Hans Selye’s book The Stress of Life remains a classic in
the field. Selye was among the
first to articulate a theory of how stress works in the body and backed up his
theory with extensive experimentation that demonstrated the role of various
hormones in the stress response.
The work has percolated thoroughly into our body of knowledge. We all now know what it means to be “stressed.”
The bulk of the book is taken up
with detailed explanations of the General Adaptation Syndrome and the Local
Adaptation Syndrome that make up the stress response. Most of us probably don’t need this much detail,
particularly about some of the grimmer experimental methods that brought us
this information.
The last section of the book
offered some ideas on how to cope with stress to maximize our positive
challenge (eustress) and minimize destructive tension (stress). I was hoping for something more than
was on offer. Selye suggests that
we each need to find our individual balance and our right work, that we need to
make mindful choices to avoid wasting our limited supply of adaptation energy,
and that we ought to seek a meaningful existence. None of this is bad advice, but it’s not particularly
helpful, either.
As an introduction to the
concepts and mechanisms of stress, the book succeeds, but may not be suitable
for all readers.
