Psychological and social stressors are those that occur as psychological states. Examples include the frustrations of driving in slow-moving traffic, the pressures to succeed financially and to accrue certain status symbols, and the difficulties of balancing work-life and personal-life. Although non-human primates and humans living in pre-industrial civilizations experience psychological stress, rates of psychological stress are significantly higher in industrialized human societies. This is due in part to the decreased prevalence of acute physical stressors, such as occurs when escaping a predator, and is due in part to modern lifestyles and societal structures, such as capitalism, which place significant psychological demands on people.

Sapolsky’s focus on psychological and social stress makes his text highly relevant for modern readers. The American Psychological Association conducted a study on stress in the United States in 2020, and the top psychological stressors reported by individuals included the COVID pandemic, health care issues, the prevalence of mass shootings, the progression of climate change, the potential impacts of immigration, and news reports of sexual assault and harassment and of opioid and heroin use. Other sources of psychological stress included the uncertainty for the future of the country and the perception that the nation is at a low point (“

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