Sapolsky stresses cautionary tales

Author: Eleanor Horowitz and Rachael Jennings

"This may induce ulcers of grandiosity," Dr. Robert Sapolsky began as he stepped up to the podium for the College's second annual convocation series keynote address. His talk, titled "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Stress, Disease, and Coping," was made possible due to the "sheer consensus that you guys are stressed out of your minds," he said.

With a Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology, Sapolsky is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research in Kenya and a best-selling author. He addressed a packed Mead Chapel the night of April 10 discussing stress responses and their consequences, tying in historical developments in stress research and his own social commentary.

Setting the tone for the night, Chaplain Laurie Jordan drew laughter and interest from the crowd as she introduced Sapolsky, describing him as once a child who dreamt of living in the Museum of Natural History and who sent fan mail to primatologists. By the time he reached college, he was spending his time improving his blow dart techniques so that he could easily tranquilize his primate subjects, she said.

Sapolsky's talk, despite being scientific and research-based, remained accessible in nature due to his candor and constant interactions with the audience. He speaks with a "deep well of humanity and self-deprecating humor," said Jordan in her introduction.

"Most of us in this room will have the profound western luxury of dying because of something relating to stress," he said in the beginning moments of his lecture. "The central question of all of medicine is why do some of us last until 50 and some until 85," he said. It all relates to strange questions like "What is your social status?" "Do you stop taking your medicine?" and "When you feel unloved do you eat more?" All questions related to stress levels.

Once a stressor throws of homeostatic balance in an individual, the body reacts in a series of responses. Sapolsky listed mobilizing energy, increasing cardiovascular tone, suppressing digestion, halting growth and reproduction processes, enhancing the immune system and sharpening senses as the responses to stress.

"You shut off everything unessential. You shut down the big optimistic things to be doing," he said. "If you want to worry about being someone's lunch, then don't worry about digesting breakfast."

"But what if you turn on the stress response too much or for too long?" Sapolsky asked as he transitioned to the second part of his lecture about the consequences of stress. Humans experience the stress response for a longer period and much more often than nature intended. We are, in Sapolsky's self-defined technical terms "neurotic as hell." Humans turn on the stress response over things like mortgages, grades, awkward tensions between friends and world issues.

"Try to sit down a hippo and tell him about the ice caps melting," said Sapolsky. "He's not going to care."

For each stress response he explained their stress-related disorders. The range of risks includes everything from hypertension to osteoporosis.

These risks, however, are related to another attribute. Sapolsky commented that many people in the audience were probably classified as having a "Type A" personality, which can have a great affect on stress, as it embraces "time pressure, joyless striving, checking items off a to-do list, and hostility," according to Sapolsky. People with these personality characteristics are more likely to get heart disease than smokers and those who are overweight.

Dr. Meyer Friedman is accredited for linking Type A personalities to heart disease. The waiting room chairs in his cardiology department always needed new upholstery, so he kept having to factor new fabric into the budget. An upholsterer who came in saw that the seats were very worn out and told Friedman that his patients were squirming in their seats - a very Type A behavior, but Friedman did not listen until he realized the truth much later.

"Friedman was just too Type A to listen to the upholsterer," said Sapolsky.

Sapolsky colored his talk with interesting anecdotes.

One story that caused whispers in the crowd followed his explanation of psychogenic dwarfism, during which an individual stops growing due to traumatic stress. One case examined a child in a New York hospital who had been severely abused and neglected - when he entered the hospital, he had zero growth hormone and once he formed a friendship with a nurse, his growth hormone shot up. When he left for a two-week vacation, the hormone had dropped back down to zero. Sapolsky emphasized that our bodies are extremely influenced by stress.

He gave another chilling example of psychogenic dwarfism: an eight-year-old boy in Victorian England in the late 1800s saw his brother David killed right in front of him. His mother resigned to her room, where the young boy would bring her food. Each time she cried out, "David, David is it you?" and upon realizing that it was not her deceased son, uttered, "Oh, it's just you ." His mother said that she wished her perfect son David would stay a little boy forever, so that was just what her living son did. He was only 4'11'' in adulthood.

That eight-year-old boy was J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan .

"So think about that the next time you see Johnny Depp!" Sapolsky quipped.

"What else can I scare you about," Sapolsky then asked, "Your gonads, your gonads!" Stress has huge biological effects on reproduction, he said, citing examples of gymnasts with disrupted menstrual cycles and Marines in basic training with reduced androgen levels. If fact, in males, decreased levels of testosterone and erectile dysfunction commonly occur due to stress. 60% of erectile dysfunction is due to a psychological issue.

He also clarified that stress has not been proven to cause cancer, although it can accelerate the effects of cancer.

In the final minutes, Sapolsky discussed the reason that we all have not "collapsed into puddles from stress-related disease:" that is, we cope.

He explained how in showing how the risk of ulcers can be modified by factors such as outlets for frustration, a sense of control, and social support. These findings were produced by the observation of rats that were periodically shocked in a lab. Rats that had a "friend" rat, a wood block on which to bite in frustration, a warning signal or a level to press that instilled a sense of control had a markedly lower risk for developing ulcers.

"Science has proven that friends are good for your health," Sapolsky said.

With all of the new information about stress, students asked many questions about controlling and managing stress levels in the concluding question and answer period. "The take home message is not that we are over-stressed," he answered to one question. "The point is having the right amount of stress. Play is experiment with mild stressors"

"Sapolsky's style is very engaging," said Ene Piirak, Associate Director of the Counseling and Human Relations Center and member of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Campus Stress, after the lecture. "He captured everyone's attention and I hope from this people are wondering about the negative effects of stressful lifestyles."

The lecture marks one of many events in a series called "Mind the Body" presented by the Office of Health and Wellness Education. Other events include a lecture on sleep deprivation given by Hrayr Attarian and free yoga classes. "The lecture is seen as a kickoff event for ongoing discussion," said Piirak.

The Ad-Hoc Committee on Campus Stress invited Sapolsky as the speaker for this year's convocation lecture. While next year's lecture will cover a new topic, the Committee on Stress will continue to meet and program future events. Alread
y in place are several faculty grants for incorporating contemplative practices into courses.

"We are hoping this event will generate interest," said Committee member and Associate Director of Athletics Gail Smith. "We want to keep this issue on the forefront of campus discussion."

For the moment, however, there are simple ways to reduce the effects of stress. Grab a friend, grab a good book or your favorite season of Friends, grab a ping-pong paddle, grab a woodblock - you are in control of how stress affects you.

"We are smart enough to invent this stuff and foolish enough to fall for it," concluded Sapolsky. "I hope that we are wise enough to keep it in perspective."