Mastering Fear

CHAPTER 1The Biology of Fear

There is No Such Thing as Stress

According to recent surveys, stress is a challenge for most of us. An American Psychological study in 2007 found that close to one-third of all survey respondents described their stress as “extreme” and nearly half felt that their stress was getting worse. Stress is considered a primary underlying factor in many health problems, relationship tensions, and lost productivity at work. Knowing this, it might seem strange to you—even outlandish—for me to tell you that: There is no such thing as stress. Stress, as we know it, does not exist!

In fact, what we are currently calling stress may be something else entirely and I hope to convince you that stress would be best addressed by a different ...