The Cartoon Guide to Stress
Why the fight-or-flight response is ruining your health, and how to stop chasing.
About this video
Why the fight-or-flight response is ruining your health, and how to stop chasing.
Full transcript of The Cartoon Guide to Stress
What if I told you a 1940s cat and mouse cartoon explains why you're always exhausted? You know the dynamic. The endless, frantic chase. Medically speaking, this is an exact blueprint of your nervous system in modern life. Meet your sympathetic nervous system. The biological panic button. When your morning alarm goes off, your brain dumps adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart rate spikes. Your blood pressure surges. You are the cat, locking onto a target. Ready to sprint. In nature, this fight-or-flight state is meant to last ten minutes. Just long enough to catch breakfast, or avoid becoming it. When the chase ends, the mouse slips into his little hole. He rests. His heart slows. He digests. This is the parasympathetic state. Rest and digest. But modern humans have forgotten how to find the mouse hole. Your boss emails you at eight PM. Cortisol spike. You scroll doom-laden news before bed. Adrenaline rush. You are stuck in an infinite loop of the chase. When cortisol stays elevated for years, it turns toxic. It literally shrinks the memory center of your brain. It suppresses your immune system, making you a magnet for illness. You aren't just tired. Your biology is burning down. So, how do you call off the cat? You have to manually stimulate your vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the biological brake pedal for your racing heart. Engage it through physiological sighs: two quick inhales, one long exhale. Engage it with cold exposure. A splash of freezing water on your face. Engage it by stepping outside and looking at the horizon. Broadening your vision signals to your brain that there are no predators nearby. You don't need a new productivity hack. The only way to win the endless game of cat and mouse... ...is to stop chasing.