Hans Selye and Stress

Hans Selye wrote in the frontispiece of his book Stress, published in 1950:

To those who are under the exhausting nervous strain

of pursuing their ideal - whatever it may be - to the

martyrs who sacrifice themselves for others, as well as to those hounded by selfish ambition, fear, jealousy, and worst of all by hate. For my stress stems from the urge to help and not to judge. But most personally this book is dedicated to my wife, who helped so much to write it, for she understood that I cannot, and should not be cured of my stress but merely taught to enjoy it (Selye).

In 1978, the American Institute of Stress was formally established as a not-for-profit educational organization as a clearinghouse on stress-related topics (Rosch).

Selye first used the word "stress" in a letter to the Editor of Nature in 1936, and the editor suggest he delete it and replace it with "alarm reaction" because it implied nervous strain (Rosch). This created problems when his work was translated into other languages as there was no equivalent word. At a conference in France in 1946, the word "stress" was finally born, and appeared in all languages (le stress, il stress, der stress, etc.). Selye then spent the rest of his life trying to find an acceptable definition for stress. Most people viewed stress as an unpleasant threat, so he came up with the word "stressor" to distinguish the stimulus from the response.

As a medical student, Selye observed that patients suffering from a

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real bodily harm, but the student will suffer no more than embarrassment. However, prolonged, severe psychological stress can cause physical damage to an organism. Conflict and frustration can lead to stress, and these may result in anxiety. Anger and fear mobilize the body to react to threatening situations. Chronic anxiety or hostility can cause these bodily changes to become permanent and so cause damage. Women today are assaulted by stress from every side - juggling multiple roles of worker, mother, wife, homemaker; coping with economic uncertainties; under constant terrorist threats and alerts; the problems living in poverty in crime-ridden neighborhoods for many; single-motherhood; and constant health warnings of what we should and shouldn't eat, which change daily - its little wonder than in a recent National Women's Health Resource Center poll, 93 percent of 681 respondents described the stress level in their daily lives as moderate or higher (Women). Researchers have refined Selye's concept of stress as "the rate of wear and tear on the body" into three grades of stress: acute stress, acute episodic stress, and chronic stress. Acute stress is the most common form, and can be good or bad (Women). Things like mar

Category: Psychology - H