I have a confession to make. But first, I want you to make a little confession to me. In the past year, I want you to just raise your hand if you've experienced relatively little stress. Anyone?
Teño que confesar algo. Pero primeiro, quero que vostedes me fagan unha pequena confesión. Durante o ano pasado, quero que levanten a man se experimentaron relativamente pouco estrés. Hai alguén?
How about a moderate amount of stress?
E un estrés moderado?
Who has experienced a lot of stress? Yeah. Me too.
Quen experimentou moito estrés? Si. Eu tamén.
But that is not my confession. My confession is this: I am a health psychologist, and my mission is to help people be happier and healthier. But I fear that something I've been teaching for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good, and it has to do with stress. For years I've been telling people, stress makes you sick. It increases the risk of everything from the common cold to cardiovascular disease. Basically, I've turned stress into the enemy. But I have changed my mind about stress, and today, I want to change yours.
Pero esa non é a miña confesión. A miña confesión é esta: son psicóloga de saúde, e a miña misión é axudarlle á xente a ser máis feliz e saudable. Pero creo que algo do que andei a ensinar durante os últimos 10 anos está facendo máis mal ca ben, e ten que ver co estrés. Durante anos díxenlle á xente, que o estrés nos fai enfermar. Aumenta o risco de todo, desde un simple arrefriado a enfermidades cardiovasculares. Basicamente, fixen do estrés un inimigo. Pero mudei a miña opinión sobre o estrés, e hoxe, quero cambiar a súa.
Let me start with the study that made me rethink my whole approach to stress. This study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years, and they started by asking people, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?" And then they used public death records to find out who died.
Vou comezar co estudo que me fixo reconsiderar a miña forma de abordar o estrés. Este estudo analizou 30.000 adultos nos Estados Unidos durante 8 anos, e empezou preguntándolle á xente: "Canto estrés experimentou no último ano?" Tamén preguntaron: "Cre que o estrés é prexudicial para a saúde?" E despois usaron os rexistros públicos de defuncións
(Laughter)
para descubrir quen morrera. (Risas)
Okay. Some bad news first. People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43 percent increased risk of dying. But that was only true for the people who also believed that stress is harmful for your health.
De acordo. As malas noticias primeiro. A xente que experimentara moito estrés o ano anterior tiña un 43% máis de risco de morrer. Pero isto só foi certo para a xente que tamén cría que o estrés prexudica a saúde.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
People who experienced a lot of stress but did not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress.
As persoas que sufriron moito estrés pero non o vían como algo danoso non eran máis propensas a morrer. De feito, tiñan o menor risco de morte de todos os participantes, incluíndo os que tiñan relativamente pouco estrés.
Now the researchers estimated that over the eight years they were tracking deaths, 182,000 Americans died prematurely, not from stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you.
Agora os investigadores estiman que nos 8 anos que estiveron rastrexando as mortes, morreron prematuramente 182.000 estadounidenses, non de estrés, senón por crer que o estrés é malo para a saúde. (Risas)
(Laughter)
That is over 20,000 deaths a year. Now, if that estimate is correct, that would make believing stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death in the United States last year, killing more people than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS and homicide.
Iso son máis de 20.000 mortes por ano. Entón, se os cálculos son correctos, crer que o estrés é malo para a saúde sería a décimo quinta causa de morte nos Estados Unidos o ano pasado, e causaría máis mortes ca o cancro de pel, o VIH/SIDA e os homicidios.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
You can see why this study freaked me out. Here I've been spending so much energy telling people stress is bad for your health.
Xa ven por que este estudo me asustou tanto. Gastei moita enerxía dicíndolle á xente que o estrés é malo para a saúde.
So this study got me wondering: Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier? And here the science says yes. When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body's response to stress.
Así que isto fíxome preguntarme: cambiar a mentalidade sobre o estrés pode facernos máis sans? E aquí a ciencia di que si. Ao cambiar de opinión sobre o estrés, pódese cambiar a resposta do corpo ao estrés.
Now to explain how this works, I want you all to pretend that you are participants in a study designed to stress you out. It's called the social stress test. You come into the laboratory, and you're told you have to give a five-minute impromptu speech on your personal weaknesses to a panel of expert evaluators sitting right in front of you, and to make sure you feel the pressure, there are bright lights and a camera in your face, kind of like this.
Para explicar como funciona isto, quero que todos finxan que participan nun estudo deseñado para estresalos. Chámase proba de estrés social. Entran no laboratorio, e dinlles que teñen que improvisar un discurso de 5 minutos sobre as súas debilidades persoais ante un grupo de avaliadores expertos sentado en fronte, e para asegurarse de que sintan a presión, hai luces brillantes e unha cámara apuntándoos, coma esta.
(Laughter)
And the evaluators have been trained to give you discouraging, non-verbal feedback, like this.
E os avaliadores foron adestrados para darlles unha resposta non verbal desmotivadora, coma esta.
(Exhales)
(Bufa)
(Laughter)
(Risas)
Now that you're sufficiently demoralized, time for part two: a math test. And unbeknownst to you, the experimenter has been trained to harass you during it. Now we're going to all do this together. It's going to be fun. For me.
Agora que están desmoralizados dabondo, é o momento da segunda parte: unha proba de matemáticas. E vostedes non o saben, pero o avaliador está adestrado para acosalos durante o exame. Agora imos facelo todos xuntos. Vai ser divertido. Para min.
Okay.
De acordo. Quero que todos conten cara a atrás desde 996
(Laughter)
I want you all to count backwards from 996 in increments of seven. You're going to do this out loud, as fast as you can, starting with 996. Go!
de 7 en 7. Van facer isto en voz alta, tan rápido como poidan, empezando con 996. Vamos!
(Audience counting)
Audiencia: (Conta)
Go faster. Faster please. You're going too slow.
Máis rápido. Máis rápido, por favor. Van demasiado lento.
(Audience counting)
Audiencia: (Conta)
Stop. Stop, stop, stop. That guy made a mistake. We are going to have to start all over again.
Paren. Paren, paren, paren. Ese rapaz equivocouse. Imos ter que empezar de novo. (Risas)
(Laughter)
You're not very good at this, are you? Okay, so you get the idea. If you were actually in this study, you'd probably be a little stressed out. Your heart might be pounding, you might be breathing faster, maybe breaking out into a sweat. And normally, we interpret these physical changes as anxiety or signs that we aren't coping very well with the pressure.
Non son moi bos nisto, verdade? Ben, xa entenden a idea. Se estivesen realmente no experimento, seguro que se sentirían algo estresados. O corazón latexaríalles rápido, respirarían máis rápido, se cadra comezarían a suar. E normalmente, interpretamos estes cambios físicos como ansiedade ou sinais de que non manexamos moi ben a presión.
But what if you viewed them instead as signs that your body was energized, was preparing you to meet this challenge? Now that is exactly what participants were told in a study conducted at Harvard University. Before they went through the social stress test, they were taught to rethink their stress response as helpful. That pounding heart is preparing you for action. If you're breathing faster, it's no problem. It's getting more oxygen to your brain. And participants who learned to view the stress response as helpful for their performance, well, they were less stressed out, less anxious, more confident, but the most fascinating finding to me was how their physical stress response changed.
Pero que pasaría se, en cambio, os visen como sinais de que o corpo se activa, se prepara para afrontar este desafío? Iso é exactamente o que se lles dixo aos participantes dun estudo realizado na Universidade de Harvard. Antes de que tivesen a proba de estrés social, ensináronlles a considerar a súa resposta ao estrés como útil. Que ao latexar rápido, o corazón prepárase para a acción. Que respirar máis rápido non é un problema, senón que chega máis oxíxeno ao cerebro. E os participantes que aprenderon a ver isto como unha axuda para o seu rendemento, estiveron menos estresados, menos ansiosos, máis seguros, pero o máis fascinante para min foi como cambiou a súa resposta física ao estrés.
Now, in a typical stress response, your heart rate goes up, and your blood vessels constrict like this. And this is one of the reasons that chronic stress is sometimes associated with cardiovascular disease. It's not really healthy to be in this state all the time. But in the study, when participants viewed their stress response as helpful, their blood vessels stayed relaxed like this. Their heart was still pounding, but this is a much healthier cardiovascular profile. It actually looks a lot like what happens in moments of joy and courage. Over a lifetime of stressful experiences, this one biological change could be the difference between a stress-induced heart attack at age 50 and living well into your 90s. And this is really what the new science of stress reveals, that how you think about stress matters.
Nunha resposta típica, aumenta o ritmo cardíaco, e os vasos sanguíneos contráense así. E esta é unha das razóns polas que o estrés crónico ás veces se asocia a enfermidades cardiovasculares. Non é moi saudable estar neste estado todo o tempo. Pero no estudo, cando os participantes viron a súa resposta ao estrés como algo útil, os seus vasos sanguíneos permaneceron relaxados, coma este. O corazón aínda lles latexaba con forza, pero este é un perfil cardiovascular moito máis saudable. Parécese moito ao que sucede en momentos de alegría e valentía. No transcurso dunha vida de experiencias estresantes, este único cambio biolóxico podería ser a diferenza entre ter un ataque ao corazón provocado por estrés aos 50 anos e vivir ben ata os 90 anos. E isto é o que revela a nova ciencia do estrés, que a nosa visión sobre el é importante.
So my goal as a health psychologist has changed. I no longer want to get rid of your stress. I want to make you better at stress. And we just did a little intervention. If you raised your hand and said you'd had a lot of stress in the last year, we could have saved your life, because hopefully the next time your heart is pounding from stress, you're going to remember this talk and you're going to think to yourself, this is my body helping me rise to this challenge. And when you view stress in that way, your body believes you, and your stress response becomes healthier.
Así que o meu obxectivo como psicóloga cambiou. Xa non quero desfacerme do estrés. Quero preparalos mellor para el. E acabamos de facer unha pequena intervención. Se levantaron a man e dixeron que padeceron moito estrés no último ano, igual lles salvamos a vida, porque espero que a próxima vez que o corazón lles latexe de estrés recorden esta charla e se digan a si mesmos, "Este é o meu corpo axudándome a enfrontar este reto". E cando vexan o estrés desa maneira, o corpo vainos crer, e a resposta ao estrés vaise volver máis saudable.
Now I said I have over a decade of demonizing stress to redeem myself from, so we are going to do one more intervention. I want to tell you about one of the most under-appreciated aspects of the stress response, and the idea is this: Stress makes you social.
Díxenlles que me teño que redimir por demonizar o estrés durante máis dunha década, así que imos facer unha intervención máis. Quero falarlles dun dos aspectos máis infravalorados da resposta ao estrés, e a idea é esta: o estrés fainos sociables.
To understand this side of stress, we need to talk about a hormone, oxytocin, and I know oxytocin has already gotten as much hype as a hormone can get. It even has its own cute nickname, the cuddle hormone, because it's released when you hug someone. But this is a very small part of what oxytocin is involved in.
Para entender este aspecto do estrés, cómpre falar dunha hormona, a oxitocina, e sei que a oxitocina xa recibiu toda a atención que pode obter unha hormona. Mesmo ten alcume propio: a hormona dos abrazos, porque se libera cando abrazamos alguén. Pero isto é unha pequenísima parte do que implica a oxitocina.
Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone. It fine-tunes your brain's social instincts. It primes you to do things that strengthen close relationships. Oxytocin makes you crave physical contact with your friends and family. It enhances your empathy. It even makes you more willing to help and support the people you care about. Some people have even suggested we should snort oxytocin... to become more compassionate and caring. But here's what most people don't understand about oxytocin. It's a stress hormone. Your pituitary gland pumps this stuff out as part of the stress response. It's as much a part of your stress response as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound. And when oxytocin is released in the stress response, it is motivating you to seek support. Your biological stress response is nudging you to tell someone how you feel, instead of bottling it up. Your stress response wants to make sure you notice when someone else in your life is struggling so that you can support each other. When life is difficult, your stress response wants you to be surrounded by people who care about you.
A oxitocina é unha neurohormona. Afina os instintos sociais do noso cerebro. Prepáranos para facer cousas que fortalecen as relacións próximas. A oxitocina fai arelar o contacto físico cos amigos e familiares. Mellora a empatía. Ata mellora a nosa disposición a axudar e apoiar á xente que nos importa. Algunhas persoas mesmo suxeriron que deberiamos inhalar oxitocina... para ser máis compasivos e agarimosos. Pero velaí o que moita xente non entende da oxitocina. É unha hormona do estrés. A glándula pituitaria libéraa como parte da resposta ao estrés. Forma parte da resposta ao estrés tanto coma a adrenalina que fai palpitar o corazón. E a liberación de oxitocina na resposta ao estrés, motívanos para buscar axuda. A resposta biolóxica ao estrés impúlsanos a dicirlle a alguén como nos sentimos, en lugar de gardalo. A resposta ao estrés asegúrase de que notemos cando alguén da nosa vida está en apuros de xeito que nos apoiemos mutuamente. Cando a vida é difícil, a resposta ao estrés quere que nos rodeemos de xente que se preocupa por nós.
Okay, so how is knowing this side of stress going to make you healthier? Well, oxytocin doesn't only act on your brain. It also acts on your body, and one of its main roles in your body is to protect your cardiovascular system from the effects of stress. It's a natural anti-inflammatory. It also helps your blood vessels stay relaxed during stress. But my favorite effect on the body is actually on the heart. Your heart has receptors for this hormone, and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate and heal from any stress-induced damage. This stress hormone strengthens your heart.
De acordo, e como influirá coñecer este aspecto do estrés en facernos máis saudables? Pois, a oxitocina non actúa só no cerebro. Tamén actúa no corpo, e un dos seus papeis principais no corpo é protexer o sistema cardiovascular dos efectos do estrés. É un antiinflamatorio natural. Tamén axuda os vasos sanguíneos a estar relaxados durante o estrés. Pero o meu efecto favorito sobre o corpo en realidade está no corazón. O corazón ten receptores para esta hormona, e a oxitocina axúdalles ás células cardíacas a rexenerarse e recuperarse de calquera dano provocado polo estrés. Esta hormona do estrés fortalece o corazón.
And the cool thing is that all of these physical benefits of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support. So when you reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to help someone else, you release more of this hormone, your stress response becomes healthier, and you actually recover faster from stress. I find this amazing, that your stress response has a built-in mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is human connection.
O bo é que todos estes beneficios físicos da oxitocina se intensifican co contacto social e o apoio social. Así que cando --estresados-- nos achegamos a outras persoas, sexa para buscar apoio ou para axudar a alguén máis, libérase máis cantidade desta hormona, a resposta ao estrés vólvese máis saudable, e en realidade recuperámonos máis rápido do estrés. Isto paréceme incrible, que a resposta ao estrés teña un mecanismo incorporado para resistir o estrés, e que ese mecanismo sexa o contacto humano.
I want to finish by telling you about one more study. And listen up, because this study could also save a life. This study tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States, and they ranged in age from 34 to 93, and they started the study by asking, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "How much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors, people in your community?" And then they used public records for the next five years to find out who died.
Quero rematar comentando un estudo máis. Escoiten, porque este estudo tamén pode salvar unha vida. Este estudo fixo un seguimento duns 1.000 adultos nos EEUU, entre os 34 e os 93 anos de idade, e o estudo comezaba preguntando: "Canto estrés experimentou no último ano?" Tamén preguntaron: "Canto tempo pasou axudando a amigos, veciños, persoas da súa comunidade?" E logo usaron os rexistros públicos dos seguintes 5 anos para descubrir quen morrera.
Okay, so the bad news first: For every major stressful life experience, like financial difficulties or family crisis, that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent. But -- and I hope you are expecting a "but" by now -- but that wasn't true for everyone. People who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no stress-related increase in dying. Zero. Caring created resilience.
De acordo, as malas noticias primeiro: Por cada experiencia sumamente estresante, como dificultades financeiras ou unha crise familiar, o risco de morrer aumenta un 30%. Pero --e espero que xa contasen cun "pero" agora-- pero iso non é certo para todos. A xente que pasou tempo coidando dos demais non mostrou ningún aumento do risco de morte por estrés. Cero. Coidar dos demais crea resiliencia.
And so we see once again that the harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable. How you think and how you act can transform your experience of stress. When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage. And when you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience. Now I wouldn't necessarily ask for more stressful experiences in my life, but this science has given me a whole new appreciation for stress. Stress gives us access to our hearts. The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning in connecting with others, and yes, your pounding physical heart, working so hard to give you strength and energy. And when you choose to view stress in this way, you're not just getting better at stress, you're actually making a pretty profound statement. You're saying that you can trust yourself to handle life's challenges. And you're remembering that you don't have to face them alone.
E así vemos unha vez máis que os efectos nocivos do estrés na saúde non son inevitables. A nosa maneira de pensar e actuar pode transformar a nosa experiencia ante o estrés. Cando se elixe ver a resposta ao estrés como algo útil, créase a bioloxía da valentía. E cando –estando con estrés-- eliximos relacionarnos con outras persoas, podemos crear resiliencia. Agora ben, eu non pediría necesariamente máis experiencias estresantes na miña vida, pero esta ciencia deume un novo enfoque sobre o estrés. O estrés dános acceso aos nosos corazóns. O corazón compasivo que encontra alegría e significado no contacto cos demais, e si, o noso corazón latexante, que traballa tanto para darnos forza e enerxía. E cando decidimos ver o estrés desta maneira, non só estamos mellorando ante o estrés, en realidade estamos facendo unha declaración moi fonda. Estamos dicindo que confiamos en nós mesmos para manexar os desafíos da vida. E estamos recordando que non temos que enfrontalos sós.
Thank you.
Grazas.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
Chris Anderson: This is kind of amazing, what you're telling us. It seems amazing to me that a belief about stress can make so much difference to someone's life expectancy. How would that extend to advice, like, if someone is making a lifestyle choice between, say, a stressful job and a non-stressful job, does it matter which way they go? It's equally wise to go for the stressful job so long as you believe that you can handle it, in some sense?
Chris Anderson: É asombroso isto que nos dis. Paréceme incrible que a actitude cara ao estrés poida marcar tanta diferenza na esperanza de vida dunha persoa. Como podemos aplicar iso a un consello, se alguén está a elixir un estilo de vida entre, digamos, un traballo estresante e un traballo sen estrés? Importa o camiño que se escolle? É igual de sensato escoller o traballo estresante mentres ti creas que podes manexalo dalgún xeito?
KM: Yeah, and one thing we know for certain is that chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort. And so I would say that's really the best way to make decisions, is go after what it is that creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.
Kelly McGonigal: Si, o que sabemos con certeza é que é mellor para a saúde buscar un significado que intentar evitar as molestias. E eu diría que realmente a mellor maneira de tomar decisións, é ir tras do que dá sentido á túa vida e despois confiar en ti mesmo para manexar o estrés que comporta.
CA: Thank you so much, Kelly. It's pretty cool.
CA: Moitas grazas, Kelly. Moi interesante. KM: Grazas.
(Applause)
(Aplausos)