Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping (Third Edition), Edition 3

Robert M. Sapolsky

Sep 2004 · Sold by Holt Paperbacks

About this ebook

Renowned primatologist Robert Sapolsky offers a completely revised and updated edition of his most popular work, with over 225,000 copies in print

Now in a third edition, Robert M. Sapolsky's acclaimed and successful Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers features new chapters on how stress affects sleep and addiction, as well as new insights into anxiety and personality disorder and the impact of spirituality on managing stress.

As Sapolsky explains, most of us do not lie awake at night worrying about whether we have leprosy or malaria. Instead, the diseases we fear-and the ones that plague us now-are illnesses brought on by the slow accumulation of damage, such as heart disease and cancer. When we worry or experience stress, our body turns on the same physiological responses that an animal's does, but we do not resolve conflict in the same way-through fighting or fleeing. Over time, this activation of a stress response makes us literally sick.
Combining cutting-edge research with a healthy dose of good humor and practical advice, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers explains how prolonged stress causes or intensifies a range of physical and mental afflictions, including depression, ulcers, colitis, heart disease, and more. It also provides essential guidance to controlling our stress responses. This new edition promises to be the most comprehensive and engaging one yet.

Ratings and reviews

I came down with something my doctors have yet to diagnose yesterday. It's scary and living alone does not help. Well, several years ago I purchased Robert Sapolsky's "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" but it just sat on the bookshelf. Today I saw it glaring out at me from my bookshelf, and I started to read it. I have not wanted to stop. Mr. Sapolsky's exploration of the psychological and physical effects of stress on the body are easy to read and understand. Topics like hormones, stress, the immune system, metabolism and how stress is all intertwined are easily understood and enjoyable. Mr. Sapolsky has a gift for connecting to the reader. No-one but Mr. Sapolsky could write on these subjects so cleverly, and make the reader feel so connected. He is truly gifted. If you want to learn astonishing material you never even considered, or want to be totally amazed from chapter one to the last, you must read this book.

A smooth layman's read that engages the readers thought processes and dives into the many stressors that can be experienced on a surface level and a molecular level of interaction. Good read, enjoyed picking it up.

Excellent science writing.

About the author

Robert M. Sapolsky is the author of several works of nonfiction, including A Primate’s Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. His most recent book, Behave, was a New York Times bestseller and named a best book of the year by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He is a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.” He and his wife live in San Francisco.