"Stress" remains one of the most frequently used, but ill-defined words in the English language. Stress is a phenomenon that has quite different meanings for the politician, social scientist, physician, nurse, psychotherapist, physiologist, or molecular biologist, and perhaps for you and me.
This diversity of meanings was one impetus for creating the Encyclopedia of Stress, the aim being to derive a definition of stress from a variety of expert descriptions. The second impetus was the obvious need for an up-to-date compendium on one of the most important social, medical, and psychological phenomena of our age. We were fortunate in attracting stars for our Editorial Board and a set of most distinguished contributors for the 400 or so entries - indeed, the list of contributors is a Who's Who in stress research.
We anticipate that the diversity of our readers will equal the diversity of the topics covered. They will find that the coverage of the Encyclopedia extends well beyond the General Adaptation theory of Hans (Janos) Selye and the fight-or-flight response of Walter Cannon. Nonetheless, the general principles enunciated by these two great pioneers in the field still underpin our understanding of the biology of the stress phenomenon. That is, stress is a real or perceived challenge, either endogenous or exogenous, that perturbs body equilibrium or "homeostasis." The stressor may range from overcrowding, traffic congestion, violence, bereavement, redundancy or unemployment, to physical, chemical, biological, or psychological insults. Whether the person can adapt to or cope with the stress will depend on the nature and severity of the stressor and the person's physical and mental state, which is determined by genetic, experiential, social, and environmental factors. These issues are discussed in depth in the Encyclopedia, as are the mechanisms of coping and the impact of stress on health and predisposition to diseases such as cancer, infection, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, and mental disorder.
Aggression remains a hallmark of human behavior, even as we move into the third millennium, and therefore the Encyclopedia covers several topical areas that have only recently been analyzed systematically. These include war and specific wars, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; formerly thought of vaguely as "shell shock"), rape, torture, marital discord and spousal abuse, and the Holocaust. In tackling these topics, we accept that our entries may not include all the nuances that are necessary for a full understanding of what these phenomena are all about and described so graphically and sensitively in Tolstoy's War and Peace or Pat Barker's monumental Regeneration trilogy on the horrific psychological traumas of the First World War. Nonetheless, an important start has been made in that we now accept that PTSD is not just lack of "bottle" (courage or "guts"), but rather a syndrome that needs to be, and can be, understood within the framework of Medicine and Psychology.
Biologically, the stress response reflects a set of integrated cascades in the nervous, endocrine and immune defense systems. As in most areas of biology, molecular genetics has made a significant difference in the precision with which we now understand the physiopathological processes of the stress response. And so the adage, formerly applied to diabetes mellitus, may now apply equally to stress: "understand stress and you will understand Medicine."
In summary, we hope that this first Encyclopedia of Stress will indeed define the term and at the same time provide a valuable source of information on a phenomenon that affects us all. In setting out on this adventure, we were aware that there is nothing new under the sun, and that "stress" has been around since the first biological particles, bacteria, or even viruses competed for the same mechanisms for replication. There is a tendency for each generation to imagine that stress and its untoward effects are uniquely harsh for them; but it is not this misconception that underlies this Work. Rather, the stress of "stress" itself - the massive accumulation of knowledge - made it seem propitious to bring the information together in a systematic manner that allows ready access to all who need or wish to understand the phenomenon.
The idea of producing this encyclopedia was conceived at an Academic Press reception in San Diego held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in 1996. I am deeply indebted to Erika Conner for enabling conversion of the idea to a concept and then a project, and Jennifer Wrenn, Christopher Morris, and Carolan Gladden, all of the Press, for their enthusiasm, encouragement and Herculean efforts which converted the concept into a reality. For giving generously of their intellect, expertise, sound advice, and unstinting work, I am greatly indebted to my friends and colleagues on the Editorial Board who made the project such a satisfying experience. To all our contributors go our profound thanks for taking time out from wall-to-wall schedules to produce their entries, which together have made this Encyclopedia.
