One of the world's premier stress researchers, Bruce McEwen lays out, in very readable language, all the many ways that modern life constantly takes allostasis (good stress) and turns it into excessive allostatic load (bad stress). He also provides a menu of remedies intended first to make us aware of our daily stress levels, and then begin the work of skillfully managing them.

1. The Enchanted Loom
Teasing sturdy threads from
neuroscience masterworks

2. Teasing 10 threads from
Bruce McEwen’s…

3. Thread 1:
Stress refers
to the pres-
sure that life
exerts on us
and the way
this pres-
sure makes
us feel.
(pg. 3)

4. Thread 2:
Homeostasis describes an organism’s need
to maintain a steady internal state.
Allostasis comes
from the Greek
word allo,
meaning variable.
Allostasis works
to keep the body
stable by being
able to change.
(pg. 6)

5. Thread 3:
Allostatic load
is the damage
that allostasis
causes when
it functions
improperly.
(pg. 7)

6. Thread 4:
Deforming a powerful mechanism like
allostasis, which evolved over millions
of years to help us cope, into a source of
disease, is not
something
that happens
quickly. It
signals an
imbalance of
long standing.
(pg. 16)

7. Thread 5:
Throughout our
mortal life, our
identities are
fused into the
physical integrity
of the brain.
(pg. 18)

8. Thread 6:
Stress begins in the brain. Only humans
can become stressed out from things
that exist in idea
only, such as a
rehash of an old
argument until it
activates the auto-
nomic nervous
system, aggravating
clogged arteries.
(pg. 34)

9. Thread 7:
More circuits, and bigger ones, go from
the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex
than come back
the other way.
This imbalance is
probably why
psychotherapy is
such a lengthy
process.
(pg. 38)

10. Thread 8:
As perhaps the ultimate social stressor and
cause of isolation, bereavement can weaken
the immune
system. Under
certain circum-
stances the
death of a loved
one may increase
one’s own
risk of dying.
(pg. 93)

11. Thread 9:
Think of DNA as a
piano. A piano always
has 88 keys and they
are always the same
88 notes, but no music
comes out until the
keys are pressed.
Then, there’s no limit
to the music a piano
can produce.
(pg. 129)

12. Thread 10:
Type II diabetes is
a form of allostatic
load. The combi-
nation of walking
and a sensible
diet is almost
twice as effective
as the front-line
medical treatment.
(pg. 137)

13. Thread 11:
Learned helpless-
ness often results
in us losing our
ability to cope
altogether. It is
thought to be a
model for
depressive
illness in
humans.
(pg. 53)

14. Image Credits:
Title Page: http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 3 - http://www.gocomics.com/adamathome/2016/03/03
Slide 12 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Until-death-do-us-part-357322688
Slide 2 - http://bit.ly/2d5lwna
Slide 6 - https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/22/the-stigma-of-mental-illness/
Slide 5 - http://igbiologyy.blogspot.com/2014/03/133-homeostasis.html
Slide 11 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Piano-in-Krakow-186178911
Slide 10 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Bereaved-254163533
Slide 14 - http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 9 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/F-e-a-r-43037919
Slide 8 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ruin-10661862
Slide 7 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/s-e-c-r-e-t-part-II-84418877
Slide 4 - http://www.stresshacker.com/6-worst-and-6-better-ways-to-manage-time/
Slide 13 - http://chryssalis.deviantart.com/art/LEARN-NOT-TO-BREATHE-284613944

15. Mark Brady, PhD
TheEnchantedLoom@gmail.com
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