A brilliant and incredibly well-written book.Every time I read something by Sapolsky I get amazed with how prodigious he is. No matter what he's talking about, everything he says is interesting and engaging. That summarises my feelings with this book. I don't find the stress subject very interesting, just because I often suffer from it, therefore I prefer to act like it doesn't exist, but unexpectedly, this helped me realize that I've been doing the entirely wrong thing (want to know why? read this book). However, don't come to this book expecting to get advice for your stress problems. This book will teach you about how your body reacts to stress, why it happens, the biology and chemistry behind it and also, how it could end up killing you. Just in the last chapter, Sapolsky will specifically talk about what could you do about it, though repetively saying that it's an entirely subjective thing. This summarizes it:By now, if you are not depressed by all the bad news in the preceding chapters, you probably have only been skimming. Stress can wreak havoc with your metabolism, raise your blood pressure, burst your white blood cells, make you flatulent, ruin your sex life and if that's not enough, possibly damage your brain. Why don't we throw in the towel right now?One of the greatest things about Sapolsky's books, it's that though some things are difficult to get, he will continually repeat what you have learned and how everything it's connected. Some topics may be hard, but he will do everything to make it clear for you.

this book is hi-la-ri-ous.not only does sapolsky brilliantly explain the science in an easily digestible way, he does it with flair and humor. had to read this for a class about stress and coping, and i found myself looking forward to each assignment.

To summarize: Adrenaline is a DEATH drug. It's designed to keep you alive for the next 15 seconds, or to ease your death. As such, it's necessarily thriftless. If you can survive to the 16th second only by losing a limb, it's worthwhile to sacrifice the limb. Otherwise, it's wasteful and disabling.Zebras don't get ulcers because they (mostly) only release stress hormones 'in the event of an actual emergency'. Humans deliberately evoke stress on an everyday basis, and the reckless decisions the body makes under the influence of stress hormones, too often, results in the loss of limbs, supression of the immune system, etc.Recommendation: don't pull the fire alarm unless there's a real fire.

This book is a good introduction to stress and its effects on physiology and psychology (Nicola's area of expertise). Although it is written for a lay audience, I often got the feeling it was written for a lay audience of primarily MDs.By the end of the book, you will feel like you and epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glucocorticoids are all old friends--but in spite of the terminology, it is really an easy read and full of good humor and interesting anecdotes (e.g. hyenas are very peculiar).Here is a quote, taken out of context, that I enjoyed:"Every child cannot grow up to be president; it turned out that merely by holding hands and singing folk songs we couldn't end all war, and hunger does not disappear just by visualizing a world without it....Would that it were so. And shame on those who would sell this view."You may not like all of his opinions. Sapolsky is an unapologetic atheist, but appears to have a high opinion of many religious people. He also speaks frankly about sex. He also believes in animal testing, although he thinks that some past tests went too far.

Going forward, I'm not going to stress myself over anything. While, I'm aware of how cortisol wreaks havoc, this book provides sheer evidence why our lifestyles are leading to shorter life spans. More letting go, sleep and meditation for me. For the ones who are fascinated by jargons in the biology and neuroscience field, grab this book already!