There's a great Q&A with Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, PhD, today on Boing Boing. In the interview, Sapolsky talks about his decision to study stress physiology, whether stress is always a bad thing and why baboons are exemplary models for studying stress in humans.
When asked about the most important science-based strategies for coping with stress, Sapolsky replied:
Successful stress management heavily revolves around combating the building blocks of psychological stress - a feeling as if you have no control over the adversities in your life, a feeling that you have no predictive information about the stressors, if you lack outlets for the frustrations caused by the stressors, if you have no social support.
That's certainly something to keep in mind as we head into the busiest travel day of the year, when stress levels are sure to be high.
Previously: How work stress affects wellness, health-care costs, No surprise here: Anger and stress are bad for your health and Robert Sapolsky on stress and your health
Photo by Firesam!