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Stress

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Submitted By Ka017
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Kaseem Andrews
3/9/15
PSYC101
Cahanin
Stress: Portrait of a Killer
"Stress is not a state of mind... it's measurable and dangerous, and humans can't seem to find their off-switch." These words of warning come from renowned author and award-winning neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky in the documentary Stress: Portrait of a Killer.
The film, Stress: Portrait of a Killer was produced by National Geographic and Stanford University where Dr. Sapolsky is a professor and researcher who shows just how dangerous prolonged stress can be. This film shows how daily stress affect us. It talks about the original purpose of stress was to protect but now it has become the “curse" of our lives. Stress can harm us in many ways according to scientific studies. It can kill brain tissue, adding fat to our bodies and harden our arteries. Stress can be lethal.
While stress is a natural response, we humans are unable to turn it off. This keeps us staggering in a harsh bath of hormones. After a while, the stress response is more damaging than the actual stressor itself.
The discoveries occur in a surprising range of places from baboon troops on the plains of East Africa to the office cubes of government administrators in London: how it can shrink our brains, add fat to our bellies and even unravel our chromosomes. Understanding how stress works can help us figure out ways to combat it and mitigate negative impacts on our health.
By studying baboon populations in East Africa, Sapolsky has found that individuals lower down in the social hierarchy suffer more stress, and consequently more stress-related health problems, than dominant individuals. The same trend in human populations was discovered in the British Whitehall Study. People with more control in work environments have lower stress, and better health, than subordinates.
Sarpolsky ends this documentary by saying that you yourself decide your ranking; you get to choose the hierarchy that is important to you. Your level of stress depends on your attitude, so try to have a more positive outlook towards life, and the things you are doing. Try and maintain control of your life.

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