【正文】 hances your empathy. it even makes you more willing to help and support thepeople you care about. some people have even suggested we should snort o_ytocinto bee more passionate and caring. but here39。s what most people don39。tunderstand about o_ytocin. it39。s a stress hormone. your pituitary gland pumpsthis stuff out as part of the stress response. it39。s as much a part of yourstress response as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound. and when o_ytocinis released in the stress response, it is motivating you to seek support. yourbiological stress response is nudging you to tell someone how you feel insteadof bottling it up. your stress response wants to make sure you notice whensomeone else in your life is struggling so that you can support each other. whenlife is difficult, your stress response wants you to be surrounded by people whocare about you.okay, so how is knowing this side of stress going to make you healthier?well, o_ytocin doesn39。t only act on your brain. it also acts on your body, andone of its main roles in your body is to protect your cardiovascular system fromthe effects of stress. it39。s a natural antiinflammatory. it also helps yourblood vessels stay rela_ed during stress. but my favorite effect on the body isactually on the heart. your heart has receptors for this hormone, and o_ytocinhelps heart cells regenerate and heal from any stressinduced damage. thisstress hormone strengthens your heart, and the cool thing is that all of thesephysical benefits of o_ytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support,so when you reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to helpsomeone else, you release more of this hormone, your stress response beeshealthier, and you actually recover faster from stress. i find this amazing,that your stress response has a builtin mechanism for stress resilience, andthat mechanism is human connection.i want to finish by telling you about one more study. and listen up,because this study could also save a life. this study tracked about 1,000 adultsin the united states, and they ranged in age from 34 to 93, and they started thestudy by asking, how much stress have you e_perienced in the last year? theyalso asked, how much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors, peoplein your munity? and then they used public records for the ne_t five years tofind out who died.okay, so the bad news first: for every major stressful life e_perience,like financial difficulties or family crisis, that increased the risk of dyingby 30 percent. but and i hope you are e_pecting a but by now but thatwasn39。t true for everyone. people who spent time caring for others showedabsolutely no stressrelated increase in dying. zero. caring created so we see once again that the harmful effects of stress on your health arenot inevitable. how you think and how you act can transform your e_perience ofstress. when you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create thebiology of courage. and when you choose to connect with others under stress, youcan create resilience. now i wouldn39。t necessarily ask for more stressfule_periences in my life, but this science has given me a whole new appreciationfor stress. stress gives us access to our hearts. the passionate heart thatfinds joy and meaning in connecting with others, and yes, your pounding physicalheart, working so hard to give you strength and energy, and when you choose toview stress in this way, you39。re not just getting better at stress, you39。reactually making a pretty profound statement. you39。re saying that you can trustyourself to handle life39。s challenges, and you39。re remembering that you don39。t haveto face them alone.thank you.(applause)chris anderson: this is kind of amazing, what you39。re telling us. it seemsamazing to me that a belief about stress can make so much difference tosomeone39。s life e_pectancy. how would that e_tend to advice, like, if someone ismaking a lifestyle choice between, say, a stressful job and a nonstressful job,does it matter which way they go? it39。s equally wise to go for the stressful jobso long as you believe that you can handle it, in some sense?kelly mcgonigal: yeah, and one thing we know for certain is that chasingmeaning is better for your health than trying to avoid disfort. and so iwould say that39。s really the best way to make decisions, is go after what it isthat creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stressthat follows.ca: thank you so much, kelly. it39。s pretty cool. km: thank you.(applause)