The principal argument of Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky's thoroughly entertaining book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers is that stress is bad for our health because it makes us more vulnerable to diseases, such as heart disease or even arthritis. Sapolsky's book focused mostly on the physical element of stress, what exactly is going on chemically in the body to cause stress, but I am more interested at the concept of stress as a determinant to health in general. Typically when we consider the causes of illness, we point to a known physical causation, such as an infection by bacteria, lack of sleep, or getting a chill on a rainy day. But in the case of stress, the "stressor" is not something that is tangible, and almost exclusively affects our psyche.
Examples of stressors include the ending of a relationship, losing a job, or an approaching exam. The way our bodies react to these stressors is what makes us vulnerable to disease, and that got me thinking about ways that these stressors might be made less stressful. Personally I think that losing one's job is an extremely stressful event, in fact it has been put on par with the death of a family member in terms of stress. George Clooney in the film "Up in the Air" plays a consultant whose job is to go into a company that is downsizing and fire people. I'm not about to suggest that companies get Hollywood A-listers to fire people to smooth things over, stay with me. Part of the process is that Clooney gives everyone who is being fired a packet with information about what to do next, including references and good ideas about where to go next for employment. While many companies do things like this already without a third party, I think it is extremely important, particularly in light of discoveries about the impact of stress on one's health, to create ways to make a stressful event like being fired as painless and hopeful as possible, for the good of the employee and the work force as a whole. Happy, healthy workers do good work.
Another interesting idea about how to reduce stress with stressors (probably a better way to say that) is this Dutch hotel, who is offering a service that allows couples to go through the entire process of a divorce in just a couple of days, rather than dragging the process out for months and months. This seemed relevant to me because of Sapolsky's statement that what makes stress so bad is how long it can last, and perhaps something like this would be extremely useful to couples looking to divorce. Not very festive with Valentine's Day coming up, but I hope you found it as interesting as I did.
I am not sure I understand the first paragraph of your blog entry when you said you are “more interested at the concept of stress as a determinant to health in general”. What do you mean by “in general”? Yes, Sapolsky’s book focuses on the physical and chemical elements of stress on ones body, but he also delves into the effects of stress on memory, sleep, reproduction, metabolism, and a few others. I feel like this book is a guide to how stress affects your general well being, and then some.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I will have to disagree with your statement in the first paragraph, “But in the case of stress, the ‘stressor’ is not something that is tangible, and almost exclusively affects our psyche”. As stated in chapter 1, “…regardless of the stressor – injured, starving, too hot, too cold, or psychologically stressed – you turn on the same stress-response.” (p.10). Within the previous quote, Sapolsky states that stressors are tangible, and do not really exclusively affect our psyche.
On the other hand, I like that you have given examples, such as a movie and an article, to “reduce stress with a stressor”. I have not seen the George Clooney movie, but the article was interesting.
Yeah I can see how that was unclear. I think what I meant to say was that my interest with the text was mostly with respect to what causes stress, and what the definition of stress is, as defined by Sapolsky. My understanding of stress as Sapolsky defined it, and the theme of the book as suggested by the title, is that what makes humanity particularly susceptible to stress is the fact that our stress becomes long term. Some of the things you mentioned, being too cold, starving, or, as Sapolsky references, the zebra being chased by a lion, are short-term issues. My interest was with long term stress that affects our psyche, like that which comes from losing a job or a big break-up. These are the things that give us ulcers, things that other animals don't have to contend with. I hope that explained it better, I didn't build up to it very well, but my point was what I was discussing with the Clooney example: ways to reduce stressful situations.
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