Book quiz
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping Quiz
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and CopingRobert M. SapolskyWhy does a zebra that has just escaped a lion go back to grazing a minute later, while a person can fall ill from years of worrying about the future? Robert Sapolsky shows how the stress response, built for short chases, hits the heart, the stomach, growth and memory when it never switches off. You will learn what…
Question 1 of 5
Why does the same stress response that saves a zebra from a lion harm a human?
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Right answer: Thoughts keep it on for weeks, and the body stops repairing itself
For a minute-long chase the response pays off. But a human triggers it with thoughts and keeps it on for weeks, and all that time the body puts off repairs.
Question 2 of 5
One coworker is always in a rush, another sees everyone as an opponent. Whose heart is at more risk?
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Right answer: The one who sees other people as opponents
Of the whole Type A picture, one trait is most strongly tied to heart disease: hostility. What hurts the heart is not speed but constant readiness to fight.
Question 3 of 5
A job answer was promised "sometime in the next few days," and it gives you no peace. What eases the stress?
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Right answer: Find out the exact date of the answer, even if it's bad
Not knowing hits harder than knowing. Like the rat that hears a signal before each shock, predictability lets you relax the rest of the time.
Question 4 of 5
How is good stress, like on a roller coaster, different from bad stress?
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Right answer: It's short, moderate and happens within a safe frame
Good stress also revs up the body; the difference isn't strength. It's short, moderate and happens in a safe frame, so it energizes instead of wearing you out.
Question 5 of 5
All the civil servants had the same medical care. Why did those in the lowest positions have more heart disease?
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Right answer: They had less control, predictability and outlets
Being poor hurts not only through a lack of money. It takes away control, predictability and outlets, the very things that tormented the rats in Weiss's experiments.
Want all of the book's key ideas? Read or listen to its retelling in Livria.