Stress A Brief History [Hardcover]

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• First concise, accessible, academically grounded book on the origins of the concept of stress.
  
• Explores different theories and models of stress such as the psychosomatic approach, homeostasis, and general adaptation syndrome.
  
• Discusses the work and intriguing contributions of key researchers in the field such as Walter Cannon, Hans Selye, Harold Wolff, and Richard Lazarus.
  
• Explains the origins of key concepts in stress such as stressful life events, the coronary-prone personality, and appraisals and coping.
  
• Culminates in a discussion of what makes a good theory and what obligations stress researchers have to those whose working lives they study.

1. From Early Beginnings to the 20th Century.

Introduction.

Hooke’s Law and the Engineering Analogy.

The 18th Century and Beyond.

Summary of Themes from the 18th and 19th Century.

2. The 20th Century – The Early Years.

The Emergence of the School of Functionalism.

Fatigue and Mental Hygiene.

Psychosomatic Medicine and the contribution of Walter Cannon.

Hans Selye.

The Concept of Non-Specificity.

General Adaptation Syndrome.

Eustress, Distress, Overstress and Hyperstress.

Physiological Aspects of Stress.

The Work of Harold Wolff.

The Protective Reaction.

Summary of the First half of the 20th Centlƒ'