How to make stress your friend | Kelly McGonigal | TED

譯者: Ada Wang 審譯者: Jessie Lee

I have a confession to make.

我必須要坦誠一件事

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

但首先我希望在座的各位

也可以開誠布公一下

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

過去一年裡 有的話可不可以舉一下手

if you've experienced relatively little stress.

如果你曾感受到有一點點壓力的

Anyone?

有嗎？

How about a moderate amount of stress?

那如果說是一般的壓力呢？

Who has experienced a lot of stress?

那有沒有人是承受了相當大壓力的？

Yeah. Me too.

沒錯，我跟你們一樣

But that is not my confession.

但這不是我要跟大家坦誠的事

My confession is this:

我要跟大家坦誠的是： 我是健康心理學家

I am a health psychologist,

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

我的職責就是要幫助人們 過得更開心也更健康

But I fear that something I've been teaching

但我擔心過去這十年來所傳授的

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

恐怕反而是帶來了反效果

and it has to do with stress.

這跟壓力有關

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

這些年來我不斷告訴人們 壓力會帶來疾病

It increases the risk of everything from the common cold

它會增加生病的風險 小至一般的小感冒

to cardiovascular disease.

大至心血管疾病

基本上我把壓力視如敵人

Basically, I've turned stress into the enemy.

But I have changed my mind about stress,

但我現在對壓力有了不同的看法

and today, I want to change yours.

而今天我要改變你們的看法

Let me start with the study that made me rethink

讓我們從這個讓我重新思考

my whole approach to stress.

我對於壓力看法的研究報告說起吧

這個研究花了八年的時間 追蹤美國的三萬名成年人

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

and they started by asking people,

他們所做的就是先問受訪者

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

「過去一年裡你承受了多少的壓力？」

他們還會問：

They also asked,

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

「你是否相信壓力對你的健康有害？」

之後他們用戶政所的死亡記錄

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

去查出哪些人掛了

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Okay.

我先跟大家報告壞消息

Some bad news first.

People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year

過去一年裡承受相當大壓力的人

had a 43 percent increased risk of dying.

死亡的風險增加了43％

But that was only true for the people

但這只適用於那些

相信壓力是有害於健康的人

who also believed that stress is harmful for your health.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

People who experienced a lot of stress

那些承受很大壓力的人

but did not view stress as harmful

當他們不認為壓力是有害的

were no more likely to die.

就沒有面臨死亡的問題

In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying

事實上，這群人的死亡風險反而是最低的

of anyone in the study,

在研究中甚至比那些

including people who had relatively little stress.

只承受了一點點壓力的人還低

Now the researchers estimated that over the eight years

研究人員根據過去八年間

they were tracking deaths,

所追蹤的死亡人數作出統計

共有18萬2千美國人死於非命

182,000 Americans died prematurely,

not from stress,

死因並非壓力所導致

but from the belief that stress is bad for you.

而是因為他們相信壓力對身體有害 （笑聲）

(Laughter)

That is over 20,000 deaths a year.

這個數字顯示出 每年有超過2萬人因此死亡

Now, if that estimate is correct,

如果這個數字是正確的

that would make believing stress is bad for you

那麼相信壓力有害身體健康

就是第15大死因了

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

光去年一年在美國

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

死於這個原因的人 就比死於皮膚癌的人還多

也多於愛滋病或兇殺案

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

You can see why this study freaked me out.

由此可知為什麼這個研究 會讓我這麼擔憂了

Here I've been spending so much energy telling people

因為我多年來費盡心力告訴人們

壓力對健康是有害的

stress is bad for your health.

這項研究讓我不禁去想

So this study got me wondering:

Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier?

改變你對壓力的想法 就能讓你變得更健康嗎？

And here the science says yes.

然而科學確實證明了這點

When you change your mind about stress,

當你改變對壓力的看法

you can change your body's response to stress.

你同時也會改變身體 對於壓力的反應機制

Now to explain how this works,

現在為了向大家說明這如何運作

I want you all to pretend that you are participants

我希望大家假裝自己是這個

in a study designed to stress you out.

我希望大家假裝自己是這個

It's called the social stress test.

這叫做社會壓力測試

You come into the laboratory,

你進到這個實驗室裡

and you're told you have to give

被告知你要針對自己的弱點 進行一場五分鐘的即席演講

a five-minute impromptu speech on your personal weaknesses

被告知你要針對自己的弱點 進行一場五分鐘的即席演講

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

面對一群專業評審

and to make sure you feel the pressure,

並且為了確保你一定會倍感壓力

there are bright lights and a camera in your face,

你面前還會架設聚光燈跟相機

kind of like this.

大概像現在這樣

(Laughter)

And the evaluators have been trained

而且這些評審已經被告知

to give you discouraging, non-verbal feedback,

就是要給你像這樣洩氣的回應

like this.

(Exhales)

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

即便現在你已經完全像是個洩了氣的皮球

Now that you're sufficiently demoralized,

time for part two: a math test.

事情還沒完，下一步是數學測驗

And unbeknownst to you,

當然是在你不知情的情況下

the experimenter has been trained to harass you during it.

測試者會在過程中間騷擾你

Now we're going to all do this together.

我們現在要一起來做這個測驗

It's going to be fun.

會很好玩的

For me.

至少對我來說

Okay.

好，我要你們大家一起倒數

(Laughter)

I want you all to count backwards from 996

從996開始，以減7的方式倒算回去

in increments of seven.

You're going to do this out loud,

必須要數出聲來

as fast as you can,

而且念得越快越好 從996開始算起

starting with 996.

Go!

開始

(Audience counting)

觀眾：（倒數中）

Go faster. Faster please.

速度再加快，請數再快一點

你們算得太慢了

You're going too slow.

(Audience counting)

停，停，停，停下來

Stop. Stop, stop, stop.

That guy made a mistake.

那位老兄剛算錯了

We are going to have to start all over again.

所以我們必須從頭來過 （笑聲）

(Laughter)

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

你們大家數學好像不是太好喔

我相信大家都懂了

Okay, so you get the idea.

If you were actually in this study,

試想一下如果你真的在這個研究裡

you'd probably be a little stressed out.

你可能會感受到一些壓力

Your heart might be pounding,

你的心臟可能開始砰砰跳

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

你可能呼吸也會變得急促 甚至開始冒汗

And normally, we interpret these physical changes as anxiety

一般來說我們會將這些生理變化

解釋為焦慮

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

或是我們沒辦法應付壓力的徵兆

但如果你把這些生理反應

But what if you viewed them instead

看成是身體開始活絡

as signs that your body was energized,

was preparing you to meet this challenge?

並且在預備好讓你面對這個挑戰的徵兆呢？

這正是哈佛大學研究調查中 受試者所被告知的

Now that is exactly what participants were told

in a study conducted at Harvard University.

這正是哈佛大學研究調查中 受試者所被告知的

Before they went through the social stress test,

當他們進行這項社會壓力測試前

they were taught to rethink their stress response as helpful.

他們學習到這些壓力反應都是有益的

That pounding heart is preparing you for action.

比方說心臟跳很快 有助於準備進行下一個動作

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

呼吸變得急促 不是什麼大問題

It's getting more oxygen to your brain.

會讓你的大腦吸到更多氧氣

And participants who learned to view the stress response

當受試者學習將這些抗壓反應機制

as helpful for their performance,

視為有助於他們的表現時

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

他們反而感受到比較少的壓力

不再那麼緊張，也多了點自信

but the most fascinating finding to me

但我認為最有趣的發現是

was how their physical stress response changed.

就連他們在生理上的 抗壓反應都隨之改變了

Now, in a typical stress response,

在一般的抗壓反應中

your heart rate goes up,

人的心搏率會升高

and your blood vessels constrict like this.

你的血管會像這樣收縮

這也是為什麼長期的壓力

And this is one of the reasons that chronic stress

is sometimes associated with cardiovascular disease.

被列為導致心血管疾病原因之一

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

若血管一直長時間這樣收縮 的確是不太健康的

But in the study,

但在這個測試裡 當受試者視抗壓反應為有益的

when participants viewed their stress response as helpful,

但在這個測試裡 當受試者視抗壓反應為有益的

their blood vessels stayed relaxed like this.

他們的血管其實是保持像這樣子放鬆的狀態

Their heart was still pounding,

他們的心臟可能也是一樣砰砰跳

but this is a much healthier cardiovascular profile.

但是心血管所呈現出來的 卻是較健康的狀態

It actually looks a lot like what happens

看起來他們比較像是

in moments of joy and courage.

渡過了一段充滿喜樂和勇氣的時光

Over a lifetime of stressful experiences,

我們一生會經歷各種 大大小小令人感到壓力的事件

this one biological change

這一個生理上的改變

could be the difference

可能帶來的影響

between a stress-induced heart attack at age 50

將決定你是否會在50歲 就因壓力所導致的心臟病而英年早逝

and living well into your 90s.

或是能健健康康地活到90多歲

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

這也是經過最新研究壓力相關的科學所證實的

that how you think about stress matters.

你看待壓力的方式很重要

所以我身為健康心理學家的目標 也因此而有所改變

So my goal as a health psychologist has changed.

I no longer want to get rid of your stress.

我不再希望你去選擇擺脫壓力

I want to make you better at stress.

我希望你能更善於駕馭壓力

And we just did a little intervention.

在這裡要打岔一下

If you raised your hand and said

如果剛剛你舉手說

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

過去一年裡你承受了很大的壓力

we could have saved your life,

今天你的人生可能會就此改變

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

因為希望下次

當你的心臟因為感受到壓力而砰砰作響時

you're going to remember this talk

你會記得今天所聽到的

and you're going to think to yourself,

並會告訴自己

this is my body helping me rise to this challenge.

這是我的身體在幫助我面對這個挑戰

And when you view stress in that way,

當你可以面對壓力可以這樣處之泰然

your body believes you,

你的身體會聽命於你

and your stress response becomes healthier.

這樣你面對壓力的反應機制 就也會變得比較健康

Now I said I have over a decade of demonizing stress

我剛說我過去十幾年的時間 都把壓力妖魔化

to redeem myself from,

所以我今天要好好彌補一下

so we are going to do one more intervention.

現在我們要針對這點再重新思考

I want to tell you

我要告訴大家關於抗壓反應 最不為人知的一件事

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

我要告訴大家關於抗壓反應 最不為人知的一件事

and the idea is this:

那就是

Stress makes you social.

壓力會提升你的社交能力

To understand this side of stress,

要想理解關於壓力的這一面

我們必須先來聊聊催產素這個賀爾蒙

we need to talk about a hormone, oxytocin,

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

我知道催產素作為賀爾蒙的一種

已經很能夠發揮它該有的功效

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

它甚至有個很可愛的小名：抱抱賀爾蒙

because it's released when you hug someone.

會取這名字是因為當你跟人擁抱時 它就會被釋放出來

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

但這只是催產素功能的一小部分

Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone.

催產素是一種神經賀爾蒙

It fine-tunes your brain's social instincts.

它可以在腦袋裡微調你的社交本能

It primes you to do things

預備你去做些事情

that strengthen close relationships.

好增進你與他人的親密關係

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

催產素也會讓你渴望與人有肢體接觸

包括跟朋友和家人

It enhances your empathy.

它也有助於增強同理心

It even makes you more willing to help and support

它甚至會讓你更願意去幫助那些

the people you care about.

你所關心的人

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

還有人曾這麼建議

我們應該試著吸一點催產素

好變成一個更有同情心、關心別人的人

to become more compassionate and caring.

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

但大家不了解關於催產素的是

It's a stress hormone.

它是一種隨壓力而生的賀爾蒙

Your pituitary gland pumps this stuff out

當身體抗壓機制啓動時 你的腦下垂體就會激生這種激素

as part of the stress response.

It's as much a part of your stress response

幾乎是抗壓的同時就會產生的

as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound.

就好像腎上腺素會讓你的心臟加快速度一樣

And when oxytocin is released in the stress response,

而當催產素在抗壓過程中被釋放出來時

it is motivating you to seek support.

它會促使你去尋求幫助

Your biological stress response

生理上的抗壓反應

is nudging you to tell someone how you feel,

會讓你想要向人傾訴你的感受

instead of bottling it up.

而不是獨自悶著不講

Your stress response wants to make sure you notice

你的抗壓反應機制要確保你會注意到

when someone else in your life is struggling

身邊正在面對一些掙扎的人

so that you can support each other.

好讓你們成為彼此的幫助

When life is difficult,

若遇到了困難 你的抗壓反應機制

your stress response wants you to be surrounded

會讓你待在關心你的人身邊

by people who care about you.

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

那知道了這些可以怎麼幫助我們 更健康地去面對壓力呢

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

催產素不光是對我們頭腦裡的想法有效

It also acts on your body,

它也會在我們的身體裡有所作為

and one of its main roles in your body

其中最主要一個角色就是

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

保護我們的心血管系統

不受到壓力的影響

It's a natural anti-inflammatory.

它具有純天然的消炎功用

It also helps your blood vessels stay relaxed during stress.

它也可以讓血管在感受到 壓力的狀況下依然保持放鬆

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

但我個人最欣賞它能幫助我們的心臟

Your heart has receptors for this hormone,

你的心臟有一個針對 這種賀爾蒙而設的接收器

and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate

催產素還能幫助心臟細胞再生

and heal from any stress-induced damage.

跟治療因壓力而造成的受損心細胞

This stress hormone strengthens your heart.

這個壓力賀爾蒙能你的心臟更為強壯

And the cool thing is that all of these physical benefits

但更酷的是 我們剛所提 各種催產素所能帶來生理上的益處

of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support.

都能透過社交接觸或社會支持來強化

So when you reach out to others under stress,

所以當你在受到壓力的情況下去與人接觸

either to seek support or to help someone else,

不論是想要尋求幫助或是去幫助他人

you release more of this hormone,

你的身體都會更多釋放出這種賀爾蒙

your stress response becomes healthier,

於是你的抗壓機制會變得更為健康

and you actually recover faster from stress.

你就也可以更快地從壓力當中解脫

I find this amazing,

我發現這很奇妙

that your stress response has a built-in mechanism

我們體內的抗壓反應有一個

for stress resilience,

有助於紓緩壓力的內建機制

and that mechanism is human connection.

而這個機制就是人與人之間的互動

最後結束前 我想再跟大家分享一個研究報告

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

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

請注意聽 因為這份報告也可能會救你一命

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

這個研究追蹤了美國共一千位

and they ranged in age from 34 to 93,

年紀為34到93歲的成年人

and they started the study by asking,

這份調查中他們會問

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

「過去一年裡你承受了多少的壓力？」

They also asked,

還會問「你花了多少時間

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

去幫助你的朋友、鄰居

people in your community?"

或你身邊的人呢？」

And then they used public records for the next five years

然後他們又花了接下來五年的時間

to find out who died.

追蹤戶政所的死亡紀錄

Okay, so the bad news first:

好，我們先講壞消息

For every major stressful life experience,

我們生命當中可能成為 主要壓力來源的每一個事件

like financial difficulties or family crisis,

比方說財務困難或家庭風暴

that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent.

都會讓死亡率上升30個百分點

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

但是... 我希望大家都期待接下來要說的

but that wasn't true for everyone.

但是這並不適用於每個人的狀況

People who spent time caring for others

那些花時間去關心別人的人

showed absolutely no stress-related increase in dying.

壓力對他們的死亡率不具任何影響 是完全沒有任何影響

Zero.

Caring created resilience.

關心別人會讓我們抗壓性增加

And so we see once again

所以從這裡我們可以再次知道

that the harmful effects of stress on your health

壓力對於健康的損害並非不可避免的

are not inevitable.

How you think and how you act

你的想法跟反應

can transform your experience of stress.

可以改變你經歷壓力的方式

When you choose to view your stress response as helpful,

如果你選擇把身體 因壓力而產生的反應

當作有益的

you create the biology of courage.

那你自然而然會有勇氣去面對

And when you choose to connect with others under stress,

而當面臨到壓力時 你選擇去與人分享

you can create resilience.

你就能強化抗壓性

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

當然我不會刻意讓自己的生命 去經歷更多的壓力

當然我不會刻意讓自己的生命 去經歷更多的壓力

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

但是這項研究確實讓我 對於壓力有了一個全新的認識

但是這項研究確實讓我 對於壓力有了一個全新的認識

Stress gives us access to our hearts.

壓力讓我們有機會審視自己的心

The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning

當我們深富同情心時

我們就會享受於與人交心 並從中找到意義

in connecting with others,

and yes, your pounding physical heart,

是的，還有你跳得很快的心臟

working so hard to give you strength and energy.

正在努力地跳動 好供給你能力跟力量

And when you choose to view stress in this way,

當你這麼去看待壓力的時候

you're not just getting better at stress,

你就不會只是在壓力中成長

you're actually making a pretty profound statement.

而是更進一步傳達一個訊息

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

你在說的是，你相信自己 能夠面對生命裡頭的挑戰

你在說的是你相信自己 能夠面對生命裡頭的挑戰

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

並且會記得

你不必獨自面對這些挑戰

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）

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

Chris Anderson： 你剛剛跟我們分享的真是太神奇了

對我來說奇妙的是 光是我們怎麼看待壓力

It seems amazing to me that a belief about stress

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

就能對我們的壽命 造成如此大的差異

How would that extend to advice,

那我們可以如何運用這個概念 並且去給人建議

like, if someone is making a lifestyle choice

比方說，如果有人要做 一個生命中的重大決定

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

像是要在有龐大壓力 跟毫無壓力的工作中做選擇

does it matter which way they go?

他們怎麼選擇會有差嗎？

It's equally wise to go for the stressful job

即使選擇了壓力會很大的工作

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

只要相信自己可以做得來 就是明智的抉擇，可以這麼說嗎？

KM: Yeah, and one thing we know for certain

Kelly McGonigal：是啊 有件事是我們可以確定的

那就是尋求做有意義的事 比逃避不舒適還更有益於健康

is that chasing meaning is better for your health

than trying to avoid discomfort.

那就是尋求做有意義的事 比逃避不舒適還更有益於健康

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

所以我會說 做決定時最好的思考方向

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

就是去做會為你人生增加意義的事

然後相信自己可以面對 將隨之而來的壓力

and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.

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

CA：非常感謝妳，Kelly。這真的很棒。 KM：謝謝

（掌聲）

(Applause)