I just watched a fantastic State Geographic special called “Killer Stress: Why Zebras Do Not Get Ulcers”. It’s definitely worth watching if you can find it. The show deals with they physical ramifications of stress on the human body by having a look at how animals cope with stress. The programme is based on the work of Dr. Robert Sapolsky who is a Professor and analyst at Stanford University. He explains that in nature, stress occurs for a very good reason: to save an animal’s life.

Zebras and Stress

Dr. Sapolsky first takes us through zebras and how they cope with stress. In the wild, zebras get stressed primarily for one reason: a predator,eg a lion, is chasing them because it wants to kill them and eat them. In this case, stress is a good thing, a good thing. It causes all of the zebra’s resources to be channeled into one thing: keeping the zebra alive. What’s occuring internally is that the zebra is briefly knocked out of homeostatic balance. The dictionary definition of homeostasis is: balance or equilibrium, sometimes between the chemical environment of the body and the external environment. This implies that the ordinary day to day functioning of the body stops, and anything that isn't instantly relevant to keeping the zebra alive is brusquely halted. When a lion is chasing you, it’s no time to ovulate! It is a time to run like hell and get away. So that the body is flooded by adrenaline and noradrenaline to help the zebra run faster and harder.

But the extraordinary thing about the zebra is what occurs after the chase (if it's not eaten that's). It goes back to basics. All of its systems return to a homeostatic balance as if nothing has occurred. Now it can ovulate and do all of the things that it must do for the bulk of the time it’s alive. Just for a tiny proportion of a zebra’s life is it essentially being chased by a lion. And when it isn't being hunted, it just lets it all go. It doesn't sit there and dwell on the proven fact that a lion just chased it to make zebra meat of it. He does not keep speaking to his friends about “what a close call” that was and how “he just can’t get over it.” And thus the zebra is not living in a state of chronic stress. It knows it’s surroundings, but it isn't in a condition of stress unless a fast threat exists. There are no “perceived” or future threats that it is stressed over. Seems like a wonderfully natural and healthy way to live.

Humans and Stress

It seems that humans have a lot to digest from zebras when it comes to stress management. Unfortunately many individuals today live in a condition of lingering stress, in spite of the comparatively safe environments that most of us live in. We no longer have to run from lions or fret about being crushed by a mammoth. And with a lack of real life-threatening eventualities, we have made methods to stress ourselves. The body can't discriminate between different sorts of stresses, so whether our lives are in hazard or we are just pissed off because somebody cut us off on the freeway and we're seething and yelling, the body interprets these things the same. And unfortunately for humans, we aren't good at letting the strain go and returning to a normal state. We dwell on things. Actually we dwell on things that have already occurred, and we dwell on things that may happen. Dwelling on things is some people's full time job.

That suggests that frequently people are in a state of repeated stress. And as we’ve learned, when we are stressed, our bodies ‘ chemical systems are off balance. One of the major systems that suffers is the immune system. And when the immune reaction is down, we get sick. Tomorrow we'll talk more on the physical aftermath of stress on the human body and what can be done to help us lower stress.

Latisha Ronner has discovered that by reducing her stress and using organic skin line, she has gotten her healthy skin back.

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