Human beings come “hardwired” with physiological responses that allow us to adapt successfully to a wide variety of stressful situations. However, the unrelenting nature of today’s cultural and environmental stressors often causes these innate responses to be over activated resulting in widespread trauma, disease and premature death. This presentation will explore the physiological and evolutionary significance of the human response to stress.  The historical roots of our unprecedented present-day stressors will be examined and a blueprint for successful coping will be introduced.