Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
A hugely informative book that served as a refresher of all my Biopsych courses, only harder and more complicated. Sapolsky missed his calling as a comedian. He's genuinely likeable, and there really aren't that many physiology books currently on the market that can be described as "laugh out loud funny".But I did. I LOL'd. Unabashed.The take-home (or punchline, as Sapolsky was fond of referring to every thought that wasn't a quip -- but after 560 pages of the guy, I can say with a fair degree of authority that the irony was deliberate) is a continual state of stress ramps up your glucocorticoids which, essentially, burns you out. Diverts power from the thrusters, eats holes in your stomach, gives your immune system blind spots -- pretty much anything that sucks. I liked his fond remembrances of his time among the baboons, stress within primate hierarchies, and any other lapses into evolutionary psych he made. But then, I tend to. I also liked how, after writing a book about stress, he strongly implied that meditation does nothing to help aside from in the moments when you're actively (inactively?) meditating, and religiousness/spirituality doesn't make you healthier, or prone to faster recovery, or anything except less stressed if your child has cancer.Crowning achievement of the book was the Classic Coke anecdote. Genius.Honorable mention to the warpath he went on regarding Dr. Siegel, the loon M.D. who initially perpetuated the flagrantly erroneous belief that you can just shrug off cancer if you keep a positive attitude and powerful faith in God. And I quote:"This is relatively benign gibberish, and history buffs may even feel comforted by those among us who live the belief system of medieval peasants."Savage.I was also a big fan of his stress-avoidance recommendations. "Don't be born poor" most of all. Huh. Good idea. The whole SES section was fascinating, if deeply disheartening and vaguely socialistic. But, hey! Can't argue with math. I was intrigued by rich people experiencing more stress in higher income-inequality countries, but I don't think "cuz they're always on guard to keep poor people out of their sweet mansion" is the actual reason. That was a stretch. Li'l more research needed on that front, I reckon.If nothing else, I walked away from this book with intimate knowledge of a hormone I didn't know existed, and a whole lexicon of new medical jargon with which to alienate friends and loved ones.
Everyone should read this book! A highly readable (and very funny) exploration of how stress affects human health. The book is a little long (as it covers a lot of ground) but it reads quickly, and the science descriptions were extremely lucid and easy to follow. I appreciated that the author repeated frequently that the mind-body connection can never be reduced to either "It's all genes" or "It's all in your mind", and refused to buy into either extreme. I felt he had a very sane approach to this.I wanted more from the last chapter (which dealt with "How do you decrease stress?") and kind of wished that suggestions had been integrated into the end of each topic chapter. I felt the recommendations didn't include enough in the way of somatic or mind-body interventions - e.g., yoga, working with the felt sense, using visualization/ imagery, etc. He didn't even address whether any of those things have been shown to be helpful with stress. For me, it's important to know: once stress has affected your health, are there mind-body interventions that will help to improve your health or at least maintain it?I wasn't 100% sure if the science is fully accurate/ up to date. There have been several editions of this book; the latest is from 2004, so there has certainly been more research done since then.
What do You think about Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (2004)?
This book presents a variety of research on the effects of chronic stress on the body in an approachable, understandable way. There were a few issues I had with the book tho:* Its main point could have been conveyed in a way more succint way. Some sections feel like fillers.* The stressors the book points out in the research are a whole order of magnitude larger than what your average middle class person encounters in life - no real comparison between being a rat being rattled in a cage, shocked and placed right next to a cat, and having to juggle work life/family life.* No real recommendations on how to deal with the stress.
—Ale
This is a book packed full of information on how stress can cause our body to go haywire. You will find explanation for how stress affects your weight, sleep, and health in general.Although there are still lots of jargon and terms in the book that you will find alien, the explanation is given in the most simple way possible, making it an accessible material in general.However, after reading through all the chapters on how stress can wreak havoc to our body, you don't actually get a lot of materials on how you can counter them.So, this is a book on how stress can cause damage to your body. If you're looking for a solid book on recommendations to deal with stress, this might not be it.To the author's credit, he is trying to be as accurate as possible, and therefore I believe he is trying his best to recommend the most scientifically accurate practice to deal with stress; and sadly, there may not be many, although there is a few practical one such as exercise and meditation.
—Chung Chin
A good introduction to the effects of stress on human physiology, as good, and comprehensive as a lay-person can wish for. It elaborates greatly on the negative effects of artificially, and repeatedly triggering stress responses that were evolved to get us out of mortal danger, at the same time giving clear headed explanations as to why these responses might be useful in the first place, and why they are beneficial when controlled, and used sparingly.All in all, for someone who had little knowledge about anything stress related, this has given me plenty of starting point to do further research.
—Loránd Szakács
