice a similar acceptance and value of the super- achievers - the multi-taskers.

I still believe that the ability to reach into the information/idea pool is a gift, and I also believe that we have a responsibility to ourselves to understand that "our brains and our bodies" are not developed to a point of being able to handle this increased intensity of thought and creation. We can handle the intensity for short periods, but must compensate for the consumption of the fuel.

The point at which we endanger our minds is when we begin to feel that the craft and the ride is all that really matters. This is how addictive drugs work. The drug gets a hold and tells you that it alone matters. It tells you that you cannot function without it. That life would be boring if you were not "on adrenaline". It tells you that you are only good when you are "high".

There is a fine line between the edge and insanity.
There is a fine line between too much work and depression.
There is a fine line between working at a fast pace and lashing out in anger.
There is a fine line between one or two highly-active days and a full blown manic period.

If adrenaline begins to affect your world in a negative way and you cannot stop needing it - then it has becomes an addictive factor in your life. Unfortunately, adrenaline is not a drug looked down on by our society and, in fact, is encouraged. We, I believe, are paying the price of this "drug use" by increasing numbers of people with mental health conflicts.

Let's take a look at some of the stats….
What do you think is happening to all of these people?

"Severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia can affect anyone regardless of age, race, religion, or income. Currently as many as 2.2 million people in the United States suffer with schizophrenia."
http://www.geodon.com

More than 2 million American adults,1 or about 1 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year,2 have bipolar disorder.
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.bipolar.html

An estimated 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older-about 1 in 5 adults-suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 1998 U.S. Census residential population estimate, this figure translates to 44.3 million people. In addition, 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the U.S. and other developed countries are mental disorders-major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time.

Ask yourself. Are we getting sick or is something we are doing causing this? It appears to me that the generations that are following the "movers and shakers" generation of baby boomers are increasingly witnessed with super-fast talking and no breathing, high energy and no way to control it, unable to focus and feeling uncertain about themselves as they ride up and down the energy waves. They are labeled as ADD, and uncontrollable

It does not matter if it is sex, shopping, food, or adrenaline - crossing the line leads to trouble.

The book discussed Newton, Beethoven, Dickens, Van Gogh, and decreasing creativity.
The process, the high ride, became everything. They literally gave their life to their art - mentally and physically. Could they have maintained their creativity without the price of insanity if they had observed the adrenaline push and then balanced it to not burn it out? We could argue that the level of artistic talent that they obtained would not have been accomplished without the sustained mania. I believe, although we cannot prove it now, that they could have actually produced longer and created even greater works.

There is a point in sustained mania where the energy is not longer producing a quality product and the energy begins to "fibrillate" just as the heart chamber that "quivers" due to an abnormally fast rhythms and can no longer pump blood well.

I am not sure what the artists would have decided. Would they have monitored and balanced their creative energy if they would have known? Would the "addiction to the adrenaline" be so intense that simple knowledge would not have stopped them from staying up for days without sleep or food? What would their decision be if they knew, in advance, what giving their lives to their art would mean?

We often look at these cases as isolated and not pertaining to us, however, I see common habitual processes in the modern day patterns of individuals.

How far on the adrenaline high is too far?

It might be just one more night without sleep while I finish off this computer program or two more weeks of pushing hard to move ahead in the financial world. We never really know when it will be enough to break the hold on sanity. What we often do not consider is that "crossing the line" and "pushing it a little harder" can lead us backward in our struggle to get ahead.

How do we cross the line?

Crossing the line might be…
· Working just one extra shift when you are already exhausted.
· Volunteering for one more school function when you already are working two jobs.
· Thinking that you can complete a few more things today even though you have completed more tasks than a normal individual should be able to complete in 24 hours.

I believe the creative genius pays for excessive creativity with depression when they allow habits that do not replenish the biological needs of the mind and body. These artists had some common behaviors; one of which was to go days without sleep to master their craft. I see this same behavior pattern with late night computer programmers and CEO's staying up to stay on top! It might be working with programming language, or reading piles of information updates to stay ahead of the competition.

What price do we pay for the extra hours of creativity?
I believe depression is not a disorder - it is the payment - it is the end result.
The payment ends up being a full-blown -hate your life - hate your relationships - hate your job and "nothing ever interests me" state of mind. It has and will result for many in suicide. If we have gone so far that we feel the need to kill ourselves how can we possibly get ahead?

If we continue to buy into the constant multitasking, stress induced lifestyle, we may end up paying with all of the material possessions we struggled to gain and lose all the relationships that we value.

It has already happened to many overachieving CEO's and entrepreneurs - will it happen to you?

It happens to the employee that burns out and the parent that works without rest. It is all around us. We overwork, then we overplay, and then we wonder what is wrong with me?
Why is this happening to only me?

It is happens because we crossed the first line.
We crossed into exhaustions…continue to cross the line, continue to worship the high ride - and we can cross the next line and the next line all the way to insanity.

You can lose your ability to socialize, to handle stress, or to be creative at all.
You can become increasingly sensitive to the rush of the self-induced adrenaline.

Continue to cross the line and our harmless adrenaline ride may worsen to a psychotic state.

When you ride the high ride, your muscles tense, your blood vessels constrict, you have all the signs and symptoms of the flight or fight response. The difference is you intend not to run from the cougar, but to MAINTAIN THAT LEVEL OF STRESS for as long as you can - even if it means shoveling more food in your mouth or drugs or alcohol to sustain the level.

The sustained high ride is extremely harmful to your body.

How can you recognize that you are using adrenaline?
Here are some of the key signs that I like to watch for myself:

· Over activity, doing too many things in one day, one week, one year.
· Talking too much - hard to stop - feel the need to phone someone.
· Great deal of energy, pacing, not finishing one project before starting the next.
· Need or want to sleep less - don't want to stop.
· I cannot get my thoughts out fast enough.
· Short attention span - easily distracted -switching topics quickly
· I feel irritable for no reason or I get angry easily
· Feel I can "do it all" and want to do more.
· I feel the need to defend, protect or maintain the "high ride".
· I feel overly optimistic about business opportunities.
· I see people as wonderful and agree to attend multiple functions.
· I feel like spending/shopping on things that I don't need.
· I feel like I need adrenaline to keep life exciting
· there are more… what are yours?

Please make note of your key signs and watch for them. As you watch for your key signs, you may also begin to observe these signs in others. Adrenaline use is rampant. Most people are not aware of using it or of the potential consequences of continued use.

Remember to breathe. Remember to balance - follow the steps outlined in the book and reread them when necessary. If you do not have the book - go to the free newsletters and read some of the steps there.

You are the keeper of your gate and the maintainer of your gift. You are the final one that makes the outcome different. You are the one that makes the change in your mind. You may need medication to help keep the high from going too far, but medication is rarely enough. You need to not give into - and give up - with medication, but to work with it to be the defender of your sanity. If you are not on medication now, work with the prevention of depression rather than waiting for depression to take hold. Focus on maintaining the middle. That fine line between rolling on a high wave of creativity and being dysfunctional is in your hands.

Do not let yourself cross over - some never make it back.

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Yours in Faith,
Indigo Irwin Kennedy
Beyond the mind, around the heart, fill the soul.
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