Stress and Its Relationship to Health and Illness

What is the relationship between stress and illness? How does stress affect immune responsivity? Why do some people cope better than others? Questions like these have generated considerable research during the last forty-five years. In this book, Dr. Linas A. Bieliauskas reviews the most significant stress-illness research and traces the evolution of stress theory, emphasizing such areas as hormonal responses to stress and the cognitive and social factors that affect people's abilities to cope successfully with stressful situations, including illness. In addition to examining how each individual's history relates to his or her reactions to life events, Dr. Bieliauskas takes a closer look at some specific psychophysiological reactions to stress-headaches, back pain, asthma, ulcers, and heart disease. He also discusses stress-related diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Grave's disease, psychological disturbances, and immune-related illnesses. The book concludes with a discussion of how the findings of stress-illness research can be applied in the clinical setting. An extensive bibliography has been included to encourage further exploration of the topics discussed.