Aspects of Mental Health

Abstract

‘Stress’ is a hackneyed, imprecise term, confusingly used to denote both cause and effect, better described as strain. Stress is the subject of countless talks, articles and books and is blamed as the cause of much mental and physical ill health, so it may seem logical to conclude that stress is to be avoided at all costs. It is sometimes used as an excuse. Change, which is at the root of much stress, happens faster than fifty years ago, and life generally has a faster pace especially in communications and travel, but stress has been present in one form or another since life began. To blame the increased incidence of heart disease or nervous illness on stress alone is too simplistic, and incorrect. In essence harmful stress arises when resources and demands are out of balance; demands being either too little or too great. Another analogy is that the stressed person feels unsafe.