Stress

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Prof. Sapolsky's 4 strategies for stress management can be summarized as

  • Differentiate Importance
  • Be Proactive
  • Conduct a Win/Lose Audit
  • Cope Out

From A Jolly, Socratic Science

See Also

Stress response is about getting you ready to sprint across a field. Now it's getting stuck in traffic.

Zebras don't worry about mortages. They worry about a lion which takes about 3 minutes. We have the capacity to be stressed continuously for psychological and social reasons. We live long enough that we can pay the price for all the stress. Getting fired isn't the same as a flood destroying your crops.

An anxiety disorder could be thought of someone who sees stressors everywhere. Increased risk of diseases and decreased life expectancy.

What matters most is your attitude.

Do you have social support. Someone who grooms you on a bad day. Can you tell the difference between a little thing and a big thing. Is something a real threat.

If you are stressed because you are homeless or cancer then stress management isn't all that relevant. But for your everyday stressors how you handle it can make a big difference.

Involuntary exercise is very stressful.

Short term mild stress feels great. Transient stress. Stimulation. If start with lower dopamine levels you need the stimulus to feel normal.

Long term stress depletes dopamine so you don't feel pleasure.

Goal is not to have a stress free life. Want the right amount.

Control same physical stressor.

Hard to implement being humans.

Meditation/prayer/exercise/socal support/

It's a bunch of rules. Can't do stress managment on weekends or on hold. Has to do all the time daily. Say no is half way being there. Hard for us to do. Temptation of moment is hard to overcome.

Humans now have a different way of getting sick, diseases caused by or made worse by stress. Stress related diseases how we live our lives everyday. A very different way of getting sick.

Why do some of age gracefully and some of us don't. Why do some people deal with stress better than others?

Why does one person get stressed when they get stuck in a line and another people relaxes

Pick your battles.

If you are injured you are going to react to stress. We are talking about psychological stress. A mystery of humans is

What makes psychologically events stressful? For one person not another.

For the same exact stressor you are more likely to raise your blood pressure, get a stress related disease like and ulcer suffer bad effects of stress if:

  • No outlet for frustrations. You feel now outlet.
  • No Predictive information. No sense when it is comming, how bad it's going to be or how long it's going to last.
  • No sense of control over what's going on.
  • Interpret things as getting worse.
  • Socially isolated. No social support.

Rats get same electric shocks. One can gnaw on bar of wood. One gets a warning light. One can sit with a friend. They don't get an ulcer. Dentist who says they don't know when you'll get done versus dentist who says just two more.

What tons of glucordoroids (come from adrenal glands) call hydrocordisone cortisol and pregnizone in your blood if you are dealing with a 30 minute stressor. Teaches you everything about stress.

In resting circumstances you want low levels. Under crisis high. Then after goes low again. A short term physical crisis.

Turn of growth, turn off reproduction, increase blood pressure, shutdown immune system, mobilize energy to escape, mobilize energy to muscles. Having glucordoroids continually release because of psychological stress, worrying about your mortgage etc is a disaster. Long term project grow tomorrow, turn off everything nonessential. Great for saving your life if in a crisis. Don't repaint house if tornado. Grow tomorrow.

Chronically if stressed they way we do get sick because it causes damage. Get exhausted. Muscles waist away. Osterperosis. Constantly raise blood pressure get hypertnesion, suppress HDL (good cholesterol), impotentcy, ulcers, heart disease. Fewer white blood cells so you get sick more often, get a cold more often. Loss of memory from damage to hippocampus.

No control no predictability. Psychological stress. Anyone can take what you have if you are a low ranking animal.

Sort of society in which rank occurs. Stable dominance hierarchy high rank low glucodoroids because they have psychological control. Then power shift. Nobody is grooming. During revolutionary period you don't want to be high ranking. High ranking up go stress levels in unstable system.

Not just rank. Not just society. But your personal experience of both. Being dominate is very stressful. A very agressive male is fine if you aren't targeted. People can do fine in war, not everyone is stressed.

Not just rank. Not just society. Not just your personal experience. But your personality. It wasn't rank, it was your personality:

  • Tell the difference between the big things and little things in life. Can you tell the difference between real threats and unreal threats. Worst rival taking a nap 100 yards away is not a threat. Is everything a provaction.
  • If a guy is threatening you do you get a little control by starting a fight or do abdicate control.
  • Once a fight occurs can you tell if you won or lost? They can't tell if life is improving. Do you get just as crazy or a good outcome.
  • If you have lost the fight what do you do next? Do take your frustration out on others are do you bottle it up. Mope by yourself. Displace aggression. Outlet.

Can you tell the difference between big and little things. If it's a big thing do you try and get a little control. can you tell if the outcome is good or bad. If the outcome do you at least have an outlet.

These are stable personality traits. These the predictor of successful agers. See glass has half full.

Single most powerful variable. Much more likely to have high stress levels if socially isolated. If you groom all day long. Females have friendship withs. Only a 1/4 of males can pull it off.

Poor is first, then social isolation. 3 fold difference in mortality rates of social isolation. We are supremely social animals. Being alone is an aching social stressor. A spouse or group of friends. Especially as you age.

Knowing which fights not to get into.

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