Hans Selye - Psychology and Stress
Hans Selye (1907-82)
Austrian-born Canadian medical professor (pictured right).
The first person to use the term stress and study it.
His most famous book is…
Stress without Distress (1974).
What did he say about stress?
1. Stress is unavoidable
You can’t live without stress because, says Selye, it is a “response of the body to any demand made on
it”.
Its effects can be positive or negative (see points 2 and 3).
2. Stress means success
To be successful you must push yourself to achieve challenging and worthwhile aims (see
point 4).
This is when stress is temporary and positive.
3. Stress means strain
If stress is more permanent, you will experience unpleasant effects like:
- irritability, anxiety and insomnia.
- inability to cope with life.
Selye calls this “distress”, and to avoid it you must:
- enjoy your leisure (but total inactivity is damaging -see point 4).
4. Do something worthwhile
To be happy:
- satisfy your selfish desires (accepting that people are born for survival).
- earn your neighbour’s love by giving to others (“altruistic egoism”).
Giving makes you feel good from:
5. Attack anxiety
Reduce the amount of worry in your life by:
a) simplifying your lifestyle
(by reducing your spending).
b) concentrating on pleasant thoughts and
actions
c) confronting and removing painful problems
Decide upon:
- the problems you can live with.
d) thinking positively
Concentrate on what you can do.
Key quotes on
stress
Stress is the spice of life.
It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.
Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.
Key quote on health
If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions.
Key quote on
objectives
Fight for your highest attainable aim.
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