How to make stress your friend | Kelly McGonigal | TED

Translator: David J. Kreps Finnemann Reviewer: Casper Schmidt

I have a confession to make.

Jeg har en tilståelse,

But first, I want you to make a little confession to me.

men først, vil jeg bede jer om

at komme med en lille tilståelse til mig.

In the past year, I want you to just raise your hand

I løbet af det sidste år, ræk hånden i vejret,

if you've experienced relatively little stress.

hvis I har oplevet relativt lidt stress.

Anyone?

Nogen?

How about a moderate amount of stress?

Hvad med en moderat mængde stress?

Who has experienced a lot of stress?

Hvem har oplevet meget stress?

Yeah. Me too.

Ja. Også mig.

But that is not my confession.

Men det er ikke min tilståelse.

My confession is this:

Min tilståelse er dette: jeg er sundhedspsykolog,

I am a health psychologist,

and my mission is to help people be happier and healthier.

og min mission er at hjælpe mennesker til at være gladere og sundere.

But I fear that something I've been teaching

Men jeg er bange for at noget jeg har prædiket

for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good,

de sidste 10 år gør mere skade end gavn,

and it has to do with stress.

og det har med stress at gøre.

For years I've been telling people, stress makes you sick.

I årevis har jeg fortalt mennesker, at stress gør en syg.

It increases the risk of everything from the common cold

Det øger risikoen for alt fra almindelig forkølelse

to cardiovascular disease.

til hjerte-karsygdomme.

Dybest set, har jeg gjort stress til fjenden.

Basically, I've turned stress into the enemy.

But I have changed my mind about stress,

Men jeg har ændret mening med hensyn til stress,

and today, I want to change yours.

og i dag, vil jeg ændre jeres.

Let me start with the study that made me rethink

Lad mig begynde med den undersøgelse der fik mig til at revurdere

my whole approach to stress.

hele min tilgang til stress.

Denne undersøgelse fulgte 30.000 voksne i USA

This study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years,

i otte år, og de begyndte med at spørge folk,

and they started by asking people,

"How much stress have you experienced in the last year?"

"Hvor meget stress har du oplevet i det sidste år?"

De spurgte også, "Mener du

They also asked,

"Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?"

at stress er farligt for dit helbred?"

And then they used public death records to find out who died.

Og så brugte de offentlige dødelighedsstatistikker

til at finde ud af hvem der døde.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Okay.

Okay. De dårlige nyt først.

Some bad news first.

People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year

Folk der oplevede en masse stress i det forgående år

had a 43 percent increased risk of dying.

havde 43 procent forhøjet risiko for at dø.

But that was only true for the people

Men det var kun sandt for de mennesker

who also believed that stress is harmful for your health.

der også troede på at stress er dårligt for ens helbred.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

People who experienced a lot of stress

Mennesker der oplevede en masse stress

but did not view stress as harmful

men ikke så på stress som skadeligt

were no more likely to die.

havde ikke større sandsynlig for at dø.

In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying

Faktisk, havde de den laveste risiko for at dø

of anyone in the study,

ud af dem der var med i undersøgelsen, inklusiv de mennesker

including people who had relatively little stress.

der oplevede relativt lidt stress.

Now the researchers estimated that over the eight years

Forskerne skønnede at i løbet af de otte år

they were tracking deaths,

de talte dødsfald,

døde 182.000 amerikanere for tidligt,

182,000 Americans died prematurely,

not from stress,

ikke af stress, men af troen på

but from the belief that stress is bad for you.

at stress er dårligt for en. (Latter)

(Laughter)

That is over 20,000 deaths a year.

Det er mere end 20.000 dødsfald om året.

Now, if that estimate is correct,

Hvis det skøn er rigtigt,

that would make believing stress is bad for you

ville det gøre det svært at tro på at stress er dårligt for en

den 15. hyppigste dødsårsag

the 15th largest cause of death in the United States last year,

i USA sidste år,

killing more people than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS and homicide.

dræbte flere mennesker end hudkræft,

HIV/AIDS og selvmord.

(Latter)

(Laughter)

You can see why this study freaked me out.

I kan nok se hvorfor denne undersøgelse skræmte mig.

Here I've been spending so much energy telling people

Her har jeg brugt så meget energi på at fortælle mennesker

at stress er dårligt for ens helbred.

stress is bad for your health.

Så denne undersøgelse fik mig til at overveje:

So this study got me wondering:

Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier?

Kan det at ændre hvordan man tænker på stress

gøre en sundere? Og her siger videnskaben ja.

And here the science says yes.

When you change your mind about stress,

Når man ændrer mening om stress,

you can change your body's response to stress.

kan man ændre sin krops reaktion på stress.

Now to explain how this works,

Nu skal jeg forklare hvordan det fungerer,

I want you all to pretend that you are participants

jeg vil bede jer alle om at forestille jer at I er deltagere

in a study designed to stress you out.

i et forsøg der er designet til at stresse jer maksimalt.

It's called the social stress test.

Det hedder den sociale stresstest.

You come into the laboratory,

Man kommer ind i et laboratorium,

and you're told you have to give

og man får at vide at man skal give en fem minutters

a five-minute impromptu speech on your personal weaknesses

improviseret tale om ens personlige svagheder

to a panel of expert evaluators sitting right in front of you,

til et panel af eksperter der sidder lige foran en,

and to make sure you feel the pressure,

og for at være sikker på man føler sig presset,

there are bright lights and a camera in your face,

er der skinnende lys og et kamera i ens ansigt,

kind of like this.

lidt ligesom her.

(Laughter)

And the evaluators have been trained

Og de eksperterne er blevet instrueret i

to give you discouraging, non-verbal feedback,

at give en nedslåede, ikke-verbal feedback, ligesom dette.

like this.

(Exhales)

(Latter)

(Laughter)

Nu hvor man er grundigt demoraliseret,

Now that you're sufficiently demoralized,

time for part two: a math test.

er det tid til anden del: en matematik test.

And unbeknownst to you,

Og man ved ikke at

the experimenter has been trained to harass you during it.

forsøgslederen er blevet instrueret i at chikanere en i løbet af testen.

Now we're going to all do this together.

Nu skal vi alle gøre dette sammen.

It's going to be fun.

Det bliver sjovt.

For me.

For mig.

Okay.

Okay. Jeg vil have jer til at tælle baglæns

(Laughter)

I want you all to count backwards from 996

fra 996, syv ad gangen.

in increments of seven.

You're going to do this out loud,

I skal tælle højt

as fast as you can,

så hurtigt som I kan, begyndende med 996.

starting with 996.

Go!

Start!

(Audience counting)

Publikum: (Tæller)

Go faster. Faster please.

Hurtigere. Hurtigere tak.

I gør det for langsomt.

You're going too slow.

(Audience counting)

Stop. Stop, stop, stop.

Stop. Stop, stop, stop.

That guy made a mistake.

Den fyr lavede en fejl.

We are going to have to start all over again.

Vi starter forfra igen. (Latter)

(Laughter)

You're not very good at this, are you?

Du er ikke særlig god til dette, er du?

Okay, så I forstår.

Okay, so you get the idea.

If you were actually in this study,

Hvis I faktisk deltog i dette forsøg,

you'd probably be a little stressed out.

ville I sikkert være lidt stressede nu.

Your heart might be pounding,

Ens hjerte banker måske kraftigt,

you might be breathing faster, maybe breaking out into a sweat.

I trækker måske vejret hurtigere, måske begynder I at svede lidt.

And normally, we interpret these physical changes as anxiety

Og normalvis, fortolker vi disse fysiske ændringer

som angst

or signs that we aren't coping very well with the pressure.

eller tegn på at vi ikke håndterer presset særlig godt.

Men hvad hvis man i stedet så dem

But what if you viewed them instead

som tegn på at ens krop var klar,

as signs that your body was energized,

was preparing you to meet this challenge?

og forberedte en på at møde denne udfordring?

Det er præcis det deltagerne blev fortalt

Now that is exactly what participants were told

in a study conducted at Harvard University.

i en undersøgelse der blev gennemført på Harvard University.

Before they went through the social stress test,

Inden de gennemgik den sociale stresstest,

they were taught to rethink their stress response as helpful.

blev de lært at tolke deres stressreaktioner som nyttige.

That pounding heart is preparing you for action.

Det bankende hjerte forbereder en på aktion.

If you're breathing faster, it's no problem.

Hvis man trækker vejret hurtigere, er det ikke noget problem.

It's getting more oxygen to your brain.

Det giver mere ilt til hjernen.

And participants who learned to view the stress response

Og deltagere der lærte at se på stressreaktionen

as helpful for their performance,

som nyttige for deres præstation,

well, they were less stressed out, less anxious, more confident,

jamen, de var mindre stressede,

mindre ængstelige, mere selvsikre,

but the most fascinating finding to me

men det resultat der fascinerede mig mest

was how their physical stress response changed.

var hvordan deres fysiske stress reaktion ændrede sig.

Now, in a typical stress response,

I en typisk stressreaktion,

your heart rate goes up,

stiger ens puls,

and your blood vessels constrict like this.

og ens blodkar trækker sig sammen på denne måde.

Og dette er en af grundene til at kronisk stress

And this is one of the reasons that chronic stress

is sometimes associated with cardiovascular disease.

nogle gange bliver associeret med hjerte-karsygdomme.

It's not really healthy to be in this state all the time.

Det er ikke særlig sundt at være i denne tilstand hele tiden.

But in the study,

Men i undersøgelsen, når deltagere tolkede

when participants viewed their stress response as helpful,

deres stressreaktion som hjælpsom,

their blood vessels stayed relaxed like this.

forblev deres blodkar afslappede ligesom dette.

Their heart was still pounding,

Deres hjerte bankede stadigvæk,

but this is a much healthier cardiovascular profile.

men dette er en meget sundere kardiovaskulær profil,

It actually looks a lot like what happens

Det ligner utrolig meget det der sker i

in moments of joy and courage.

øjeblikke med glæde og mod.

Over a lifetime of stressful experiences,

I løbet af et liv med stressende oplevelser,

this one biological change

kunne denne ene biologiske ændring

could be the difference

være forskellen

between a stress-induced heart attack at age 50

mellem et stress fremkaldt hjertestop i en alder af 50

and living well into your 90s.

eller et liv til et godt stykke over 90.

And this is really what the new science of stress reveals,

Og dette er i virkeligheden det den nye viden om stress afslører,

that how you think about stress matters.

at hvordan man tænker om stress gør en forskel.

Mit mål som sundhedspsykolog har ændret sig.

So my goal as a health psychologist has changed.

I no longer want to get rid of your stress.

Jeg vil ikke længere af med stress.

I want to make you better at stress.

Jeg vil gøre jer bedre til stress.

And we just did a little intervention.

Og vi gennemførte lige en lille intervention.

If you raised your hand and said

Hvis du var en af dem som rakte hånden op og sagde

you'd had a lot of stress in the last year,

at de oplevede meget stress i løbet af det sidste år,

we could have saved your life,

Har vi måske lige reddet dit liv,

because hopefully the next time your heart is pounding from stress,

fordi forhåbentlig næste gang

dit hjerte banker på grund af stress,

you're going to remember this talk

vil du huske dette foredrag

and you're going to think to yourself,

og du vil kunne sige ti dig selv,

this is my body helping me rise to this challenge.

dette er min krop der hjælper mig med klare overkomme udfordring.

And when you view stress in that way,

Og når man ser på stress på den måde,

your body believes you,

så tror ens krop på det,

and your stress response becomes healthier.

og ens stress reaktion bliver sundere.

Now I said I have over a decade of demonizing stress

Nu sagde jeg at jeg havde over et årti med dæmoniserende stress

to redeem myself from,

for at rette op på det,

so we are going to do one more intervention.

skal vi laver endnu en intervention.

I want to tell you

Jeg vil fortælle jer om et af de mest

about one of the most under-appreciated aspects of the stress response,

oversete fordel ved stressreaktionen,

and the idea is this:

og ideen er dette:

Stress makes you social.

Stress gør en social.

To understand this side of stress,

For at forstå denne side af stress,

skal vi tale om hormonet, oxytocin,

we need to talk about a hormone, oxytocin,

and I know oxytocin has already gotten as much hype as a hormone can get.

og jeg ved oxytocin allerede har fået

så meget hype som et hormon kan få.

It even has its own cute nickname, the cuddle hormone,

Det har endda sit eget nuttede øgenavn, puttehormonet,

because it's released when you hug someone.

fordi det bliver frigivet når man krammer nogen.

But this is a very small part of what oxytocin is involved in.

Men det er en meget lille del af hvad oxytocin er involveret i.

Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone.

Oxytocin er et neuro-hormon.

It fine-tunes your brain's social instincts.

Det fintuner ens hjernes sociale instinkter.

It primes you to do things

Det får en til at gøre ting

that strengthen close relationships.

der styrker de nære relationer.

Oxytocin makes you crave physical contact with your friends and family.

Oxytocin får en til at tørste efter fysisk kontakt

med ens venner og familie.

It enhances your empathy.

Det forstærker ens empati.

It even makes you more willing to help and support

Det gør endda en mere villig til at hjælpe og støtte

the people you care about.

de mennesker man holder af.

Some people have even suggested we should snort oxytocin...

Nogle mennesker har endda foreslået

at vi burde sniffe oxytocin

for at blive mere medmenneskelige og omsorgsfulde.

to become more compassionate and caring.

But here's what most people don't understand about oxytocin.

Men her er hvad de fleste mennesker ikke forstår

om oxytocin.

It's a stress hormone.

Det er et stresshormon.

Your pituitary gland pumps this stuff out

Ens hypofyse pumper dette stads ud

as part of the stress response.

som en del af stressreaktionen.

It's as much a part of your stress response

Det er lige så stor en del af stressreaktionen

as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound.

som adrenalinen der får ens hjerte til at banke.

And when oxytocin is released in the stress response,

Og når oxytocin bliver frigivet i stressreaktionen,

it is motivating you to seek support.

motiverer det en til at søge støtte.

Your biological stress response

Ens biologiske stress reaktion

is nudging you to tell someone how you feel,

skubber en til at fortælle en hvordan man har det

instead of bottling it up.

i stedet for at lukker det inde.

Your stress response wants to make sure you notice

Ens stressreaktion vil være sikker på at man lægger mærke til

when someone else in your life is struggling

når en anden i ens liv kæmper

so that you can support each other.

så man kan støtte hinanden.

When life is difficult,

Når livet er svært, vil ens stressreaktion have en til

your stress response wants you to be surrounded

at være omgivet af mennesker der holder af en.

by people who care about you.

Okay, so how is knowing this side of stress going to make you healthier?

Okay, så hvordan vil denne viden om stress

gøre en raskere?

Well, oxytocin doesn't only act on your brain.

Jamen, oxytocin påvirker ikke kun hjernen.

It also acts on your body,

Det påvirker også kroppen,

and one of its main roles in your body

og en af dets vigtigste roller i ens krop

is to protect your cardiovascular system from the effects of stress.

er at beskytte ens kardiovaskulære system

fra effekterne af stress.

It's a natural anti-inflammatory.

Det er naturligt anti-inflammatorisk.

It also helps your blood vessels stay relaxed during stress.

Det hjælper også ens blodkar med at forblive afslappede under stress.

But my favorite effect on the body is actually on the heart.

Men min yndlingseffekt på kroppen er faktisk hjertet.

Your heart has receptors for this hormone,

Ens hjerte har receptorer til dette hormon,

and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate

og oxytocin hjælper hjerteceller med at regenerere

and heal from any stress-induced damage.

og hele fra enhver stress fremkaldt skade.

This stress hormone strengthens your heart.

Dette stress hormon styrker ens hjerte,

And the cool thing is that all of these physical benefits

og det fede er at alle disse fysiske fordele

of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support.

ved oxytocin bliver forstærket af social kontakt

og social støtte,

So when you reach out to others under stress,

så når man rækker ud til andre under stress,

either to seek support or to help someone else,

enten for at søge støtte eller for at hjælpe en anden,

you release more of this hormone,

frigiver man mere af dette hormon,

your stress response becomes healthier,

ens stress reaktion bliver sundere,

and you actually recover faster from stress.

og man kommer sig faktisk hurtigere over stress.

I find this amazing,

Jeg synes det er fantastisk,

that your stress response has a built-in mechanism

at ens stress reaktion har en indbygget mekanisme

for stress resilience,

til at modstå effekterne af stress,

and that mechanism is human connection.

og den mekanisme er menneskelig kontakt.

Jeg vil slutte af med at fortælle jer om endnu en undersøgelse.

I want to finish by telling you about one more study.

And listen up, because this study could also save a life.

Og hør efter, fordi denne undersøgelse kan også redde liv.

This study tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States,

Undersøgelsen fulgte 1.000 voksne i USA,

and they ranged in age from 34 to 93,

i alderen 34 til 93,

and they started the study by asking,

og de begyndte undersøgelsen med at spørge,

"How much stress have you experienced in the last year?"

"Hvor meget stress har du oplevet i det foregående år?"

They also asked,

De spurgte også, "Hvor meget tid har du brugt på

"How much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors,

at hjælpe vores venner, naboer,

people in your community?"

mennesker i dit nærsamfund?"

And then they used public records for the next five years

Og så brugte de offentlige optegnelser i de næste fem år

to find out who died.

for at finde ud af hvem der døde.

Okay, so the bad news first:

Okay, så de dårlige nyheder først:

For every major stressful life experience,

For hver større stressende oplevelse i livet,

like financial difficulties or family crisis,

som økonomiske vanskeligheder eller familie krise,

that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent.

øgedes risikoen for at dø med 30 procent.

But -- and I hope you are expecting a "but" by now --

Men -- og jeg håber I forventede et "men" --

but that wasn't true for everyone.

men det gjaldt ikke for alle.

People who spent time caring for others

Mennesker der brugte tid på at tage sig af andre

showed absolutely no stress-related increase in dying.

viste absolut ingen stress relateret forøgelse i dødsraten. Nul.

Zero.

Caring created resilience.

Omsorg skabte robusthed.

And so we see once again

Så vi ser igen

that the harmful effects of stress on your health

at de sundhedsskadelige virkninger af stress

are not inevitable.

kan undgås.

How you think and how you act

Måden man tænker og handler

can transform your experience of stress.

kan ændre ens oplevelse af stress.

When you choose to view your stress response as helpful,

Når man vælger at se på ens stress reaktion

som nyttig,

you create the biology of courage.

skaber man modets biologi.

And when you choose to connect with others under stress,

Og når man vælger at række ud til andre under stress,

you can create resilience.

kan man skabe robusthed.

Now I wouldn't necessarily ask for more stressful experiences in my life,

Nu vil jeg ikke nødvendigvis bede

om flere stressede oplevelser i mit liv,

but this science has given me a whole new appreciation for stress.

men denne viden har givet mig

en hel ny påskønnelse af stress.

Stress gives us access to our hearts.

Stress giver os adgang til vores hjerter.

The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning

Det medmenneskelige hjerte der finder glæde og mening

in connecting with others,

i at række ud til andre,

and yes, your pounding physical heart,

og ja, ens bankende fysiske hjerte,

working so hard to give you strength and energy.

arbejder så hårdt på at give en styrke og energi,

And when you choose to view stress in this way,

og når man vælger at se stress på denne måde,

you're not just getting better at stress,

bliver man ikke bare bedre til stress,

you're actually making a pretty profound statement.

man udtrykker faktisk et inderligt budskab.

You're saying that you can trust yourself to handle life's challenges.

Man siger at man stoler nok på sig selv

til at håndtere livets udfordringer,

And you're remembering that you don't have to face them alone.

og man husker på at

man ikke behøver at stå alene med dem.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Chris Anderson: This is kind of amazing, what you're telling us.

Chris Anderson: Det er ret forbløffende, det du fortæller os.

Det virker utroligt på mig at opfattelsen af stress

It seems amazing to me that a belief about stress

can make so much difference to someone's life expectancy.

kan have så stor indflydelse på folks levetid.

How would that extend to advice,

Hvordan kan det omsættes til et råd,

like, if someone is making a lifestyle choice

altså, hvis nogen foretager et livsstil valg

between, say, a stressful job and a non-stressful job,

mellem, lad os sige, et stressende job og et ikke stressende job,

does it matter which way they go?

gør det nogen forskel hvilken vej de går?

It's equally wise to go for the stressful job

Er det lige så klogt at gå efter det stressende job

so long as you believe that you can handle it, in some sense?

hvis blot man tror på at man kan klare det, på en måde?

KM: Yeah, and one thing we know for certain

Kelly McGonigal: Ja, og en ting vi ved med sikkerhed er,

at jagten på mening er bedre for ens helbred

is that chasing meaning is better for your health

than trying to avoid discomfort.

end at prøve at undgå ubehag.

And so I would say that's really the best way to make decisions,

Så jeg ville sige at det i virkeligheden er den bedste måde at træffe beslutninger på,

is go after what it is that creates meaning in your life

er at gå efter det der skaber mening i ens liv

og så stole på en selv til at håndtere den stress der følger med.

and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.

CA: Thank you so much, Kelly. It's pretty cool.

CA: Mange tak, Kelly. Det er temmelig sejt. KM: Tak.

(Bifald)

(Applause)