Five Antidotes to Stress
With thanks to the work of Jim Blascovich, Robert Sapolsky, and Françoise Mathieu
There are five non-physical threats or stressors that cause illness in primates. They are described by
Robert Sapolksy, Ph.D. in his book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. These primal threats are the essential
ingredients of any horror movie: 1) no control over circumstances; 2) cannot predict what will happen
next; 3) facing it alone; 4) no escape; and 5) no hope of it getting better. If you can reduce any one of
these factors, especially the one that is threatening you most, your stress and the damage it does to your
body is reduced considerably. The following strategies directly counteract these primal threats by adding
the resources that help you to see the threats differently­—as challenges. This creates a more confident
motivational state and less wear and tear on your body.
1. CONTROL – Choose more consciously your schedule, work, and lifestyle. Exercise selfgovernance in the things you can control. Less chaos means less stress.
• Self-Care: Cover the basics that everyone knows:
sleep, diet, exercise. Customize your own self-care
action items in ways that are realistic, make sense,
and put you in the driver’s seat.
• Work/Life Balance: Improve your work, play, and
rest balance. The number of hours per week spent
with traumatized people is the primary predictor of
vicarious trauma.
• Commitment: Commit to a one percent change—the one small significant change you will
implement. Build the habit of successfully taking small yet pivotal steps. This is not about
impressive accomplishments; it’s about your capacity to gradually improve your
well-being repeatedly.
2. FORESIGHT – Be better able to predict where stress will come from.
• Occupational Hazards: Understand what is happening to you. Know the occupational
stress hazards, the risk factors, of your profession.
• Warning Signs: Recognize them early. Know your
habits, vulnerabilities, and blind spots. Notice your
stressors at home and work.
• Training: Get more training on the aspects of your
job in which you have least training. Build your
skills, understanding, and contacts in all your areas
of responsibility—you will be most stressed where
you know the least.
• Narrative Medicine: Learn to write and tell your stories; they will help you make sense of
your experiences and recognize the themes, patterns, and lessons in your life.
3. CONNECTIONS – Stay in touch with those who bring out the best in you; don’t face stress
alone.
• Social support: Create and restore your social supports at home, at work, and in your
community (chronic stress will isolate you). Find strategic allies.
Oxygen for Caregivers © 2014 Adventures in Caring Foundation
• Empower co-workers, family, and friends; the more disempowered people are, the more
they turn on each other.
• Stay away from toxic people, chronic complainers
(the BMW’s who bitch, moan, or whine) and those
who bully and commit “horizontal violence” in the
workplace.
• Good Company: Spend time with people who inspire,
ennoble, and are role models for you. Belong to a
group where you feel a sense of camaraderie and
purpose.
4. OUTLETS – Always have a safety valve to let off steam or a way to escape from stress.
• Debriefing: Know what to do with all of the traumatic stories you hear. Regularly practice
low-impact debriefing (but share your stories without
traumatizing others).
• Contingency Plan: Know who will be your go-to
person. Then ask for help before it’s a crisis. Don’t be
intimidated by stigma. Seeking help from friends or
professionals is not a sign of personal failure—it’s the
smart thing to do.
• Sanctuary: Find a safe place and set aside time
regularly where you can be quiet and find peace.
5. HOPE – Always have something to look forward to, something to hold onto, a sense of progress,
and the skills to know that you can bounce back.
• Resilience: Build resiliency with regular training in self-awareness, relaxation, and in
moderating empathic hyper-arousal. Stay in touch with what is most meaningful, inspiring,
and joyful in your life, and have daily exposure to wiser perspectives. Develop the capacity
to find peace whenever necessary through daily
practice. The ABC’s of resilience are Awareness,
Balance, and Connectedness.
• Inner Work: No matter how much we exercise or eat
right, how skillful our stress management, how good
our intentions, how educated we are, or what we
believe in, there is no substitute for doing our own
interior self-care. Happiness is an inside job.
• Faith: Believe you can choose a brighter future and change your life for the better.
Beneficial changes are always possible with good people, perspectives, and practices in your
life.
Teaching the art and the practice of compassion in the service of healing
www.AdventuresInCaring.org
Simon Fox is Executive Director of the Adventures in Caring
Foundation and author of Oxygen for Caregivers: Guarding
Against Burnout, Sustaining Compassion, an interdisciplinary
team-learning program for health care and emergency service
professionals. Contact: [email protected]
Oxygen for Caregivers © 2014 Adventures in Caring Foundation