21
But the extent to which the need for control is stitched into our
biology did not become apparent until roughly forty years later, when
it was discovered that lab animals who are given control live longer,
have higher antibody counts and fewer ulcers.28 Jay Weiss, at New
York's Rockefeller University, put two groups of rats in cages with
electrically wired floors. When the current was turned on, the rats'
unprotected pink feet would receive a painful shock. One group of
rats could neither stop nor escape the onset of the electrical charge. A
second group was granted a modest privilege. Its cages were outfitted
with a switch that allowed these rodents to turn off the electricity. The
group with the switch, in short, had control.
The rats who had been able to control their punishment emerged
from the experiment in relative health--despite their heavy dose of
electrical torment. But the group that had no control came out of their
ordeal with a high incidence of stomach ulcers. The difference
occurred despite the fact that the two groups of rats received precisely
the same amount of electrical shock at precisely the same time. What's
more, in similar studies at the University of Colorado, after only a short
exposure to uncontrollable pain, the immune defenses of helpless rats
crumbled, leaving the creatures highly vulnerable to infection and to
cancer-causing drugs.29 Control protected the health of the rats with
the switch. And the lack of control stripped their hapless brethren of
even their own internal protectors. Numerous additional experiments
have confirmed control's benefits to physical health.30
Control is also the magic ingredient that keeps us alert in the face
of danger. It does so by suppressing the output of endorphins.
Endorphins are chemicals produced by the body to soothe our pain.
They are similar in molecular construction to morphine31, and they
have morphine's ability to smother suffering. Endorphins have been
glorified in popular literature as blessed biological benefactors. In
reality, however, they are seductive poisons. Endorphins' power to
anesthetize is great. But they cripple us in the bargain, shuttering our
perceptions and cutting our resistance to disease. 32
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