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Stress
The body has a system for getting out of trouble. Back when trouble meant being chased by a tiger, that system gave us a real survival edge. But these days, "trouble" is more likely to mean waiting in traffic... and "the system" is more likely to make us sick. Stanford University neurologist (and part-time "baboonologist") Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us through what happens on our insides when we stand in the wrong line at the supermarket and offers a few coping strategies: gnawing on wood, beating the crap out of somebody, and having friends.
Take a deep breath - hold it – now exhale
We can’t control stress, but what we can do is
understand it. Neuropsychologist Dr. Kamran Fallahpour let’s us listen
to the sound of our own stress (a sort of a high pitched whine). His
theory is that if you can hear your stress you can control it.
Not to say all stress is bad: MTV producer Colby Hall battles a boat
propellor and survives by virtue of stress hormones. Dr. Robert
Sapolsky explains how it works - stress hormones shut down pain, often
leaving the victim the calmest person at the scene.
» Test your stress level
» Visit Dr. Kamran Fallahpour
» Dr. Robert Sapolsky’s Book: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
Growing Up is Awfuler then All the Awful things that Ever Were
We now know that too much stress makes you sick.
Fifty years ago, we had no idea. Credit an upholsterer, a chair, and
some lab rats.
Dr. Paul J. Rosch, President of the American Institute of
Stress, describes a series of not so nice things he and his colleagues
did to rodents which began to illuminate what it means to be "stressed
out." Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us to the edges of our seats,
literally, as he explains the discovery of Type A personality, and why
being a Type A person is worse for you then smoking. Speaking of
chairs, upholsterer Charles Young helps us smooth our wrinkles. And we
conclude this segment with a trip to one of the truly bizarre outposts
of medicine - stressed dwafism - and story of a much beloved author
caught in a body that never grew up.
» American Institute of Stress
» Dr. Robert Sapolsky’s book: The Trouble With Testosterone
» J.M. Barrie's website
The therapeutic benefits of gnawing on wood, beating the crap out of somebody...and having friends
Stress can make fairy tales turn to nightmares, and
it can make an enemy of your own body. Producer Ellen Horne speaks with
Linda Thompson, famous folk singer whose voice one day flew away.
Thompson describes her rare condition, called Hysterical Dysphonia, and
how she overcame her body's silence. Dr. Robert Sapolsky explains why
certain rats get ulcers and others don't - coping mechanisms that work
for humans too. Finally we learn that nice guys can finish first - in
the baboon world that is. Alpha male baboons fight for years to
maintain their social rank, all to get the girl. It's a stressful
existence, to be sure, especially when the day finally comes that they
get knocked off their pedestal by some young upstart and fall to the
bottom of the ladder. Cruel cruel world. But here's the silver lining:
researchers have discovered that some females, rather then sitting
patiently in ringside seats, get bored with all the fighting and mate
with – you guessed it - the nice guy sitting on the bench.
»
Learn more about Dysphonia
»Linda Thompson’s: Fashionably Late
» Linda Thompson’s: Dreams Fly Away
» Dr. Robert Sapolsky’s book: A Primate's Memoir
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