A Latin verb, Cannon, and two theories the notes set side by side

Everyone in modern life, the writer says, meets stress, from a more complicated society, from too much work, from study, from other people. Managing it well can even look like living well. Stress can be useful, in this reading, if a person meets a burden and life improves, or harmful if it goes on despite a person’s efforts and brings anxiety or a low mood.

The notes derive the word from a Latin form they write as stringer, meaning to pull tight. From the fourteenth century it was used in physics and engineering, and later in many fields; with Cannon’s theory of homeostasis it became a medical word, and then meant tension or poor health. Two theories sit at the center: Selye’s adaptation theory and Lazarus’s cognitive appraisal. Selye defined stress as a general bodily adaptation to many stressors. The situations may differ, but the response, he held, follows the same course, and arises non-specifically, whatever the stimulus. That general response is the general adaptation syndrome, written in the notes as General Adaptation Syndrom, GAS. In the alarm stage, the sympathetic system is activated; a passing headache, tiredness, a low appetite, or stomach pain may appear, yet the body can still recover. In resistance, the body tries to restore balance; hormones run high, the person may look well, and a hidden imbalance continues, with a risk of exhaustion and of anxiety if the resistance is not enough. In exhaustion, resistance weakens, balance is lost, and illness becomes more likely. The spelling Syndrom is the notes’, and is left as they write it.

A reading of a situation, and energy that does not last forever

Lazarus, the notes say, was a psychologist who built a mental and psychological model. He understood stress as a relation between a person and an environment, and held that everyday events do not, by themselves, produce stress; a person’s character, thoughts, and point of view do. Stress, in this reading, depends less on the event than on a person’s interpretation, because human beings have a kind of thought other animals do not, and cognitive appraisal is what generates stress. A person is most vulnerable when a situation matters greatly and resources are short. The kind and the degree of a response differ clearly, the notes say, according to that appraisal. Coping is a behavioral and inner effort to manage demands and conflicts that go beyond what a person and an environment can meet, and the course of coping depends on that thought.

Holmes and Rahe, the notes add, defined stress as a change in daily life that asks a person to adapt again to an environment. The energy a person has for that readjustment is limited, so when too many events push past what a person can manage, illness can appear. Feelings should be expressed, the writer says, but not at random, or relationships and working life may suffer. People with a positive character or with social support—friends who stand by them, or a partner to talk with—meet stress better. To ease tension, muscle relaxation or meditation is recommended.

A deputy’s remark, a friend, and a chair in a quiet room

The notes then turn to a woman they call A, in her second year at a large firm, just beginning to settle. The office was vertical, and she thought she had adapted. She likes to be active, to talk with friends, and to sit over a drink. She had started work early. For a year as a new hire, a deputy one rank above kept making remarks that sat badly with her. At first she was only confused; as the remarks repeated, the stress rose, and she even thought of leaving. One day the deputy said that he had to do research work because A lacked ability. In fact, the notes say, the section chief had only shared the work because the deputy had almost nothing to do; to hear it put down to A’s ability was what weighed on her.

She found some ease by talking, when she had time, with a neighborhood friend who listened and understood. She enrolled in a nearby yoga studio and went three times a week to loosen the body and ease tension. On days too busy for the studio, she used Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation, as the notes name it: sitting in a comfortable chair, loosening the muscles of the hands, arms, head, face, chest, back, shoulders, abdomen, hips, legs, and feet in that order, breathing in, loosening quickly, holding the looseness for some ten seconds, noticing the difference between tension and ease, repeating the cycle about twice, resting, and moving on, then finishing with a deep breath. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.

Sources

1. A student report on Selye’s adaptation theory and the general adaptation syndrome, and on Lazarus’s cognitive appraisal, as the notes tell them.
2. A Latin form the notes write as stringer, Cannon’s homeostasis, and Holmes and Rahe on life change, left as the notes word them.
3. An office worker named A, a deputy’s remark, a neighborhood friend, yoga, and Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation, as the notes name it.

Last updated: 14 November 2026