Hans Selye, the great pathfinder in the field of physiological stress, has described “the general adaptation syndrome,” which includes not only the immediate emergency reaction but also the long-term strategies of the body to resist prolonged adverse or noxious conditions. Jeffrey Gray explains this strategy:
Under prolonged stress . . . there is a massive shutdown of those bodily activities which are directed towards growth, re¬production, and even resistance to existing infection, in favor of mechanisms which promote readiness for immediate high-energy action. And this pattern—like the pattern observed in the immediate emergency reaction—is seen no matter what kind of stress is applied, whether it be physiological (surgery, injection of foreign protein, anaesthesia), environmental (extreme cold) or psychological (a threatening predator, intense competition among members of the same species, prolonged conflict, learning how to avoid an electric shock).
Psychological stressors not only produce the bodily feelings called “anxiety symptoms” but can also, if they are severe or prolonged enough, affect our physical health. According to Kenneth Pelletier, author of Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer, medical textbooks estimate that psychological stress plays a role in as much as 50 to 80 percent of recorded illnesses.
As we shall see, the current generally accepted explanation of physiological stress of psychological origin (or “psychological stress”) is confusing and is thus of little practical use to us in attempting to liberate ourselves from severe and pervasive anxiety. We shall offer a simpler interpretation of psychological stress, one that ties it directly to anxiety. First, however, let us consider stress as it is generally viewed today. We will start with the widely published Holmes-Rahe “social readjustment scale”.
Here is how Dr. Benson has explained the way the scale is conventionally interpreted: “Drs. Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, psychiatrists at the University of Washington Medical School, have devised a scale of stressful events…. According to the doctors, change whether for good or bad causes stress to a human being, leaving him more susceptible to disease.”
Based on this reasoning, some theorists go so far as to classify such events as those listed on the Holmes-Rahe scale as “good” stressors (eu-stressors) or “bad” stressors. However, if virtually every significant event in our life is either a good or bad stressor, it is difficult to see how the concept of psychological stress adds anything to our understanding of the cause of human suffering. It does not tell us why some people suffer from stress-related diseases and disorders—like anxiety attacks—and others do not. If everything—whether enjoyable or painful—is a stressor, then perbaps some people simply thrive on stress and others do not. This implies that there is something fundamentally wrong with people who suffer from such stress-related problems as anxiety.
But there is no evidence for this assumption. Those who suffer may simply be people who have learned to perceive particular types of changes to be threatening.
Stress, as Selye pointed out, occurs within us. And it results from an interaction between us and our environment. The character of this interaction is principally determined not by some intrinsic quality in an event like marriage, retirement, pregnancy, or outstanding personal achievement, nor by how reactive we are to our environment in general, but rather by the meaning that we choose to place on the particular event.
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