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Annual Review of Psychology

Volume 72, 2021, review article, stress and health: a review of psychobiological processes.

Daryl B. O'Connor 1 , Julian F. Thayer 2 , and Kavita Vedhara 3
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] 2 Department of Psychological Science, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA; email: [email protected] 3 Division of Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom; email: [email protected]
Vol. 72:663-688 (Volume publication date January 2021) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-062520-122331
First published as a Review in Advance on September 04, 2020
Copyright © 2021 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

The cumulative science linking stress to negative health outcomes is vast. Stress can affect health directly, through autonomic and neuroendocrine responses, but also indirectly, through changes in health behaviors. In this review, we present a brief overview of ( a ) why we should be interested in stress in the context of health; ( b ) the stress response and allostatic load; ( c ) some of the key biological mechanisms through which stress impacts health, such as by influencing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation and cortisol dynamics, the autonomic nervous system, and gene expression; and ( d ) evidence of the clinical relevance of stress, exemplified through the risk of infectious diseases. The studies reviewed in this article confirm that stress has an impact on multiple biological systems. Future work ought to consider further the importance of early-life adversity and continue to explore how different biological systems interact in the context of stress and health processes.

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Recent developments in stress and anxiety research

Published: 01 September 2021
Volume 128 , pages 1265–1267, ( 2021 )

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Stress and anxiety are virtually omnipresent in today´s society, pervading almost all aspects of our daily lives. While each and every one of us experiences “stress” and/or “anxiety” at least to some extent at times, the phenomena themselves are far from being completely understood. In stress research, scientists are particularly grappling with the conceptual issue of how to define stress, also with regard to delimiting stress from anxiety or negative affectivity in general. Interestingly, there is no unified theory of stress, despite many attempts at defining stress and its characteristics. Consequently, the available literature relies on a variety of different theoretical approaches, though the theories of Lazarus and Folkman ( 1984 ) or McEwen ( 1998 ) are relatively pervasive in the literature. One key issue in conceptualizing stress is that research has not always differentiated between the perception of a stimulus or a situation as a stressor and the subsequent biobehavioral response (often called the “stress response”). This is important, since, for example, psychological factors such as uncontrollability and social evaluation, i.e. factors that may influence how an individual perceives a potentially stressful stimulus or situation, have been identified as characteristics that elicit particularly powerful physiological stressful responses (Dickerson and Kemeny 2004 ). At the core of the physiological stress response is a complex physiological system, which is located in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the body´s periphery. The complexity of this system necessitates a multi-dimensional assessment approach involving variables that adequately reflect all relevant components. It is also important to consider that the experience of stress and its psychobiological correlates do not occur in a vacuum, but are being shaped by numerous contextual factors (e.g. societal and cultural context, work and leisure time, family and dyadic systems, environmental variables, physical fitness, nutritional status, etc.) and dispositional factors (e.g. genetics, personality, resilience, regulatory capacities, self-efficacy, etc.). Thus, a theoretical framework needs to incorporate these factors. In sum, as stress is considered a multi-faceted and inherently multi-dimensional construct, its conceptualization and operationalization needs to reflect this (Nater 2018 ).

The goal of the World Association for Stress Related and Anxiety Disorders (WASAD) is to promote and make available basic and clinical research on stress-related and anxiety disorders. Coinciding with WASAD’s 3rd International Congress held in September 2021 in Vienna, Austria, this journal publishes a Special Issue encompassing state-of-the art research in the field of stress and anxiety. This special issue collects answers to a number of important questions that need to be addressed in current and future research. Among the most relevant issues are (1) the multi-dimensional assessment that arises as a consequence of a multi-faceted consideration of stress and anxiety, with a particular focus on doing so under ecologically valid conditions. Skoluda et al. 2021 (in this issue) argue that hair as an important source of the stress hormone cortisol should not only be taken as a complementary stress biomarker by research staff, but that lay persons could be also trained to collect hair at the study participants’ homes, thus increasing the ecological validity of studies incorporating this important measure; (2) the incongruence between psychological and biological facets of stress and anxiety that has been observed both in laboratory and field research (Campbell and Ehlert 2012 ). Interestingly, there are behavioral constructs that do show relatively high congruence. As shown in the paper of Vatheuer et al. ( 2021 ), gaze behavior while exposed to an acute social stressor correlates with salivary cortisol, thus indicating common underlying mechanisms; (3) the complex dynamics of stress-related measures that may extend over shorter (seconds to minutes), medium (hours and diurnal/circadian fluctuations), and longer (months, seasonal) time periods. In particular, momentary assessment studies are highly qualified to examine short to medium term fluctuations and interactions. In their study employing such a design, Stoffel and colleagues (Stoffel et al. 2021 ) show ecologically valid evidence for direct attenuating effects of social interactions on psychobiological stress. Using an experimental approach, on the other hand, Denk et al. ( 2021 ) examined the phenomenon of physiological synchrony between study participants; they found both cortisol and alpha-amylase physiological synchrony in participants who were in the same group while being exposed to a stressor. Importantly, these processes also unfold over time in relation to other biological systems; al’Absi and colleagues showed in their study (al’Absi et al. 2021 ) the critical role of the endogenous opioid system and its relation to stress-related analgesia; (4) the influence of contextual and dispositional factors on the biological stress response in various target samples (e.g., humans, animals, minorities, children, employees, etc.) both under controlled laboratory conditions and in everyday life environments. In this issue, Sattler and colleagues show evidence that contextual information may only matter to a certain extent, as in their study (Sattler et al. 2021 ), the biological response to a gay-specific social stressor was equally pronounced as the one to a general social stressor in gay men. Genetic information is probably the most widely researched dispositional factor; Kuhn et al. show in their paper (Kuhn et al. 2021 ) that the low expression variant of the serotonin transporter gene serves as a risk factor for increased stress reactivity, thus clearly indicating the important role of dispositional factors in stress processing. An interesting factor combining both aspects of dispositional and contextual information is maternal care; Bentele et al. ( 2021 ) in their study are able to show that there was an effect of maternal care on the amylase stress response, while no such effect was observed for cortisol. In a similar vein, Keijser et al. ( 2021 ) showed in their gene-environment interaction study that the effects of FKBP5, a gene very closely related to HPA axis regulation, and early life stress on depressive symptoms among young adults was moderated by a positive parenting style; and (5) the role of stress and anxiety as transdiagnostic factors in mental disorders, be it as an etiological factor, a variable contributing to symptom maintenance, or as a consequence of the condition itself. Stress, e.g., as a common denominator for a broad variety of psychiatric diagnoses has been extensively discussed, and stress as an etiological factor holds specific significance in the context of transdiagnostic approaches to the conceptualization and treatment of mental disorders (Wilamowska et al. 2010 ). The HPA axis, specifically, is widely known to be dysregulated in various conditions. Fischer et al. ( 2021 ) discuss in their comprehensive review the role of this important stress system in the context of patients with post-traumatic disorder. Specifically focusing on the cortisol awakening response, Rausch and colleagues provide evidence for HPA axis dysregulation in patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (Rausch et al. 2021 ). As part of a longitudinal project on ADHD, Szep et al. ( 2021 ) investigated the possible impact of child and maternal ADHD symptoms on mothers’ perceived chronic stress and hair cortisol concentration; although there was no direct association, the findings underline the importance of taking stress-related assessments into consideration in ADHD studies. As the HPA axis is closely interacting with the immune system, Rhein et al. ( 2021 ) examined in their study the predicting role of the cytokine IL-6 on psychotherapy outcome in patients with PTSD, indicating that high reactivity of IL-6 to a stressor at the beginning of the therapy was associated with a negative therapy outcome. The review of Kyunghee Kim et al. ( 2021 ) also demonstrated the critical role of immune pathways in the molecular changes due to antidepressant treatment. As for the therapy, the important role of cognitive-behavioral therapy with its key elements to address both stress and anxiety reduction have been shown in two studies in this special issue, evidencing its successful application in obsessive–compulsive disorder (Ivarsson et al. 2021 ; Hollmann et al. 2021 ). Thus, both stress and anxiety are crucial transdiagnostic factors in various mental disorders, and future research needs elaborate further on their role in etiology, maintenance, and treatment.

In conclusion, a number of important questions are being asked in stress and anxiety research, as has become evident above. The Special Issue on “Recent developments in stress and anxiety research” attempts to answer at least some of the raised questions, and I want to invite you to inspect the individual papers briefly introduced above in more detail.

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Urs M. Nater

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Nater, U.M. Recent developments in stress and anxiety research. J Neural Transm 128 , 1265–1267 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02410-3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02410-3

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Stress and Health: A Review of Psychobiological Processes

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1 School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom; email: [email protected].
2 Department of Psychological Science, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA; email: [email protected].
3 Division of Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, United Kingdom; email: [email protected].
PMID: 32886587
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-062520-122331

Keywords: HPA axis; allostatic load; autonomic nervous system; cortisol; genomics.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

What is post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.

It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear is a part of the body’s “fight-or-flight” response, which helps us avoid or respond to potential danger. People may experience a range of reactions after trauma, and most people recover from initial symptoms over time. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD.

Who gets PTSD?

Anyone can develop PTSD at any age. This includes combat veterans and people who have experienced or witnessed a physical or sexual assault, abuse, an accident, a disaster, or other serious events. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened, even when they are not in danger.

Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Sometimes, learning that a friend or family member experienced trauma can cause PTSD.

According to the National Center for PTSD , a program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about six out of every 100 people will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men. Certain aspects of the traumatic event and some biological factors (such as genes) may make some people more likely to develop PTSD.

What are the signs and symptoms of PTSD?

Symptoms of PTSD usually begin within 3 months of the traumatic event, but they sometimes emerge later. To meet the criteria for PTSD, a person must have symptoms for longer than 1 month, and the symptoms must be severe enough to interfere with aspects of daily life, such as relationships or work. The symptoms also must be unrelated to medication, substance use, or other illness.

The course of the disorder varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others have symptoms that last for 1 year or longer. People with PTSD often have co-occurring conditions, such as depression, substance use, or one or more anxiety disorders.

After a dangerous event, it is natural to have some symptoms. For example, some people may feel detached from the experience, as though they are observing things rather than experiencing them. A mental health professional who has experience helping people with PTSD, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker, can determine whether symptoms meet the criteria for PTSD.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, an adult must have all of the following for at least 1 month:

At least one re-experiencing symptom
At least one avoidance symptom
At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms
At least two cognition and mood symptoms

Re-experiencing symptoms include:

Experiencing flashbacks—reliving the traumatic event, including physical symptoms such as a racing heart or sweating
Having recurring memories or dreams related to the event
Having distressing thoughts
Experiencing physical signs of stress

Thoughts and feelings can trigger these symptoms, as can words, objects, or situations that are reminders of the event.

Avoidance symptoms include:

Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the traumatic experience
Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event

Avoidance symptoms may cause people to change their routines. For example, some people may avoid driving or riding in a car after a serious car accident.

Arousal and reactivity symptoms include:

Being easily startled
Feeling tense, on guard, or on edge
Having difficulty concentrating
Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
Feeling irritable and having angry or aggressive outbursts
Engaging in risky, reckless, or destructive behavior

Arousal symptoms are often constant. They can lead to feelings of stress and anger and may interfere with parts of daily life, such as sleeping, eating, or concentrating.

Cognition and mood symptoms include:

Having trouble remembering key features of the traumatic event
Having negative thoughts about oneself or the world
Having exaggerated feelings of blame directed toward oneself or others
Having ongoing negative emotions, such as fear, anger, guilt, or shame
Losing interest in enjoyable activities
Having feelings of social isolation
Having difficulty feeling positive emotions, such as happiness or satisfaction

Cognition and mood symptoms can begin or worsen after the traumatic event. They can lead a person to feel detached from friends or family members.

If you or someone you know is struggling or having thoughts of suicide, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org . In life-threatening situations, call 911 .

How do children and teens react to trauma?

Children and teens can have extreme reactions to trauma, but some of their symptoms may not be the same as those seen in adults. In children younger than age 6, these symptoms can include:

Wetting the bed after having learned to use the toilet
Forgetting how to talk or being unable to talk
Acting out the scary event during playtime
Being unusually clingy with a parent or other adult

Older children and teens usually show symptoms more like those seen in adults. They also may develop disruptive, disrespectful, or destructive behaviors. Older children and teens may feel guilty for not preventing injury or deaths. They may also have thoughts of revenge.

Learn more about how to help children and adolescents cope with disasters and other traumatic events .

What are the risk factors for PTSD?

Not everyone who lives through a dangerous event develops PTSD—many factors play a part. Some of these factors are present before the trauma; others become important during and after a traumatic event.

Risk factors that may increase the likelihood of developing PTSD include:

Being exposed to previous traumatic experiences, particularly during childhood
Getting hurt or seeing people hurt or killed
Feeling horror, helplessness, or extreme fear
Having little or no social support after the event
Dealing with extra stress after the event, such as loss of a loved one, pain and injury, or loss of a job or home
Having a personal or family history of mental illness or substance use

Resilience factors that may reduce the likelihood of developing PTSD include:

Seeking out support from friends, family, or support groups
Learning to feel okay with one’s actions in response to a traumatic event
Having a coping strategy for getting through and learning from the traumatic event
Being prepared and able to respond to upsetting events as they occur, despite feeling fear

How is PTSD treated?

It is important for anyone with PTSD symptoms to work with a mental health professional who has experience treating PTSD. The main treatments are psychotherapy, medications, or a combination of psychotherapy and medications. A mental health professional can help people find the best treatment plan for their symptoms and needs.

Some people with PTSD, such as those in abusive relationships, may be living through ongoing trauma. In these cases, treatment is usually most effective when it addresses both the traumatic situation and the symptoms of PTSD. People who experience traumatic events or who have PTSD also may experience panic disorder , depression , substance use , or suicidal thoughts . Treatment for these conditions can help with recovery after trauma. Research shows that support from family and friends also can be an important part of recovery.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy) includes a variety of treatment techniques that mental health professionals use to help people identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Psychotherapy can provide support, education, and guidance to people with PTSD and their families. Treatment can take place one on one or in a group and usually lasts 6 to 12 weeks but can last longer.

Some types of psychotherapy target PTSD symptoms, while others focus on social, family, or job-related problems. Effective psychotherapies often emphasize a few key components, including learning skills to help identify triggers and manage symptoms.

One common type of psychotherapy, called cognitive behavioral therapy, can include exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring:

Exposure therapy helps people learn to manage their fear by gradually exposing them, in a safe way, to the trauma they experienced. As part of exposure therapy, people may think or write about the trauma or visit the place where it happened. This therapy can help people with PTSD reduce symptoms that cause them distress.
Cognitive restructuring helps people make sense of the traumatic event. Sometimes people remember the event differently from how it happened. They may feel guilt or shame about something that is not their fault. Cognitive restructuring can help people with PTSD think about what happened in a realistic way.

Medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a type of antidepressant medication, for the treatment of PTSD. SSRIs may help manage PTSD symptoms such as sadness, worry, anger, and feeling emotionally numb. Health care providers may prescribe SSRIs and other medications along with psychotherapy. Some medications may help treat specific PTSD symptoms, such as sleep problems and nightmares.

People should work with their health care providers to find the best medication or combination of medications and the right dose. To find the latest information about medications, talk to a health care provider and visit the FDA website .

How can I find help for PTSD?

If you’re not sure where to get help, a health care provider can refer you to a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist with experience treating PTSD. Find tips to help prepare for and get the most out of your visit and information about getting help .

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a online treatment locator to help you find mental health services in your area.

Here are some things you can do to help yourself while in treatment:

Talk with your health care provider about treatment options and follow your treatment plan.
Engage in exercise, mindfulness, or other activities that help reduce stress.
Try to maintain routines for meals, exercise, and sleep.
Set realistic goals and focus on what you can manage.
Spend time with trusted friends or relatives and tell them about things that may trigger symptoms.
Expect your symptoms to improve gradually, not immediately.
Avoid the use of alcohol or drugs.

How can I help a friend or relative who has PTSD?

If you know someone who may be experiencing PTSD, the most important thing you can do is to help that person get the right diagnosis and treatment. Some people may need help making an appointment with their health care provider; others may benefit from having someone accompany them to their health care visits.

If a close friend or relative is diagnosed with PTSD, you can encourage them to follow their treatment plan. If their symptoms do not get better after 6 to 8 weeks, you can encourage them to talk to their health care provider. You also can:

Offer emotional support, understanding, patience, and encouragement.
Learn about PTSD so you can understand what your friend is experiencing.
Listen carefully. Pay attention to the person’s feelings and the situations that may trigger PTSD symptoms.
Share positive distractions, such as walks, outings, and other activities.

How can I find a clinical trial for PTSD?

Clinical trials are research studies that look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat diseases and conditions. The goal of clinical trials is to determine if a new test or treatment works and is safe. Although individuals may benefit from being part of a clinical trial, participants should be aware that the primary purpose of a clinical trial is to gain new scientific knowledge so that others may be better helped in the future.

Researchers at NIMH and around the country conduct many studies with patients and healthy volunteers. We have new and better treatment options today because of what clinical trials uncovered years ago. Talk to your health care provider about clinical trials, their benefits and risks, and whether one is right for you.

To learn more or find a study, visit:

NIMH’s Clinical Trials webpage : Information about participating in clinical trials
Clinicaltrials.gov: Current Studies on PTSD : List of clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) being conducted across the country

Where can I learn more about PTSD?

Free brochures and shareable resources.

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope With Traumatic Events : This fact sheet presents information on how children and adolescents respond to traumatic events, and what family, friends, and trusted adults can do to help. Also available en español .
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder : This brochure provides information about PTSD, including what it is, who develops PTSD, symptoms, treatment options, and how to find help for yourself or someone else who may have PTSD. Also available en español .
Digital Shareables on PTSD : These digital resources, including graphics and messages, can be used to spread the word about PTSD and help promote awareness and education in your community.
NIMH-Funded Researcher Discusses PTSD : In this video, an expert describes PTSD signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and the latest research on PTSD.

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Singapore Med J
v.59(4); 2018 Apr

Hans Selye (1907–1982): Founder of the stress theory

Siang yong tan.

1 Emeritus Professor of Medicine, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA

2 Research carried out during senior medical student elective, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA

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Object name is SMJ-59-170-g001.jpg

The relationship between stress and disease is now well established, but was not always recognised. The word ‘stress’ is used in physics to refer to the interaction between a force and the resistance to counter that force, and it was Hans Selye who first incorporated this term into the medical lexicon to describe the “ nonspecific response of the body to any demand “. Selye, who is known as the ‘father of stress research’, disavowed the study of specific disease signs and symptoms, unlike others before him, and instead focused on universal patient reactions to illness. His concept of stress impacted scientific and lay communities alike, in fields as diverse as endocrinology, complementary medicine, animal breeding and social psychology.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE

Selye was born in Vienna on 26 January, 1907. His father, Hugo Selye, was a surgeon colonel in the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army who later started his own surgical clinic. His mother, who administrated the clinic, had a strong influence on the boy with her constant quest for excellence and intellectual sophistication. Selye had a warm relationship with his father and it seemed inevitable that he would one day work in his father’s surgical clinic. Carrying on the surgical work would mean continuing the medical tradition into the fifth generation of the family.

Selye received his education from a Benedictine monastery and private tutoring. By the age of four, he spoke four languages and would go on to learn several more. However, Selye was most proud of his Hungarian heritage, as his father was Hungarian and his teachers had impressed upon him a strong sense of nationalism. As a young child, he was confident to the point of being boastful, always wanting to be first in everything that he did. These were personality traits that he carried into adulthood and which helped to sustain him in his pioneering work.

PATH TO RESEARCH

Rather than taking over the family’s surgical clinic, Selye chose a career in research instead. At 17, he attended the medical school of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. After receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree, he pursued a Doctor of Philosophy in organic chemistry, which earned him a Rockefeller Research Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. However, he found university life at Hopkins unbearable and became homesick. He was on his way home to Prague when, following the advice of some Canadian students at Hopkins, he asked to transfer to McGill University in Montreal, Canada. There, he completed his fellowship under Prof James Bertram Collip, the discoverer of the parathyroid hormone, and at the age of 27, became Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at McGill University.

Selye was first exposed to the idea of ‘biological stress’ during his second year at the University of Prague medical school. He had observed during ward rounds that patients often had numerous complaints in common, even though they were each suffering from different and distinct diseases. Until that point, students had been taught that signs and symptoms were related and specific to a particular illness, a principle passed down by the famous German pathologist Rudolf Virchow in the late 19th century. Recalling an example, Selye recounted how one of his teachers would make the correct diagnosis in each of five different patients, solely on the basis of their presenting history and physical findings. What was ignored, however, were the generic complaints that all those patients had in common, such as looking tired, having no appetite, losing weight, preferring to lie down rather than stand, and not being in the mood to go to work. He called it the “ syndrome of just being sick ”. However, this obvious yet powerful observation would lie dormant for about ten years before Selye would launch his investigation into this ubiquitous phenomenon.

SELYE’S SYNDROME

Selye was the first scientist to identify ‘stress’ as underpinning the nonspecific signs and symptoms of illness. The stress concept re-entered Selye’s life during his fellowship at McGill when Prof Collip placed him in charge of identifying various female sex hormones that were yet undiscovered. For this project, he collected cow ovaries for processing and examination, and injected various extracts into female rats and measured their responses. His autopsies yielded a triad of surprising findings: enlargement of the adrenal glands, atrophy of the lymphatic system including the thymus, and peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum. It was not due to a hypothetical new hormone, as every injected noxious agent produced the same findings. He continued his experiments by placing the rats in various stressful situations, such as on the cold roof of the medical building, or the familiar revolving treadmill that required continuous running for the animals to stay upright. The findings in each experiment were the same: adrenal hyperactivity, lymphatic atrophy and peptic ulcers. Selye recognised that his discovery was an expression of Claude Bernard’s milieu intérieur and homeostasis at work, and cleverly linked the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to the way the body coped with stress.

Selye’s proposal stipulated that stress was present in an individual throughout the entire period of exposure to a nonspecific demand. He distinguished acute stress from the total response to chronically applied stressors, terming the latter condition ‘general adaptation syndrome’, which is also known in the literature as Selye’s Syndrome. The syndrome divides the total response from stress into three phases: the alarm reaction, the stage of resistance and the stage of exhaustion. When individuals are exposed to a stressor, they are at first taken off guard, then attempt to maintain homeostasis by resisting the change, and eventually fall victim to exhaustion in countering the stressor. Stress is a choreographed state of events, not a mere psychological term, and is encountered by all individuals during a period of illness. It differs fundamentally from the fight-or-flight or acute stress response that occurs when facing a perceived threat, as first described by physiologist Walter Cannon in 1915. The acute release of neurotransmitters from the sympathetic and central nervous systems, as well as hormones from the adrenal cortex and medulla, pituitary and other endocrine glands, mediate the response in acute stress.

LIFE AND WORK

Work was never work for Selye; in this regard, he has been compared to Thomas Edison, who saw work not as labour but as leisure. Selye actually transformed his home, a brick house built across the McGill University campus, into the International Institute of Stress, where he planned some of his experiments. Notwithstanding his prodigious contributions, Selye’s personal life was one of tumult. He was married three times and had one daughter from his first marriage and four children from his second. He purportedly stayed in his second marriage for 28 years because he wanted to provide a good home for his children until they were independent. His third and final marriage was to Louise, his laboratory assistant of 19 years and someone whom he felt had always understood his goals. In his memoirs, Selye compared himself to a racehorse with Louise riding on his back, racing together toward the finishing line.

Selye’s relentless work ethic was evident in his publications, which numbered more than 1,600 scientific articles and about 40 books. An innovative and creative scientist with a rich and invigorating personality, he considered himself a practitioner of experimental, not clinical, medicine. He even delved into the association between stress and cancer, using his own personal experience after a histiocytic reticulosarcoma formed under his skin, for which he had to undergo surgery and radioactive cobalt therapy. He was a nominee for the Nobel Prize in 1949, won many accolades, and published his best-known book, The Stress of Life , in 1956. A professor and director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the University of Montreal, he at one point directed 40 laboratory assistants and worked with 15,000 laboratory animals. In 1975, he founded the International Institute of Stress, and created the Hans Selye Foundation and the Canadian Institute of Stress.

Selye died on 16 October 1982, in Montreal at the age of 75. Sadly, a scandal emerged after his death: he was said to have received extensive funding for his research from the tobacco industry, for which he had worked as a consultant over several decades, as well as participating in its pro-smoking campaigns.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Force Mechanism and Parametric Finite Element Analysis of Punching Shear Behavior of Flat Slabs with Welded Shear Reinforcements

Jiang, Mingyue
Shi, Qingxuan

Punching shear failure of flat slabs is a critical safety issue since it may occur without any prior signs of damage. Welded shear reinforcement fabricated by longitudinal chords and diagonal webs is proposed as a novel type of shear reinforcement to significantly improve punching shear strength and ductility of flat slabs. However, there are few investigations on its force mechanism at present. To compensate for the objective flaws in the experiment, this research uses ABAQUS finite element software to distinguish the influence of welded shear reinforcements on punching shear behavior of flat slabs. A nonlinear finite element model was developed and validated with experimental results. The failure mode, concrete stress, flexural reinforcement strain, and welded shear reinforcement strain are all investigated in failure mechanism of flat slabs. The webs of weld shear reinforcement can limit the development of cracks and strengthen the aggregate interlocking at the cracks. The parametric analysis of the welded shear reinforcement under different geometrical parameters proves that punching shear effect of diagonal webs of welded shear reinforcement is much larger than that of chords. The definition of the web shear reinforcement ratio provides a theoretical basis for the design of such punching shear keys.

Finite element analysis;
Punching shear;
Welded shear reinforcements;
Failure mode

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Hans Selye (1907–1982): Founder of the stress theory

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE

PATH TO RESEARCH

SELYE’S SYNDROME

LIFE AND WORK

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Force Mechanism and Parametric Finite Element Analysis of Punching Shear Behavior of Flat Slabs with Welded Shear Reinforcements

IMAGES

VIDEO

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