Psychological stress can crush a cow

What you think is just "annoying" psychological pressure, when it accumulates to a certain level, causes both physical and cognitive losses, the real load-bearing effect far exceeds the load-bearing limit of an adult strong ox - even most people do not realize that they have carried such a heavy burden before they are crushed.

Don't think this is alarmist. I have been working at a community psychosomatic service center for five years, and I have seen too many able-bodied men knocked down by invisible pressure. Brother Zhang, who came to see a doctor last winter, is a typical example. He is a 38-year-old long-distance semi-trailer driver who can eat two kilograms of soy sauce beef in one meal. He can carry a two-hundred kilogram cargo box on his shoulders and walk for half a mile without breathing heavily. In the past two years, freight rates have dropped three times in a row, and his son has to transfer to a school district to collect the down payment. I slept less than four hours a day for more than three months. In the end, I just bent over and collapsed on the ground when unloading. I checked all over my body and couldn't find any organic problems. The final diagnosis was the suppression of motor function caused by chronic pressure overload. After he woke up, he touched his waist and wondered: "I used to be able to carry half a pig without any problem, why did something bother me make me like this? ”

Research from the physiological psychology school has actually been able to explain this matter for a long time. When the stress response is triggered, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis will continue to be excited, and cortisol levels will remain high for a long time. A large-sample follow-up study in the "Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine" in 2022 shows that people who have been in a state of moderate or above stress for 3 consecutive months will have muscle strength 37% lower than non-stressed people of the same weight, and the bone density loss rate is 2.4 times that of ordinary people, which is equivalent to your muscles and bones being quietly corroded every day. The maximum load-bearing limit of an adult cattle weighing 1,000 kilograms is almost 70% of its own body weight, which is 700 kilograms. In a long-term state of high cortisol, even if you lie down every day, the internal load borne by the body has exceeded 800 kilograms. Let alone a human, a cow cannot bear it. In the past two years, I worked on a project by myself for three months, and my waist hurt even when carrying a 20-pound express. The doctor said that too much pressure caused abnormal muscle tone. It was then that I really believed that this invisible and intangible thing really had real "weight".

But scholars from the cognitive behavioral school don’t think so. They believe that the weight of stress is more in the “brain” and is more hidden than physiological wear and tear. Have you ever had that experience: your mind is filled with the mortgage that needs to be repaid, the plan that needs to be paid next week, the notification from the child’s school to call parents, the physical examination report of the parents, but you have obviously not done any physical work, and you just slump on the sofa after get off work and don’t even have the energy to eat? This is a manifestation of cognitive bandwidth being occupied. When your working memory is filled with various sources of anxiety to be processed, even the most basic reactions will slow down, let alone making complex decisions. A product manager from an Internet company came to me for guidance. He used to be famous for his big heart, and he could still get up and run five kilometers after staying up for three nights. Last year, the core project was launched for three weeks in a row, and he actually ran a red light three times in a row. He had no memory at all. It was not until he received a violation text message that he broke out in a cold sweat. According to the calculation method of the cognitive school, his cognitive load has exceeded the upper limit of 3.5 G of working memory at this time, which is equivalent to asking a scalper to drag a two-ton cargo on a mountain road. It seems that he is still moving forward, but in fact his hooves are already trembling.

Of course, there are different voices. Researchers in positive psychology have always emphasized that "moderate pressure is motivation." This is true, but the vast majority of people have seriously overestimated the threshold of "moderate". We have conducted a small-scale survey and found that 87% of the respondents feel that their stress is "still within control", but more than 60% of them have developed typical signs of stress overload such as sleep disorders, habitual migraines, and emotional irritability. Just like when you add a load to a cow, it doesn't make a sound when you add it. You always feel that "it can still carry it." The moment the last straw is put on it, it kneels down without even a buffer. Many people always think that "big men can't be pretentious" and "this worry is nothing", but the weight of psychological pressure is pressed deep into the bones, which is much harder than carrying cement. When carrying cement, you know how to let it go when you are tired. You always think of "one more time and it will be over" with the burden in your heart. As you carry it, you forget how much you are carrying.

Brother Zhang came for a follow-up visit last week and said that he now spends one day a week going to the river to fish. He doesn't think about anything and just sits in a daze. Now he has gained ten kilograms in weight and can now walk several hundred meters carrying a fish box weighing one hundred kilograms. Holding a cigarette in his mouth, he told me: "I used to think that things in my heart didn't matter, but now I realize that when this thing sinks, it can really make a person unable to stand up, let alone a cow. ”You see, there is no such thing as an invincible iron man. He just doesn't realize that the burden on him has already exceeded the weight of a cow.