We still react to stress the same as we did hundreds of years ago.
Stress earlier Our stress system is set up for life as it used to be. At the sight of a dangerous animal our heart started to beat and our body was ready to fight or flee. A stress response increased the chance of survival.
Stress now
Nowadays we get stress from very different things than dangerous animals. If we get an app with the text:'we need to talk', we don't need the stress response and a fast beating heart. The same goes for other stressors:piles of work, traffic jams, bills, social obligations. No life-threatening situations, but we still get the same stress response as hundreds of years ago.
Our environment is changing rapidly and our brain is not evolving fast enough to adapt its response to stress. De Volkskrant made the video below about it.
