I cannot understate the importance of safety and the dangerous effects of stress on human mental health and the impacts on the health of our interpersonal relationships.
No matter who you are and what you’ve experienced, you need to feel safe and be able to manage stress if you want to be the best version (or at least not the worst version) of yourself.
I’ve written about this phenomenon before comparing egg-laying hens to humans. Now, to further highlight the point that we need safety and low-stress levels to give ourselves and our relationships a fighting chance (pardon the pun) I draw your attention to the findings of one of the most highly regarded thinkers of our time, Dr. Robert Sapolsky.
Dr. Sapolsky is a neuroscientist and primatologist who has spent decades researching the effects of stress on humans and animals alike.
Much of this research has been done in the field, literally.
The Stanford University Professor has spent months every year for decades studying the behaviours of baboons in Africa, and one particular troop of baboons in Kenya has helped prove the point that safety leads to harmony.
What happened was the most aggressive male baboons caught and died from an outbreak of tuberculosis after eating discarded food from a tourist resort.
This left a troop of 62 baboons without dominant and snarly adult males that would have continued to keep the female and less aggressive male baboons on edge and stressed out.
Believe it or not, aggressive male baboons can be jerks, according to Dr. Sapolsky!
But has the loss of the “protectors” left the troop more vulnerable to predators? And have things returned to “normal” in the more than twenty years since the aggressive baboons were removed from the hierarchy? The answer to that is “no”.
Dr. Sapolsky says the cultural swing toward pacifism, and a willingness to use affection and mutual grooming rather than threats, swipes, and bites continues to foster a patriotic spirit.
And how do we know the remaining members of the baboon troop are less stressed and feel safer? Aside from being able to witness their calmer and more predictable behaviour, scientists have also taken blood tests that show evidence of lower stress hormones than baboons living in nearby troops that still include aggressive males.
If you are interested in finding out more about what happened to this troop, please feel free to check out this video of Dr. Sapolsky:
The takeaway message is one that I do try and stress (again, pardon the pun) to my Adult Counselling and Relationship Counselling clients – find ways to make things better for you now so you can enjoy the fruits of your better self (and your partners better self) tomorrow.
