On this episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson take a deep dive into defining stress, how it functions, how it impacts our lives and bodies, and what we can do to repair from its effects. 

We discuss how to distinguish stress from effort, the influence of the modern world on how stressed we feel, the various biological mechanisms involved in stress, and the challenges presented by chronic exposure to it. We then consider what we can do to increase resilience, including positively responding to stressors even in the midst of limitations and uncertainty.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:50: What is stress exactly?

3:30: Distinguishing stress from effort

7:25: Circles of concern and what we can actually influence

10:15: Zebras, and different levels of allostatic load

15:30: How the Endocrine System and Nervous System respond to stress

21:45: The amygdala response

23:20: What are the costs of stress?

35:30: The story so far

36:25: How do we positively adapt to stress?

41:35: The influence of basic lifestyle factors

43:50: Questions to ask yourself

45:30: Claiming agency while accepting limitations and uncertainty

51:05: What we can do to repair from the effects of our stress

57:40: Recap

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