Article archive / December 2018
Originally published: . Volume 9, No. 12. Source pages: 15.
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky, now in its third edition, is an excellent book for those interested in learning more about the field of health psychology and how the biopsychosocial model explains the relationship between the mind and body.
Although most people believe stress is unhealthy for the body, stress isn’t necessarily harmful for us. The human brain is actually well- developed for coping with and responding to acute, short-term stressors that have a clear beginning and end, such as situations that are threatening or dangerous. However, the nature of today’s stressors in the modern world is such that there often is no clear beginning, or at least there is no clear end, such as stressors that are more chronic. Dealing with on-going financial issues, relationship problems, conflicts at work, unemployment, illness, and poverty are examples of chronic stress that the brain is not well developed to respond to, and prolonged stress is what is harmful to most of the organ systems in the body. Even childhood traumatic experiences put individuals at risk for health problems in adulthood.
This book offers a concise and practical illustration of how, really, there is no separating the mind from the body. Enjoy!
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.