What Does the General Scientific Literature Say About the Nature of Stress?
The perception of stress is a complex process, involving both the individual and the environment. Whether individuals perceive circumstances as stressful depends upon their own unique life experiences, as well as their personal, social, and biological resources and vulnerabilities. Mere exposure to challenging life circumstances is not sufficient, in itself, to produce stress, but certain events are more likely than others to be perceived as stressful. Disease and illness are overlapping, but distinct, constructs. Whereas disease refers to diagnosable physical and psychiatric syndromes, illness refers to the subjective experience of poor health. Illness can manifest itself as bodily symptoms stemming from multiple sources–including psychological, physical, and social agents–and may or may not reflect the presence of an underlying disease. The relationship of illness to disease is complex. A person may experience ill health with no underlying disease. Conversely, individuals may suffe
