What is stress? How to deal with stress – and what are the pivotal causes of stress – those are the key questions to be addressed in this paper. But at the outset the emphasis should be on precisely what is stress. In their book, Managing Yourself: How to Control Emotion, Stress, and Time, the trio of Alfred Goodloe, Jane Bensahel and John Kelly discuss stress by first stating that there is no way to avoid stress. Even during sleep, on one level, stressful dreams can and do occur. But it's important to note that stress "...is essential to daily living" (129), and stress can be "extremely pleasant and exciting" when it comes as a result of a business success story or a great sports victory. But when stress results from "fear, severe physical over-exertion, humiliating censure...physical injury, or the death of a loved one," it can be devastating, the authors explain on page 130.
             On page 130 the authors quote the late Hans Selye (considered a leader in the field of workplace stress) as saying stress is "...the nonspecific response of the body to any demand upon it." When stress occurs in a serious and negative situation, the glands "release large quantities of adrenaline, cortisone, and other hormones" which in turn produce physiological changes that affect heart rate and breathing.
             How much stress is too much stress? On page 131 the authors refer to a point system developed by Dr. Thomas Homes of the University of Washington; Homes says that when one person goes through "300 points of stress" in a one-year period, that is considered "dangerous." But on the other hand, about 80 percent of individuals Homes studied who had exceeded his point total of 300 "...became depressed or suffered serious physical illnesses."
             (A quick glance at Homes' point system shows that a person is assigned 100 points for the death of a spouse; 65 for s...