This book was VERY BORING!

It was very hard to get through. Some of it was interesting, but I struggled to find the relevance (ie what to actually do with this information).

The main problem is the level of detail. This book is almost entirely about hormones and neurotransmitters. It’s like learning about a tree by studying chlorophyll - very hard to see the big picture.

While science does have a lot of the details about what happens during stress worked out, it has very little to offer about mitigation. This made the book a very frustrating read. There was a lot of speculation about how drugs might be developed to deal with the stress response, but very little about natural strategies (adequate sleep, nutrition, etc).

On top of all of this, a good chunk of the book dealt with the not-understood issues of how these hormones relate to depression anxiety and addiction. Those chapters were a summary of current theories, so it lacks any hint of actionable information.

This book was very well written. The author is enjoyable. But the content was far from pleasant. I suffered through this book and I don’t recommend it.