Customer Reviews

The Stress of Life

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hans Selye MD PHD,the discoverer of "biologic stress", the neuroendocrine response of the body to exposure to stressors, lays the foundation for mind-body medicine and takes the reader on a detailed journey of scientific discovery which impacts every human being. This three time Nobel Prize nominee was way ahead of his time documenting the role of stress hormones on the immune,cardiovascular,gastrointestinal,musculoskeletal and neurological systems.
Selye's interest in educating the lay public and health professionals and his committment to share behaviors and life philosophies that are protective or modulate life stressors are evident throughout. Strongly recommended for health professionals with an interest in the scientific foundation for mind-body medicine.A must read for the lay person with an interest in stress adaptation and how the brain processes life stressors.

I am a former physiology teaching fellow and research biochemist. In my daily life, I do stress management work with executives and others. While this book is a classic, it is NOT current and mostly of historical interest. For an easy read that is more accurate, try THE END OF STRESS AS WE KNOW IT. If you have a good biology background, then my favorite book in this genre is WHY ZEBRAS DON'T GET ULCERS by Sapolsky.

The three rating is not because it's a poorly written book, just that it is so behind the times it could be misleading. I would rate it higher for historical interest, but not for solid information on the stress response. We know much more about it now and Selye was off the mark in some important ways.

The "Stress of Life" is widely considered to be a classic work in the field of stress research. The "father" of the stress hypothesis, Hans Selye, lays out the concept of a "general adaptation syndrome" to stressors and presents evidence to show that the stress response of an animal or human is a short or long term attempt to maintain a state of physiological balance or "homeostasis" . A book that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in this topic.