TED演讲：如何让压力成为朋友？

中英演讲稿：

I have a confession to make, but first, I want you to make a little confession to me. In the past year, I want you to just raise your hand

我要坦白一个事实 但是首先，我希望你们 能够对我做出一点坦白。 在过去的一年里，只要举手就好

if you've experienced relatively little stress. Anyone?

你们是否经历过相对较小的压力。 有人吗?

How about a moderate amount of stress?

那么中等量的压力呢?

Who has experienced a lot of stress? Yeah. Me too.

谁又经历过很多的压力呢? 好的。我也一样。

But that is not my confession. My confession is this: I am a health psychologist, and my mission is to help people be happier and healthier. But I fear that something I've been teaching for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good, and it has to do with stress. For years I've been telling people, stress makes you sick. It increases the risk of everything from the common cold to cardiovascular disease. Basically, I've turned stress into the enemy. But I have changed my mind about stress, and today, I want to change yours.

但是那不是我要坦白的。 我要坦诚的是：我是一个健康心理学家， 我的任务是使人们更加的开心和健康。 但是，我恐怕过去十年我一直所教授的 带来的坏处要超过好处， 这些都与压力有关。 多年以来，我一直告诉人们，压力能够使你们变得脆弱。 压力能够增加患上很多疾病的风险：从普通感冒到心血管疾病等 到心血管疾病。 事实上，我把压力看作敌人。 但是，我已经改变了我对压力的看法， 而且今天，我也要改变你们对压力的看法。

Let me start with the study that made me rethink my whole approach to stress. This study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years, and they started by asking people, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?" And then they used public death records to find out who died.

让我以一个使我重新思考我所有对压力看法的 研究开始。 这个研究追踪了30，000 个美国成年人 8 年，研究以问这些被研究者 “在过去的一年里，你们经历过多少的压力”开始 同时，他们也被问到：“ 你们相信 压力对你们的健康是有害的吗? 之后，研究者使用公众死亡记录 来确定谁死亡了。

(Laughter)

(笑)

Okay. Some bad news first. People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43 percent increased risk of dying. But that was only true for the people who also believed that stress is harmful for your health. (Laughter) People who experienced a lot of stress but did not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress.

首先是一些坏的消息， 那些在过去的一年经历较多压力的人们 死亡的风险增加了43%。 但是这只是针对那些 相信压力对健康有害的人们。 (笑) 而那些经历较多压力 但是并不认为压力对身体有害的人们 并不容易死亡。 实际上，他们的死亡风险在 这个研究的所有测试者，包括那些经历相对较少压力的人们中 是最低的。

Now the researchers estimated that over the eight years they were tracking deaths, 182,000 Americans died prematurely, not from stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you. (Laughter) That is over 20,000 deaths a year. Now, if that estimate is correct, that would make believing stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death in the United States last year, killing more people than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS and homicide.

目前，研究者们估计在过去他们追踪死亡的8 年当中， 追踪死亡的8年当中， 有182，000 个美国人过早的死亡了， 但是并不是因为压力，而是因为相信 压力对他们的健康是有害的。(笑) 这表明，每年会有超过20，000的死亡者。 目前，如果这一估计数字正确的话， 将会使相信压力对身体有害这一观念 成为过去一年中 美国第十五大死亡因素， 多于皮肤癌， 艾滋病和被谋杀的死亡人数。

(Laughter)

(笑)

You can see why this study freaked me out. Here I've been spending so much energy telling people stress is bad for your health.

这些你们知道为什么这一研究使我抓狂了吧。 过去，我一直花费大量的经历告诉人们压力有害于你们的健康。

So this study got me wondering: Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier? And here the science says yes. When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body's response to stress.

因此，这一研究使我觉得疑惑： 是否改变对压力的态度 能够使人们更健康?科学告诉我们确实如此。 当你改变你对压力的观念 你便能改变你身体对于压力的反应。

Now to explain how this works, I want you all to pretend that you are participants in a study designed to stress you out. It's called the social stress test. You come into the laboratory, and you're told you have to give a five-minute impromptu speech on your personal weaknesses to a panel of expert evaluators sitting right in front of you, and to make sure you feel the pressure, there are bright lights and a camera in your face, kind of like this. And the evaluators have been trained to give you discouraging, non-verbal feedback like this.

现在，我来解释一下这一原理， 我希望你们都假设自己参与 一个设计使你们感觉到压力的研究中。 这一研究叫做社会压力测试。 你们进入一个实验室， 被告诉你必须对着坐在你面前的专家评委 做一个五分钟的 事先无准备的关于你性格弱点的演讲， 同时为了确保你感受到压力 会有明亮的灯光和摄像机打在你的脸上， 就像这样。 而这些评委，则事先训练好 给予你消极的非语言上的反馈，就像这样。

(Laughter)

(笑)

Now that you're sufficiently demoralized, time for part two: a math test. And unbeknownst to you, the experimenter has been trained to harass you during it. Now we're going to all do this together. It's going to be fun. For me.

现在，你已经足够的失落， 然后进入到第二部分：数学测验。 令你措手不及的是 实验人员在这个过程中不断的打扰你。 现在让我们一起来做这个实验。 这将很有意思。 对于我来说。

Okay. I want you all to count backwards from 996 in increments of seven. You're going to do this out loud as fast as you can, starting with 996. Go! Audience: (Counting) Go faster. Faster please. You're going too slow. Stop. Stop, stop, stop.

我希望你们所有人倒数数字 从996 开始以7递减。 你们必须大声的说出来 尽可能的快，从996开始。 开始! 听众(数数) 快点。快点。 你们太慢了。 停。停，停，停。 这位男士错了 我们必须从新开始。

That guy made a mistake. We are going to have to start all over again. (Laughter) You're not very good at this, are you? Okay, so you get the idea. Now, if you were actually in this study, you'd probably be a little stressed out. Your heart might be pounding, you might be breathing faster, maybe breaking out into a sweat. And normally, we interpret these physical changes as anxiety or signs that we aren't coping very well with the pressure.

你们并不擅长于此，对吧? 因此，你们知道那种感觉了吧。 如果你们真的参与到这个研究当中， 你们应该会有一些压力。 你的心脏也许会砰砰直跳， 你也许会呼吸加快，也许会一头汗水。 正常情况下，我们会解释这种身体的改变 为焦虑或者我们不能很好应对这种压力的信号。

But what if you viewed them instead as signs that your body was energized, was preparing you to meet this challenge? Now that is exactly what participants were told in a study conducted at Harvard University.

但是如果你们把这些看作为你们身体充满活力并准备好应对这一压力的信号又会怎样? 这些话实际上正是参与者在哈佛大学参与这项研究时所告知的。

Before they went through the social stress test, they were taught to rethink their stress response as helpful. That pounding heart is preparing you for action. If you're breathing faster, it's no problem. It's getting more oxygen to your brain. And participants who learned to view the stress response as helpful for their performance, well, they were less stressed out, less anxious, more confident, but the most fascinating finding to me was how their physical stress response changed. Now, in a typical stress response, your heart rate goes up, and your blood vessels constrict like this.

在他们通过社会压力测试之前， 他们被教会认定这些对于压力的反应是有利的。 砰砰直跳的心脏是在为你的行动所做准备。 如果你呼吸加快，没有问题。 这将使你的大脑获得更多的氧气。 那些学会将压力视为 对他们的表现有帮助的参与者 他们所感受到的压力大大降低， 少了一份焦虑，多了一份自信， 但是对于我来说更加令人欣喜的发现是 他们身体对于压力的改变。 现在，对于一定的压力， 你的心率会加快， 你的血管像这样紧缩。 这也是慢性压力与 心血管疾病有关的原因之一。 持续在这样的状态下对身体没有好处。

And this is one of the reasons that chronic stress is sometimes associated with cardiovascular disease. It's not really healthy to be in this state all the time. But in the study, when participants viewed their stress response as helpful, their blood vessels stayed relaxed like this. Their heart was still pounding, but this is a much healthier cardiovascular profile. It actually looks a lot like what happens in moments of joy and courage. Over a lifetime of stressful experiences, this one biological change could be the difference between a stress-induced heart attack at age 50 and living well into your 90s. And this is really what the new science of stress reveals, that how you think about stress matters.

但是，在这项研究当中，当参与者 认为他们对于压力的反应有利， 他们的血管保持松弛，就像这样。 他们的心脏仍然在砰砰直跳， 但这种跳跃实一种更健康的心血管系统活动方式。 它实际上就和你 开心和受到鼓舞时的跳动方式相似。 在你一生经历的压力性事件中， 这一生理变化 会有不同 也许会是在50岁时由压力导致心脏病发作 或者直到90岁还活的很好。 这就是压力，这一新的科学所要揭示的， 你怎样看待压力性事件。

So my goal as a health psychologist has changed. I no longer want to get rid of your stress. I want to make you better at stress. And we just did a little intervention. If you raised your hand and said you'd had a lot of stress in the last year, we could have saved your life, because hopefully the next time your heart is pounding from stress, you're going to remember this talk and you're going to think to yourself, this is my body helping me rise to this challenge. And when you view stress in that way, your body believes you, and your stress response becomes healthier.

因此，作为一个健康心理学家我的目标也发生了变化。 我不在想清除你们的压力。 我想让你们在压力面前变得更好。 而我们只是做了一点点干预。 如果你举起你的手说 在过去的一年当中你感受到了很大的压力， 我们也许能救你的命 因为可能下一次 你的心跳因为压力而加速， 你会记得这次演说 然后告诉自己， 这是我的身体在帮助我应对挑战。 当你以那种方式看待压力， 你的身体信任你， 你身体对于压力的反应便得更加健康。

Now I said I have over a decade of demonizing stress to redeem myself from, so we are going to do one more intervention. I want to tell you about one of the most under-appreciated aspects of the stress response, and the idea is this: Stress makes you social.

我刚才说过，在过去的十年当中我一直将压力妖魔化并试图从中挽回自己， 因为我们打算做更多地干预。 我想告诉你们对于压力反应最 被低估的一个方面， 那就是： 压力可以使得你更社会化。

To understand this side of stress, we need to talk about a hormone, oxytocin, and I know oxytocin has already gotten as much hype as a hormone can get. It even has its own cute nickname, the cuddle hormone, because it's released when you hug someone. But this is a very small part of what oxytocin is involved in. Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone. It fine-tunes your brain's social instincts. It primes you to do things that strengthen close relationships. Oxytocin makes you crave physical contact with your friends and family. It enhances your empathy. It even makes you more willing to help and support the people you care about.

为了了解压力的这一作用， 我们需要谈谈一种激素，催产素， 我知道催产素已经得到一种激素 应该得到的最多的宣传。 催产素甚至有一个可爱的别名，拥抱激素， 因为当你拥抱某个人时，催产素将会释放。 但是这仅仅是催产素作用的很小一部分。 催产素是一种神经激素。 它可以很好的调节大脑的社会本能。 催产素能够促使你做一些 能够加强与别人联系的事情。 催产素使你渴望与 朋友和家人有身体上的接触。 催产素能够增加你的情感。 它甚至能够使你更愿意帮助和支持 那些你关心的人们。

Some people have even suggested we should snort oxytocin to become more compassionate and caring. But here's what most people don't understand about oxytocin. It's a stress hormone. Your pituitary gland pumps this stuff out as part of the stress response. It's as much a part of your stress response as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound. And when oxytocin is released in the stress response, it is motivating you to seek support. Your biological stress response is nudging you to tell someone how you feel instead of bottling it up. Your stress response wants to make sure you notice when someone else in your life is struggling so that you can support each other. When life is difficult, your stress response wants you to be surrounded by people who care about you.

有些人甚至提议 我们应该鼻吸催产素 以使我们变得更加富有同情心和爱心。 但是这正表明大部分的人们并不了解 催产素。 它是一个压力性激素。 你的脑垂体释放这种物质 作为对压力反应的一部分。 它就像机体对于压力反馈性的释放 肾上腺素以使心跳加快一样。 当机体应对压力释放催产素时， 它能够促使你去寻找支持。 机体应对压力的这些生理性变化 促使你告诉别人你的感受 而不是隐藏在心理。 你的这些应对压力的反应试图确保你注意 你生活当中的人，以使当他们遇到困难的时候 你可以互相帮助。 当生活变得困难的时候，你的这些对于压力的反应是你 处在那些关心你的人周围。

Okay, so how is knowing this side of stress going to make you healthier? Well, oxytocin doesn't only act on your brain. It also acts on your body, and one of its main roles in your body is to protect your cardiovascular system from the effects of stress. It's a natural anti-inflammatory. It also helps your blood vessels stay relaxed during stress. But my favorite effect on the body is actually on the heart.

因此，你们应该知道压力的这一作用为什么能使你们更健康了吧? 催产素并不仅仅作用于你的大脑。 它同样作用于你的身体， 它对于机体的重要作用之一是保护你的心血管功能避免 压力带来的伤害。 催产素是天然的抗炎物。 它能帮助你的血管在应对压力时保持放松。 但是我最感兴趣的对于机体的作用实际上是心脏。

Your heart has receptors for this hormone, and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate and heal from any stress-induced damage. This stress hormone strengthens your heart, and the cool thing is that all of these physical benefits of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support, so when you reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to help someone else, you release more of this hormone, your stress response becomes healthier, and you actually recover faster from stress. I find this amazing, that your stress response has a built-in mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is human connection.

你的心脏有催产素受体，它能帮助心肌细胞在再生 和从压力导致的损伤中恢复。 这一压力性激素能够强化你的心脏， 更酷的事情是催产素对于机体的这些好处 来源于社会化的联系， 和社会化的支持， 因此，当你对于处于压力状态下的人伸出双手，无论你是在寻找帮助还是帮助别人 你的机体都会释放更多的催产素， 你对于压力的反应变得更健康， 而你也能从压力中快速的恢复。 我发现这非常的神奇， 你机体对于压力的反应建立了一种 释放压力的内在机制， 而这一机制便是人类联系。

I want to finish by telling you about one more study. And listen up, because this study could also save a life. This study tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States, and they ranged in age from 34 to 93, and they started the study by asking, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "How much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors, people in your community?" And then they used public records for the next five years to find out who died.

我想通过另一个故事来结束我的演讲。 仔细听，因为这一研究也许能够挽救你的生命。 这一研究追踪了大约1000位美国成年人， 他们的年龄在34岁到93岁之间， 这一研究开始时问他们： ”在过去的一年里你经历多少压力?“ 他们同样被问到，”你们花费多少时间来 帮助朋友，邻居“ 和你社区里的人?“ 然后他们使用公共记录去发现在接下来五年 内死亡的参与者。

Okay, so the bad news first: For every major stressful life experience, like financial difficulties or family crisis, that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent. But -- and I hope you are expecting a but by now -- but that wasn't true for everyone. People who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no stress-related increase in dying. Zero. Caring created resilience. And so we see once again that the harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable.

首先还是坏消息： 对于每一个经历较多压力的参与者， 比如经济困难或者家庭危机， 压力能够增加30%的死亡风险。 但是…我希望你们一直在期盼这个但是… 但是这并不是对于每一个人都是正确的。 那些花费较多时间关心别人的人 在死亡风险上并没有实质上的增加 —— 0! 关心能够避免压力带来的伤害。 然后，我们再一次看到 压力对于健康的有害作用并不是 并不是必然的。

How you think and how you act can transform your experience of stress. When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage. And when you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience. Now I wouldn't necessarily ask for more stressful experiences in my life, but this science has given me a whole new appreciation for stress.

你如何思考及如何应对压力 能够转变你对压力的反应。 当你选择将机体对于压力的反应 视为一种有利因素， 你便建立的一种生理性激励。 而当你选择在压力状态下与别人交流， 你便能够建立保护机制。 我并不需要在我的生活中 需求更多的压力性经历， 但是这一科学使得我 对于压力有一种全新的认识。

Stress gives us access to our hearts. The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning in connecting with others, and yes, your pounding physical heart, working so hard to give you strength and energy, and when you choose to view stress in this way, you're not just getting better at stress, you're actually making a pretty profound statement. You're saying that you can trust yourself to handle life's challenges, and you're remembering that you don't have to face them alone.

压力使得我们接触到心脏。 充满同情的心脏能够发现而去及与 别人联系的意义 你那不断跳跃的心脏， 如此的辛苦工作以给予你力量和能量， 当你选择以这种方式看待压力时， 你不仅能够在压力下做的更好， 实际上你正在创在一个高深的境界。 你告诉你的身体去相信你自己 能够应对生活的挑战， 你时刻铭记 你不需要一个人去面对。

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

鼓掌

Chris Anderson: This is kind of amazing, what you're telling us. It seems amazing to me that a belief about stress can make so much difference to someone's life expectancy. How would that extend to advice, like, if someone is making a lifestyle choice between, say, a stressful job and a non-stressful job, does it matter which way they go? It's equally wise to go for the stressful job so long as you believe that you can handle it, in some sense?

Chris Anderson： 你告诉我们的这些真的很神奇。 对于我来说相信压力能够对于一个人的 寿命产生如此不同的影响同样很神奇。 我们是否可以从这去建议 比如：那些正在面临在压力性工作及无压力工作之间选择 的人 他们应该选择怎么样的生活方式? 在某种程度上，它是否等同于只要你 相信你可以解决好压力，那聪明的选择便是有压力的工作?

Kelly McGonigal: Yeah, and one thing we know for certain is that chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort. And so I would say that's really the best way to make decisions, is go after what it is that creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.

是的，我们能够确信的一事实便是 追梦的意义要比逃避不适对于 你的身体更有好处。 因此，我想说那是做出决定的最好方式， 跟随那些能够对你的生活有意义的事情 然后相信自己能够处理伴随的压力。

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

非常感谢，kelly。这非常的酷。

(Applause)

鼓掌。