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11:58
You're More Stressed Than Ever - Let's Change That
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
·
May 12, 2026
Open on YouTube
Transcript
0:00
Stress is an ancient superpower
that is slowly killing you.
0:06
It evolved as one of the most powerful
tools for survival but has turned into
0:10
a double edged sword in the modern world.
0:12
It grants your wish to rise to a gnarly challenge
0:15
or to work harder – but claims a
chunk of your life force in return.
0:20
Unless you learn how to use it right.
0:23
What is stress, why is it harmful and what
can you do to escape its consequences?
0:29
All living things strive for homeostasis,
a state where their body is in balance.
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0:34
To maintain this balance they make adjustments
like moving into the sunlight or eating nutrients.
0:39
But the world is a cruel place
with death lurking behind every
0:42
corner and organisms need a way
to react to extreme situations.
0:47
This is how stress evolved – as a physical
0:49
response to a stressor – which is
anything challenging or dangerous.
0:53
Stress is a very fast, drastic change of the
state of the body that prioritizes survival.
0:59
An emergency program that lets the organism
push way out of its comfort zone to survive.
1:05
To understand how stress works in humans,
let's visit a scene fifty thousand years ago…
1:10
The Superpower Awakens
1:14
A group of early homo sapiens are huddled
around a fire – when suddenly a desperate
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1:19
and starving sabertooth tiger attacks their camp.
1:22
Their leader, Urr the Bearsmasher
jumps up as time slows down.
1:27
His brain classifies the tiger as a critical
stressor and unleashes the stress response.
1:33
Adrenal glands pump out adrenaline that rushes
1:36
through Urr’s body activating
“fight or flight” mode.
1:39
His heart starts beating faster and
his lungs accelerate, providing an
1:43
emergency supply of nutrients and
oxygen to all critical systems.
1:48
Adrenaline dictates that his muscles
have energy priority over his other
1:51
organs and activates them for rapid action
– their strength and speed are ramped up.
1:57
Pain and fatigue signals are muted,
1:59
while his senses become super
sharp and lock in on the threat.
2:03
Urr perceives every detail with maximum clarity
and realizes the tiger is getting ready to pounce!
2:09
There is only a split second to react.
2:12
Adrenaline forces Urr to make
a quick, impulsive decision:
2:15
Without thinking about it he chooses
to fight and attacks with full force.
2:19
But the battle is long and arduous – the animal
2:22
is desperate and will not back
down, our humans risk exhaustion.
2:27
A new hormone joins the battle:
2:29
cortisol.
2:30
Cortisol is the slower, more strategic
hormone that manages a longer stress response.
2:35
It orders a total shift of all body systems.
2:38
Ramping up the fuel supply while suppressing
all non-essential functions like resting,
2:42
disease defense or digestion.
2:45
Urr's body isn’t his own
anymore, it belongs to stress.
2:49
Finally Urr the Bearsmasher
deals the killing blow.
2:53
The tribe gathers in celebration.
2:55
Their bodies shut down “fight or
flight” and activate “rest and digest”.
3:01
Wounds begin to hurt and
muscles cry in exhaustion.
3:04
It is time to recover and heal, bond and tell
stories about how they killed the angry tiger god.
3:10
Some fall asleep, others eat to replenish.
3:13
The tribe relaxes and
homeostasis is being restored.
3:17
These people are your ancestors.
3:20
When did this amazing
superpower turn into a curse?
3:24
The Deadly Email
3:27
Our world has changed so quickly and
profoundly that our biology couldn’t keep up.
3:32
Stress is still the same it
was fifty thousand years ago:
3:36
Sense a stressor.
3:37
React immediately and with full force.
3:40
Prioritize present moment survival,
make sacrifices if necessary.
3:45
That works well when you have
to jump out of the way of a car.
3:48
But most stressors we encounter nowadays
are abstract, acute and more numerous,
3:53
often intangible, persist for much longer and
usually don’t even require physical action.
3:59
The tigers of the past are
now angry emails, deadlines,
4:03
online dating, rush hour traffic or doom
scrolling the news and social media.
4:08
But our brains are built to
take fear very seriously,
4:12
so if you experience even a short
burst of anxiety over an email or
4:16
because you scrolled through twitter, the
helping hand of stress springs to action.
4:20
You can have dozens of these micro stressors per
day constantly activating your stress response,
4:25
even if you barely notice anymore.
4:28
While these micro-threats stack up we also have to
4:31
deal with bigger stressors like unpaid
overtime, angry clients, rising rents,
4:36
inflation and healthcare or tariffs and
chaos making our future more uncertain.
4:42
But the boost we get from stress
can also be extremely helpful if
4:45
you have to study for an exam, run a
marathon or complete a big project.
4:49
It is a proper superpower and can
feel exhilarating, even addictive.
4:54
So many of us end up abusing it.
4:57
Especially if you work in a competitive
field you may keep pushing and challenging
5:01
yourselves and others, relying on stress
to get your best performance possible.
5:05
The problem is that stress
was only ever intended to
5:07
be used in short spurts and critical situations.
5:11
If it is activated over days,
weeks and months with no release,
5:14
it becomes chronic stress, one of
the deadliest conditions for humans.
5:19
How Chronic Stress Destroys You
5:23
The price of chronic stress is the slow
destruction of every part of your body and brain.
5:28
As the stress cascade is activated over and over,
adrenaline and cortisol keep flooding your body.
5:33
Your „fight or flight“ systems are
overactivated while your „rest and
5:38
digest“ functions are constantly suppressed.
5:41
Your muscles tense up for a fight
that never comes – instead your back,
5:45
shoulders and neck scream under the
tension and you get pounding headaches.
5:49
Your digestive tract cramps and suffers, either
holding things in too long or rushing things out.
5:55
Your fat metabolism is disrupted and
starts slowing down fat breakdown,
6:00
while increasing fat build up in your belly area.
6:03
Your cells become less responsive to insulin
increasing your risk of metabolic diseases.
6:08
Your heart keeps pounding, eager to
supply your body with fuel but your
6:12
blood vessels aren’t built for this constant
overactivation and get destroyed in the process,
6:16
massively increasing your risk
of a heart attack or stroke.
6:20
Your immune system gets weaker
and stronger at the same time,
6:23
in a way that causes maximum damage to you.
6:26
The parts that protect you
from disease are suppressed
6:28
because who cares about a cold
if you have to fight a tiger?
6:31
This increases your risk of infections,
cancer and autoimmune diseases.
6:36
Meanwhile cells that cause inflammation
for wound healing are massively boosted,
6:40
inflaming your tissue all over.
6:43
Your brain gets rewired to serve stress.
6:46
Perceiving an ongoing critical emergency
it slows down calm reflection and thinking.
6:51
Instead favoring quick and rapid reactions.
6:53
You literally get worse at thinking
clearly and lose wisdom points.
6:58
You are much more likely to make bad,
impulsive decisions like breaking up,
7:02
eating junk food, or using drugs.
7:04
You become worse at solving your
problems while creating new ones.
7:08
Under chronic stress you are
simply a worse version of yourself.
7:13
If this persists your memory
and cognitive abilities get
7:16
worse as you slide into anxiety and depression.
7:19
So your chances of getting out
of a stressful situation in the
7:22
modern world worsen the longer
you are chronically stressed.
7:26
A hellish, vicious circle.
7:28
If you can’t escape it, odds are that you may
die earlier and suffer greatly along the way.
7:34
How to use Stress As Intended
7:38
Stress can be your friend.
7:40
In measured doses, acute stress enables you
to conquer mountains and push beyond your
7:44
comfort zone, helps you to improve
your skills and grow as a person.
7:48
And it can make it feel amazing
to perform at your very best.
7:52
But to get the good without the bad,
7:54
it’s critical that you properly wind down
your flight or flight response and relax.
8:00
Listen to your body.
8:01
If you feel stressed, you are stressed, full stop.
8:04
There is no universal threshold you have to reach
before you’re allowed to do something about it.
8:09
Next, ask yourself:
8:10
Is your stress response productive in your
situation and is there an end in sight?
8:16
If you are studying for exams or
moving house stress is a superpower,
8:19
helping you unlock your full potential.
8:22
But your health needs breaks
from “fight or flight” mode.
8:25
Be it meeting friends, working
out or going for a walk in nature.
8:29
Relaxation is not being lazy,
this is serious self care.
8:33
If you relax actively and regularly
you will keep stress from claiming a
8:37
price on your body and mind and
still be able to use its power.
8:41
If you can’t do this at the moment, plan
active relaxation time as soon as you can.
8:45
Without this stressing you out.
8:48
Ok, but what if you suffer
from constant unhelpful stress?
8:52
You can’t control your body’s stress
response, but you can influence it.
8:56
As annoying as this is:
8:58
mindfulness, like meditation or yoga,
is scientifically proven to take the
9:03
edge off stressful situations and to tell your
brain that this email is not a deadly tiger.
9:08
But the single most effective way to remove stress
from your life, is to remove the stressor itself.
9:14
Become your own personal assistant and assess
9:17
where tiny bursts of stress are
coming from during your day.
9:20
Do you feel stressed when you doom scroll?
9:23
Social media doesn’t show us what
we want, but what makes us engage.
9:27
And negative emotions make us engage the most.
9:30
So simply getting rid of the apps
or unfollowing stressful people can
9:34
actually remove a lot of stress from your life.
9:38
Especially with the really big problems,
removing the stressor is extremely effective.
9:42
If you live in a dangerous neighborhood:
9:44
move.
9:45
If you are bullied at school:
9:47
see if you can change your environment.
9:49
While this is drastic advice and may not be easy,
9:52
it will have the biggest impact
on your chronic stress levels.
9:56
So think about what you
can change in the mid term.
9:59
Of course there are situations
where you can’t just eliminate
10:01
the stressor or meditate the chronic stress away.
10:04
If your brain is stuck in stress mode for too long
it will get worse and worse at solving problems.
10:10
You may not be able to think clearly
to get out of your situation.
10:13
In these cases the most powerful
move is to ask for help.
10:17
Open up to friends or family
or get professional help.
10:20
An extra pair of hands can make a huge difference.
10:24
In the end, life will throw stressors
your way, this is unavoidable.
10:28
And that’s ok.
10:29
Stress is your superpower.
10:32
Use it.
10:33
But never forget to get to the other side of it.
10:37
That’s why we created a Health Journal.
10:40
We’ve collected all the latest health
science and designed a framework to help
10:44
you figure out what actually works for
your life – without pressure or guilt.
10:47
If you want to reduce stress, start
with the Rest & Mental Health chapter.
10:52
Or dive into Nutrition or Physical Fitness.
10:55
Each chapter is packed with
real science, lots of examples,
10:58
and inspiration to get you started – but you can
make it completely your own to fit your needs.
11:03
In the end, you’ll have built a
custom health mix that works for you.
11:07
We also made it as beautiful and fun as possible
11:10
(as taking care of your health should always be).
11:13
And you’re not doing this alone!
11:15
We’ll check in from time to time,
and we’d love to hear from you:
11:18
share your progress and inspire
other birbs on their health journey.
11:22
After the Gratitude Journal and the Habit Journal,
11:24
this is the third part in our
bestselling journal series.
11:28
To kick-start your health journey, we’ve also
created some exclusive Health Club Merch for you.
11:33
Wear them as companions to
remind you of your goal.
11:37
Just give yourself one month.
11:39
Try it.
11:40
See where it takes you.
— end of transcript —
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