Customer Reviews

National Geographic: Stress - Portrait of a Killer

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So, how is stress like ice cream? Well, a little now and then is ok, a triple serving may only make you temporarily sick, but "all you can eat" might kill you!

I've followed Robert Sapolsky's work for 10+ years and he definitely is the #1 expert on the effects of stress on the brain.

Prolonged, sustained, excessive stress and your similar response to it, not only causes deterioration of your brain, but it also compromises your immune system; your ability to fight off diseases.


Thousands of years ago, we mostly lived until we either starved, were accidentally poisoned or we were eaten by another animal. Now, we have the distinct ability to slowly kill ourselves over a period of about 80 years with chemical laced foods, too much alcohol and prolonged reaction to stressful events. All are avoidable, if we make the choice to do so.

Unfortunately, most of the people who really need the information in this documentary will never see it and the vast majority who do see it will ignore it. Only those determined to live a quality life for as long as possible will pay attention to this video.

At the present time, 1 in 4 of us will die in a state of dementia or with Alzheimer's. If you want to increase your odds against that happening, then buy this video, pay attention to it, re-watch it several times and invest in a scientifically proven brain fitness program. Not just crossword puzzles and Sudoku, nor any of the popular Name Brand games that mislead you to believe that they will improve your brain or memory. Invest in yourself with a research-based program that has been scientifically designed for the human brain, extensively tested on humans, published and peer-reviewed. The cost for such a program is minimal compared to being an invalid who not only can't find their car keys, but doesn't remember what they are for! For an introduction to the proper type of program that you should use, I suggest you watch, "The Brain Fitness Program" DVD featuring Peter Coyote.

If this video has piqued your interest in repairing your brain, maintaining your brain and improving you brain, then you will probably also enjoy reading the following -

"Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" by Robert M. Sapolsky, Ph.D.
"Spark" by John Ratey" M.D.
"Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain" by Sharon Begley
"Brain Rules" by Dr. John Medina
"Can't Remember What I Forgot" by Sue Halpern
"The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge, M.D.

Most of the above are easily read without a medical or scientific background. The few parts that do get a little "deep" are short and should not keep you from finishing the book and understanding the message of the author. Some of the above are also available in Audio format.

So, again, I suggest that you buy this and put the information to use. You can add life to your years and years to your life!

This DVD shows how animal and human bodies are affected by stress, the harm and dangers. The threats especially to the brain, cardiovascular system and chromosomes are emphasized. Pregnant mothers under stress can transmit stress hormones into the fetus whose nervous system changes and in adult life becomes more prone to stress, stress related diseases and depression. The information here is based mostly on a Stanford University professor's study on baboons, who specializes in the neuropsychology of stress.

However, very little time is devoted to what to do about i.e. how to manage and reduce stress so that it doesn't become so lethal.

This is an AMAZING DVD backed with scientific data of how stress damages us physically and emotionally. We live in a stressful society where stress is killing us on an hourly basis.

One scientist stated that our society admires people who multitask and accomplish so much. But that is actually very stressful. She stated that we should admire people who have balanced and serene lives. I agree with her. What value does all this "over achievement" add to our lives, when it is killing us.

This is an excellent DVD, because it makes the viewer re-evaluate one's life and ask the all important question, "What should we value in life to bring about the happiness we are all searching for?"

I highly recommend this DVD.

This documentary is based on the pioneering work of Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky of Stanford. The documentary talks about the dangers of stress on the human body and provides a background by getting into the Sapolsky's work with baboons in Kenya. There was a dreadful incident which happended about 3 decades ago in the baboon troop Sapolsky was studying. One year, he came to Kenya to discover that much of the baboon troop was killed off. Later, he learned that most of them died due to the fact that they had eaten infected meat from a garbage dump. What was astounding about this incident is that all of the alpha males had been killed off and only the beta males and females remained. Another interesting finding is that this troop turned into a completely peaceful society... instead of males constantly fighting each other, they had males grooming each other. As far as I know, this peaceful behavior lasted for generations and perhaps it is still going on now. So what does this tell us? If we want world peace, all of the alpha males in human society must die off, otherwise violence and stress will remain a fact of life. This is the conclusion I have come to based on the baboon incident, no one in the video suggussed this.

I saw this documentary recently on the National Geographic Channel and immediately ordered myself a copy on Amazon.

This is a fascinating documentary. It starts with a Stanford researcher's insights into stress hormones in baboons. His research shows that baboons can get their daily nutritional requirements in about three hours so they have the rest of the day to amuse themselves. As it turns out, the alpha baboons amuse themselves by terrorizing all the baboons beneath them in the hierarchy. The lower baboons do the same to those beneath them and so on. When the stress hormones of these baboons are measured, it turns out that the alphas have virtually no stress hormones in their blood while those lowest on the pecking order are totally stressed out.

But the really interesting finding comes from relating this baboon research to human bureaucracies. The baboon research is compared to a study of the British civil service which shows extraordinary parallels to the baboon research. As it turns out, the upper levels of the civil service have far less signs of stress than the lower levels of the civil service, since the lower levels have far less control over their fate and are constantly getting dumped on by those above them.

After establishing this fascinating comparison, the documentary goes on to describe some of the physiological effects of stress, which include such nasty things as unravelling chromosomes.

This is a fascinating documentary. It should be required viewing for anyone in labour relations, human resources, unions and by anyone who works in a bureaucratic organization.

This is extremely interesting material which could have a major impact on your health. Highly recommended.

I hope during the 30 years period of research, he would have simultaneously studied human behavior & their effects. We are already aware that the stress is the root cause of most of human problems. The study should give what are the internal reactions in human body & how to overcome those. They didn't mention about Adrenaline at all, produced by the adrenal glands playing an important role in short-term stress reaction.

But it's a good material to know more about stress.

This video is life changing. It brings to the forefront the IMPORTANCE of stress in determining our health status. I have used this personally and to open up conversations with teen groups about the need to begin early developing a strategy for living that incorporates a special understanding of our need for peaceful coexistence.

This is a very good video, very informative. I use it in my college stress management class. The students agree that the information is applicable and useful.

Good overview on stress that uses a healthy dose of evolutionary psychology, the discipline that connects human behavior to that of our evolutionary ancestors. This is not the movie for those who believe that humans are unique and evolutionarily disconnected from our closest ancestors, the monkeys and apes. It also emphasizes, indirectly, the affect of androgens (male hormones such as testosterone)on male behavior. Recent human studies have shown that high testosterone males are not only at-risk for aggression, but they also seem to make the poorest mates. Why? They tend to be at risk for infidelity, since their "drive" for sexual variety and immediacy can supersede their interest in being monogamous. Can this be seen in some monkeys and primates? Chimps and bonobos aren't nice to each other, nor are baboons. We can certainly add humans to this list. This movie also looks at the pathophysiology of stress in an easy-to-understand way that make for intriguing viewing. As college instructor who teaches health sciences, I recommend it for introductory A & P courses, Psychology majors, and Nursing programs.

Statistical and anecdotal evidence are convincingly presented to show the importance of stress to health and happiness. The information presented was so important to me that I reduced my work hours after watching this video.