The Crash After the Crisis

There is something I have noticed over the years, both in my own life and in the lives of many people walking through chronic illness, chronic pain, or prolonged stress. When difficult news comes, a flare hits, or when a crisis arrives, there is often an immediate surge of clarity and strength that seems to arrive right on cue. In the moment, you handle what needs to be handled. You somehow find the energy and focus to move through it. Then the next day comes, and everything changes. The body feels heavier. The mind feels slower. Emotions that seemed absent the day before suddenly rise to the surface, and what remains can feel an awful lot like depression. If you’ve been there, it may encourage you to hear that:This is not random. It’s not a failure of character, strength, or faith. There’s a real, biological reason your body and brain are doing exactly what they’re designed to do.

For many people, this shift feels deeply confusing because it appears backwards. If the hard thing happened yesterday, why does today feel worse? Why is it that during the actual crisis you felt focused and capable, but afterward you suddenly feel exhausted, emotionally raw, and sometimes profoundly sad? What goes up must come down—and sometimes it undershoots baseline for a while. This is often called the let-down effect or post-adrenaline crash.

There is actually a very real neurological and physiological explanation for this, and understanding it matters because it changes the way we interpret what is happening inside of us. When we do not understand these patterns, we often assume something is wrong with us emotionally, spiritually, or mentally. But in many cases, what we are experiencing is the nervous system and brain moving through a very predictable biological process. Understanding the process can help you name it, and have more control over it.

When difficult or threatening news arrives, or you experience a medical flare, the brain immediately shifts into a survival response. The amygdala recognizes that something important or threatening is happening and signals the HPA axis to activate. In response, the body releases stress hormones and neurotransmitters including adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These chemicals are not inherently bad. In fact, they are incredibly protective. They sharpen attention, mobilize energy, narrow focus, and temporarily help the brain prioritize what is most important in the moment.

This is especially pronounced in people with ADHD. One of the reasons many people with ADHD often describe functioning surprisingly well during emergencies or high-pressure situations is that ADHD brains frequently struggle with dopamine regulation under ordinary circumstances, but urgency and stress can temporarily increase dopamine and norepinephrine levels enough to create a state of heightened focus and clarity. For a brief period of time, the brain chemistry aligns in a way that allows the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, organizing, reasoning, and decision-making, to function more effectively.

The problem is that the body was never designed to sustain that state indefinitely. Once the immediate threat passes, those stress chemicals begin to fall. Adrenaline drops rather quickly, cortisol begins to decline, dopamine levels decrease, and the nervous system starts attempting to move out of survival mode. It is often during this period, sometimes twelve to twenty-four hours later, that the emotional and physical crash begins to appear.

What makes this especially difficult is that emotions are often delayed during acute stress. During the crisis itself, the brain prioritizes functioning over feeling. It is not that emotions disappear entirely; rather, they are temporarily pushed aside while the brain focuses on managing the situation at hand. Once the immediate demand lessens, the emotional centers of the brain begin processing what happened. Fear, grief, sadness, disappointment, uncertainty, and exhaustion begin catching up all at once.

For those living with chronic illness or chronic pain, this effect is often magnified because the nervous system is already carrying a significant physiological burden. Research increasingly shows that chronic pain conditions affect stress pathways, neurotransmitter systems, inflammation, sleep quality, and autonomic nervous system regulation. In many cases, the body is already functioning with fewer reserves. This means that when an acute stress response is activated and then withdrawn, the drop afterward can feel much steeper and much heavier.

I think this understanding is important because it gives people language for experiences that otherwise feel frightening or shameful.There is something powerful about being able to recognize the pattern and say, “This is not weakness. This is my nervous system recovering from stress and beginning to process what just happened.”That does not eliminate the sadness or exhaustion, but it often removes the fear or shame that accompanies it. The experience becomes something that can be understood & managed rather than something that feels chaotic or like a personal defect.

There is also a spiritual component to this that I think is often overlooked. Scripture never presents human beings as disembodied souls untouched by physical limitation. Again and again, we see faithful people who experience exhaustion, grief, fear, and emotional collapse after periods of intense stress. One of the clearest examples comes in 1 Kings 19, when Elijah experiences a dramatic spiritual victory and then, almost immediately afterward, falls into despair and exhaustion.What strikes me most in that passage is that God’s response is not condemnation. He does not tell Elijah to simply have more faith or try harder spiritually. Instead, He provides rest, food, quiet, and presence before addressing anything else.

I think many of us forget that our bodies and nervous systems are not separate from our spiritual lives. They are deeply interconnected. When stress hormones remain elevated for long periods of time, when sleep is disrupted, when pain is constant, or when the nervous system is overloaded, it affects us emotionally and spiritually. Understanding that does not diminish faith. If anything, it deepens compassion for ourselves and others.Our self-talk during these times should reflect that compassion & gentleness.

What I find encouraging about understanding the neuroscience behind these experiences is that it gives us greater agency in how we respond. When you recognize that a post-stress crash is likely, you stop interpreting it as evidence that everything is falling apart or that you are somehow weak or defective. Instead, you begin responding with greater wisdom and care. Knowing & understanding the pattern gives you power: Anticipate it. Expect that the day (or days) after intensity may feel harder than the moment itself.

• Lower the bar.

• Protect your energy.

• Say no where you can.

• Care for the body first. (Rest, eat nourishing food, move gently, hydrate. Elijah’s story reminds us: God started with sleep and a meal. :))

• Don’t make big decisions or conclusions when your chemistry is low. Feelings are real, but they’re not always reliable narrators in the crash.

• Let the emotions come without letting them define your entire story.

• Redirect your self-talk to include gentle encouragement.

Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is recognize that our brains and bodies are trying very hard to protect us, even when the process feels messy and uncomfortable. And sometimes wisdom looks less like pushing harder and more like learning how to walk gently with ourselves through the recovery that follows hard things.

This is not about eliminating the response.

It is about:

• Recognizing apredictable neurobiological cycle

• Reducing unnecessary suffering layered on top of it

• Supporting the brain through the downshift

The crash after the crisis is not evidence that you are falling apart, it is evidence that your body is beginning to heal.

References for Further Reading: (References generated by AI)

On Chronic Pain and the Brain

• The Way Out by Alan Gordon
  
  Discusses modern pain neuroscience and the relationship between fear, the nervous system, and chronic pain. Particularly helpful for understanding how the brain can amplify pain signals.

• Explain Pain by David Butler and Lorimer Moseley
  
  A respected resource in pain neuroscience education that explains sensitization and nervous system amplification in understandable language.

On Faith, Suffering, and Emotional Exhaustion

• The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan
  
  A beautiful reflection on rest, depletion, and the spiritual necessity of slowing down.

• Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller
  
  A thoughtful and compassionate Christian perspective on suffering, fear, weakness, and hope.

• The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson
  
  Integrates neuroscience, attachment, faith, and emotional healing in a very grounded and thoughtful way.

On ADHD, Dopamine, and Emotional Regulation

• Driven to Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
  
  A foundational and very human explanation of ADHD, including emotional intensity, motivation, and the role of dopamine.

• ADHD 2.0 by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
  
  A more updated look at ADHD research, neuroscience, and practical coping strategies.

• Scattered Minds by Gabor Maté
  
  A thoughtful exploration of ADHD and emotional regulation. Some of Maté’s interpretations are more theoretical than universally accepted in mainstream ADHD research, but many readers find the book insightful and validating.

References:

Arnsten AFT.Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function.Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2009.

McEwen BS.Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators.NEJM. 1998.

Walker MP, van der Helm E.Overnight therapy? The role of sleep in emotional brain processing.Psychological Bulletin. 2009.

Biederman J, Spencer T.ADHD as a noradrenergic disorder.Biological Psychiatry. 1999.

Thayer JF, Lane RD.A model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation.Journal of Affective Disorders. 2000.

Apkarian AV et al.Chronic pain and brain function.Pain. 2004.