Dr. Don Wood explains why zebras don't get ulcers: they face a threat like a lion, survive it, and move on. Humans ruminate on scary experiences and imagine future ones, keeping their nervous systems activated and vulnerable to chronic stress and ulcers.
Chapters
The book called Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, is that true? Why would a zebra not get an ulcer? It's really because zebras don't store memory. They don't store traumatic memory. Animals learn through association and repetition. That zebra there cannot get stressed unless there's something stressing it. A lion. If a lion shows up, that will stress out a zebra. But if there's no lion around, the zebra's not getting stress. The zebra doesn't store information about lions. It hasn't stored memory of a lion chasing them yesterday. But if a lion shows up, the zebra knows exactly what that means. That's a threat. So the zebra will run to escape the threat. Perfectly designed system. But it's not storing the information about lions. It's built into its DNA. That's why zebras won't get ulcers. Humans, we store the information about lions. We remember the lions. We can imagine a lion. We can think about lions that don't even exist. Zebras can't do that. No animal can do that. That's why a zebra or any kind of an animal, if they are in a threatening situation, let's say a lion showed up. The zebra would then start to respond in real time to the lion. What would the zebra do? Chances are it's going to run. It's not going to get into a fight mode. It's going to get into a flight mode or a freeze mode to protect the zebra. Once the zebra escapes and there's no lion, how does the zebra recalibrate its nervous system? How does it go back into homeostasis? Watch an animal after they've had a stressful event, they shake. They'll shake. Why would they shake? You've heard the term shake it off, right? That's what a zebra is doing, shaking off. Right, the nervous system to bring it back into homeostasis. Animals do it all the time. That's why we use the term shake it off. Zebras can't get ulcers because they can't remember and store information. Humans store all the information about the lions and that constantly activates our nervous system, creating stress. Ulcers come from stress. Zebras can't get the ulcers. And there it is.
