ケリー・マクゴニガルの英語❸｜ストレスは友達！TEDスピーチを徹底解説

Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone. It fine-tunes your brain’s social instincts. It primes you to do things that strengthen close relationships. Oxytocin makes you crave physical contact with your friends and family. It enhances your empathy. It even makes you more willing to help and support the people you care about. Some people have even suggested we should snort oxytocin… to become more compassionate and caring. But here’s what most people don’t understand about oxytocin. It’s a stress hormone. Your pituitary gland pumps this stuff out as part of the stress response. It’s as much a part of your stress response as the adrenaline that makes your heart pound. And when oxytocin is released in the stress response, it is motivating you to seek support. Your biological stress response is nudging you to tell someone how you feel, instead of bottling it up. Your stress response wants to make sure you notice when someone else in your life is struggling so that you can support each other. When life is difficult, your stress response wants you to be surrounded by people who care about you.

neuro-hormone： 神経ホルモン
fine-tune /fáin-túːn/ (動) 微調整する
instinct /ínstiŋkt/ (名) 本能 ⇨ “social instinct” 「社会的本能」
prime /práim/ (動) 準備する ⇨ “prime 〜 to …” 「〜が…するよう準備する」
strengthen /stréŋkθn/ (動) 強化する
crave /kréiv/ (動) 強く望む
empathy /émpəθi/ (名) 共感、感情移入
care about 〜：～を大切にする ⇨ “the people (who) you care about” カッコ内の関係代名詞が省略されている。「あなたが大切にする人々」の意。
snort /snɔ́ːrt/ (動) 鼻から吸う
compassionate /kəmpǽʃənit/ (形) 思いやりのある
caring /kəmpǽʃənit/ (形) 思いやりのある
what most people don’t understand about oxytocin： “what” は先行詞を含む関係代名詞で「オキトシンについてほとんどの人々理解していないこと」の意。
stress hormone： ストレス・ホルモン
pituitary gland： （脳）下垂体
pump /pʌ́mp/ (動) 送り込む ⇨ “pump 〜 out” 「〜を送り出す」
stuff /stʌ́f/ (名) 物
be as much a part of 〜 as …： …同様、重要な〜の一部である ⇨ “It’s as much a part of your stress response as the adrenaline” 「それは、アドレナリン同様、重要なストレス反応の一部である」
nudge /pʌ́mp/ (動) （～するよう人を）優しく説得する
bottle /pʌ́mp/ (動) ～を瓶に詰める ⇨ “bottling 〜 up” 「〜（感情などを）押し殺す」
struggle /strʌ́gl/ (動) 奮闘する
so that (人) can 〜： (人) が〜できるように

Okay, so how is knowing this side of stress going to make you healthier? Well, oxytocin doesn’t only act on your brain. It also acts on your body, and one of its main roles in your body is to protect your cardiovascular system from the effects of stress. It’s a natural anti-inflammatory. It also helps your blood vessels stay relaxed during stress. But my favorite effect on the body is actually on the heart. Your heart has receptors for this hormone, and oxytocin helps heart cells regenerate and heal from any stress-induced damage. This stress hormone strengthens your heart.

act on 〜： ～に影響を与える
anti-inflammatory： (名) 抗炎症薬 ⇔ “inflammatory” (形) 炎症の
receptor /riséptər/ (名) 受容器官、受容体、レセプター
regenerate /ridʒénərèit/ (動) 再生する
heal /híːl/ (動) 治る
stress-induced： ストレス起因（性）の

And the cool thing is that all of these physical benefits of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact and social support. So when you reach out to others under stress, either to seek support or to help someone else, you release more of this hormone, your stress response becomes healthier, and you actually recover faster from stress. I find this amazing, that your stress response has a built-in mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is human connection.

cool thing： 素晴らしいこと
enhance /enhǽns/ (動) 高める
social contact： 社会的接触
social support： 社会的支援
reach out to 〜： ～に接触する、～と心を通わせる
more of 〜： より一層の〜
amazing /əméiziŋ/ (形) 素晴らしい
I find this amazing, that 〜, and that …： S+V+O (= this) +C (= amazing)の文型。その後の2つの “that” は “this” を指している。
built-in /bílt-in/ (形) 生来の
mechanism /mékənìzm/ (名) 仕組み
resilience /rizíliəns/ (名) 回復力
human connection： 人とのつながり

I want to finish by telling you about one more study. And listen up, because this study could also save a life. This study tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States, and they ranged in age from 34 to 93, and they started the study by asking, “How much stress have you experienced in the last year?” They also asked, “How much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors, people in your community?” And then they used public records for the next five years to find out who died.

listen up： よく聞いてください
range /réindʒ/ (動) 分布する ⇨ “ranged in age from 34 to 93” 「年齢で34から93歳に分布していた」の意。
help out： （困ったときに人を）助ける
community /kəmjúːnəti/ (名) 地域

Okay, so the bad news first: For every major stressful life experience, like financial difficulties or family crisis, that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent. But — and I hope you are expecting a “but” by now — but that wasn’t true for everyone. People who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no stress-related increase in dying. Zero. Caring created resilience.

For 〜： ここでは「〜に関して」のニュアンス。
family crisis： 家族危機
that： “every major stressful life experience” を指している。
by 30 percent： ここでの “by” は差を示している。
People who spent time caring for others： ここまでが主語。「他人を思いやることに時間を費やした人々」の意。
no stress-related increase in dying： 「ストレス起因の死亡率の上昇はない」のニュアンス。

And so we see once again that the harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable. How you think and how you act can transform your experience of stress. When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage. And when you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience. Now I wouldn’t necessarily ask for more stressful experiences in my life, but this science has given me a whole new appreciation for stress. Stress gives us access to our hearts. The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning in connecting with others, and yes, your pounding physical heart, working so hard to give you strength and energy. And when you choose to view stress in this way, you’re not just getting better at stress, you’re actually making a pretty profound statement. You’re saying that you can trust yourself to handle life’s challenges. And you’re remembering that you don’t have to face them alone. Thank you.

see： ここでは “that” 以下のことを「理解する」のニュアンス。
inevitable /inévətəbl/ (形) 避けられない
How you think and how you act： ここまでが主語。2つの “how” は先行詞を含む関係副詞で「あなたの考え方と行動の仕方」のニュアンス。
transform /trænsfɔ́ːrm/ (動) 転換する
view 〜 as …： 〜を…と見る
biology /baiɑ́lədʒi/ (名) 生態
courage /kə́ːridʒ/ (名) 勇気
I wouldn’t necessarily 〜： 「〜必ずしもしたいとは思わない」のニュアンス。
ask for 〜： ～を求める
whole new： 全く新しい
appreciation /əprìːʃiéiʃən/ (名) 認識
The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning in connecting with others： 文になっていない。“that” は関係代名詞で “The compassionate heart” を後ろから修飾している。“in connecting with others” は「他人とつながることにおける」のニュアンス。
your pounding physical heart, working so hard to give you strength and energy： 文になっていない。“working” 以下が “your pounding physical heart” を後ろから修飾している。 “physical heart” は「心臓」の意味。「こころ」という意味の “heart” と区別している。
get better at 〜： ～がうまくなる ⇨ “get better at stress” 「ストレスへの対応がうまくなる」のニュアンス。
pretty /príti/ (副) 非常に
profound /prəfáund/ (形) 心の底からの