Dopamine
Gene testing - ACN forumif you are COMT -/- (meaning normal), you break down dopamine at an appropriate rate. The COMT gene is called the worrier/warrior gene. If you are hetero or homozygous COMT, you break down dopamine more slowly, leaving certain decision-making portions of your brain flooded with dopamine for longer periods of time. This produces a sense of worry. If you are COMT -/- (normal), you don't get overwhelmed with dopamine and you make better decisions in an emergency situation, like a warrior who can make sound decisions in the chaos of battle.
My daughter is COMT +/+ and one of her reports predicted that she wouldn't handle stress well. That's an understatement. If it's 10 minutes before the bus arrives and she's nowhere near ready, if I start hounding her to rush, she instead freezes - deer in the headlights - and panics to the point she can't do anything except cry.
My daughter is COMT +/+ and one of her reports predicted that she wouldn't handle stress well. That's an understatement. If it's 10 minutes before the bus arrives and she's nowhere near ready, if I start hounding her to rush, she instead freezes - deer in the headlights - and panics to the point she can't do anything except cry.