The Evolution of the Stress Concept

The originator of the concept traces its development from the discovery in 1936 of the alarm reaction to modern therapeutic applications of syntoxic and catatoxic hormones Everybody knows what stress is and nobody knows what it is. The word stress, like success, failure, or happiness, means different things to different people and, except for a few specialized scientists, no one has really tried to define it although it has become part of our daily vocabulary. Is it effort, fatigue, pain, fear, the need for concentration, the humiliation of censure, loss of blood, or even an unexpected success that requires complete reformulation of one's life? The answer is yes and no. That is what makes the definition of stress so difficult. Every one of these conditions can produce stress, and yet none of them, can be singled out as being "it " since the word applies equally to all others as well. Yet, how are we to cope with the stress of life if we cannot even define it? The businessman who is under constant pressure from his clients and employees alike, the air traffic controller who knows that a moment of distraction may mean death to hundreds of people, the athlete who desperately wants to win a race, and the husband who helplessl