The documentary "Stress: Portrait of a Killer (2008)" is an insightful documentary into root causes of stress and how they affect our life. The film uses various studies on stress including a 30+ year study on stress in baboons and how social dynamics and hierarchy within the baboon troop affect stress levels in different members. The documentary also covers a study of the 1954 Holland famine and demonstrated that children born and raised in this time who suffered great levels of stress are still being affected biologically by what happened in their youth. Other case studies include a group of mothers that are under a great deal of stress from having children with special needs and a case study of british civil servants and how stress affects their health. It's a 55-min film and well-worth the time. It is available on Netflix if you have an account - I have pasted the Netflix overview below.
"The serially overworked already know that stress is a near-constant fixture in modern-day living. But to what degree is stress affecting our bodies -- and is there any way to healthfully combat it? With a focus on the work of Stanford University neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, this National Geographic program looks at the latest science to see what researchers are learning about this insidiously silent killer."
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Stress_Portrait_of_a_Killer/70107420
The film confirms how real stress is and how damaging stress can be in our lives. Stress is more than just emotions, and prolonged and unhealthy levels of stress can lead to negative changes in our physical health.
