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Hailey Ricketts

Col 103-001

Professor Hudson

18th November 2021

Notes

● Sapoisky studied baboons because he wanted to research the stress in the troops and

how it affected their health.

● Norepinephrine and Epoinephrine are stress-inducing hormones.

● Stress is temporary in animals

● Stress is unpredictable

● Stress can cause heart disease and stomach ulcers

● Chronic stress can cause the brain to shrink

● Stress causes weight gain

● Stress is manageable and it is about finding what way works for you

● Stress can cause damage to genes, cause fat, and damage brain

Reflection

I really enjoyed watching this documentary on stress. As a person in veterinary medicine

I enjoyed hearing about the research on baboons. As a college student I tend to be stressed

very often. Especially these past few weeks when I have tests nearly every day. Throught the

documentary they talked about ways to handle stress and the ways that it affects you. I think
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that the most helpful way to manage stress for me that they mentioned would have to be just

focusing on what is in front of me and not worrying about what is happening in a month from

now. A way that stress affects me and was mentioned in the video would be the stress hormone

“Cortolsal” which causes you to over eat when stressed. I often realize that when I am stressed

about different things, I tend to eat more I guess just to be comforted by it. Something else that I

found interesting during the documentary is about the baboon troop that he was studying for

many years, how they changed and got rid of the male baboons that were aggressive and

causing stress to the troop. I wish that easy to get rid of the things that we get stressed over. I

also thought that it was really cool that mammals can only be stressed about things in present

time, unlike humans who can be stressing about things that are going to happen the next day or

months ahead. Overall this documentary was quite informative and I learned tons from it.

Stress: Portrait of a Killer

Viewing Guide: Use the following questions to help guide your note-taking during the stress

video.

1. What are the hormones that are the backbone of the stress response? How are

they critical to our survival?

- Adrenaline and Epinephrine are the backbones of the stress response.

They are critical to our survival because they better our concentration,

reaction, and strength.

2. How do animals and humans differ in terms of stress response?

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- Humans can activate the stress response, just by thinking about the

stressor. Animals can only become stressed when they are stressed

3. What is stress (multiple answers throughout the video)?

- Your body's reaction to anything that needs attention or action

4. What is the goal in life in terms of stress?

- The goal in life in terms of stress is to prevent it at all costs.

5. What are the effects of stress (multiple answers throughout the video)?

- Brain cell deterioration, Memory degradation, and Heart Disease

6. How is control related to stress?

- When people don’t feel like they aren’t in control of what is happening to

them they start to feel stressed.

7. How can stress be a positive thing?

- Stress can increase alertness and performance.

8. How is stress related to hierarchy?

a. What does animal research tell us about this?

- Animal research tells us that males get what they want which =

Less stress heart rate and blood pressure, Females get the food,

and the groomers have high stress heart rate and blood pressure

b. What does the Whitehall study of humans tell us about this?

- The whitehall study of humans told us that the higher ranked are

more likely to survive longer.

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9. What does the baboon study tell us about reactions to and recovery from stress?

- The study showed that some individuals recovered from and handled

stress better than others.

10. What did scientists previously believe caused stress?

- Scientists previously believed that stress was caused by non-specific

illnesses.

11. What was the first recognized stress-related disease?

- “Soldiers Heart”

12. How can stress lead to ulcers?

- Stress causes the stomach acid to change and it becomes too acidic

13. How does stress affect health (multiple answers throughout the video)?

- Stress can cause heart disease, obesity, and depressions.

14. Why do we need to address stress now?

- Because it will make us happier and healthier.

15. How does stress affect the brain?

a. Chronic stress?

- Chronic Stress actually shrinks the prefrontal cortex

b. Severe/acute stress?

- Acute stress improves the cognitive process

16. How does stress affect you emotionally?

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- Stress can make you angry, upset, or irritated.

17. How are social status, stress, and health related?

- Social status, stress, and health are related because if you have a higher

social status you have a greater source of health which means less

stress. But if you have a lower social status you have a smaller source for

healthcare and more stress if you have to worry about not going because

you can afford it.

18. How are stress and fat related?

- The stress hormone “Cortisol” causes you to overeat which can become a

habit overtime.

19. Why is stress-related fat dangerous?

- Stress related fat can lead to heart disease and is most common in

females

20. What is the problem with the way our society views stress?

- Our society views it as something everyone has so no one says anything

about it because we all suffer from it.

21. What does the Dutch Hunger Winter teach us about stress?

- The ductch hunger winter study shows how stress affects our bodies and

affects us for the rest of our lives.

22. What are the genetic effects of stress?

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- Stress can cause changes to our DNA. These changes in disease lead to

less stress tolerance.

23. How does stress impact aging?

- Stress can actually speed up aging

24. What do the studies about mothers caring for special needs children tell us about

stress?

- They report higher stress levels and mental damage.

25. What are the active ingredients that reduce stress?

- Compassion and caring for others.

26. How can the absence of stress impact society?

- It would reduce blood pressure problems, hiearchy problems and stress

hormone levels.

27. How can we manage stress from work?

- Be organized and focus on the task at hand

28. What’s the prescription for stress reduction for people lower in the work

hierarchy?

- Find out where we have control and focus on that not on what we don’t

have control over and give have more involvement in the work place.

29. How can we thrive with stress?

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- Be like the baboon troop and have control over what causes the stress

and eliminate it.