Hans Selye
Hans Selye (1907-1982) was a pioneering figure in the field of stress research, recognized as the founder of this discipline. He began his medical education at the University of Prague in 1925, where he investigated the physiological effects of stress on the body, ultimately identifying a pattern of nonspecific symptoms associated with various stressors. Selye introduced the concept of the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which describes the body's response to stress in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. He also differentiated between "eustress," the positive stress that promotes growth, and "distress," the negative stress that can lead to illness.
Throughout his career, Selye published extensively, authoring thirty-nine books and over 1,700 scholarly articles, with notable works like "The Stress of Life" and "Stress without Distress." He held prestigious academic positions, including director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the University of Montreal, and was recognized with numerous honorary doctorates. While his contributions to stress research have been foundational and influential, they have also attracted criticism regarding his methodologies and ethical considerations. Despite this, Selye's work continues to inform the understanding of the intricate relationship between stress and health, paving the way for future research in both psychology and holistic healthcare.
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Subject Terms
Hans Selye
- Born: January 26, 1907
- Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
- Died: October 16, 1982
- Place of death: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Stress
Hans Selye, considered the founder of the stress field, devoted his entire professional life to studying stress.
Life
Hans Selye started medical school in 1925 at the University of Prague. While in medical school, he began researching the causes of stress and its effects on the body. He noticed that people undergoing a wide variety of stressors exhibited remarkably similar symptoms regardless of the type of stress being experienced, in addition to those symptoms associated with the specific stressor. In other words, each stressor (for instance, cold) caused its own specific response (shivering) and a nonspecific set of symptoms, which he described as “the syndrome of just being sick.” He named this collection of nonspecific symptoms the general adaptation syndrome (GAS), also known as the "Selye syndrome." These nonspecific symptoms, over time, may lead to physical illness and, ultimately, death. In his own words, “Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older.”
Selye proposed three stages of the GAS: alarm, in which the body prepares for fight or flight when challenged by a stressor; resistance, in which the body returns to normal but requires enormous energy to maintain homeostasis; and exhaustion, when continued stress causes symptoms similar to the alarm stage. Because, at this point, the body’s resources are depleted, physical illness ensues. Selye also later coined the term “eustress” for the positive, challenging type of stress that helps people grow, and he defined “distress” as the negative, destructive type of stress.
In the 1930s, Seyel began publishing scientific papers on the subject of stress. During his lifetime, he wrote thirty-nine books and more than 1,700 scholarly articles on this subject. Two of Selye’s best-known works are Stress without Distress (1974) and The Stress of Life (1956). Stress without Distress was published in seventeen languages and is still widely available.
In addition to his medical studies in Prague, Selye studied in Paris and Rome, earning a medical degree, a Doctor of Philosophy degree, and a Doctor of Science degree. He left Europe when he received a Rockefeller Research Fellowship and a position at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1932, he became an associate professor of histology at McGill University in Montreal and, in 1945, the first director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the University of Montreal, where he served until he retired in 1976. With Alvin Toffler, he founded the International Institute of Stress in 1979. Much honored for his scientific work, Selye was granted forty-three honorary doctorates during his lifetime. After his death, the Hans Selye Chair was established in 1989 at the University of Montreal.
Selye's lifework has not been without its detractors, however. In Stress, Shock, and Adaptation in the Twentieth Century (2014), Mark Jackson notes that critics, both during and after Selye's lifetime, have taken issue with his ethics, methodology, or emphasis on biology over cultural factors. Mark P. Petticrew and Kelley Lee, in a 2011 article, assert that the tobacco-industry funding Selye received and his lack of disclosure about it, as well as his role as expert witness in tobacco-related litigation and the industry's use of his findings, undermine the integrity of his scientific research. Nevertheless, Selye's work laid the foundation for the field of stress research. Seyle was one of the first scientists to attempt to understand the biological causes of stress. His GAS remains highly regarded by the psychological community, and it was one of the first explanations of how chronic stress can lead to long-term health conditions. The ability of Selye to bring attention to the connection between mind and body inspired future practitioners of holistic healthcare as well.
Bibliography
Jackson, Mark. "Evaluating the Role of Hans Selye in the Modern History of Stress." Stress, Shock, and Adaptation in the Twentieth Century. Edited by Edmund Ramsden and David Cantor. Rochester: U of Rochester P, 2014, pp. 21–48.
Legg, Timothy J. "General Adaptation Syndrome: Your Body's Response to Stress." Healthline, 6 Oct. 2018, www.healthline.com/health/general-adaptation-syndrome. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Petticrew, Mark P, and Kelley Lee. "The 'Father of Stress' Meets 'Big Tobacco': Hans Selye and the Tobacco Industry." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 101, no. 3, 2011, pp. 411–18.
Selye, Hans. The Stress of My Life: A Scientist’s Memoirs. 2nd ed., New York: Van Nostrand, 1979.
Szabo, S., et al. "The Legacy of Hans Selye and the Origins of Stress Research: A Retrospective 75 Years After His Landmark Brief 'Letter' to the Editor of Nature." Stress, vol. 15, no. 5, 2012, pp. 472-478, doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2012.710919. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Viner, Russell. "Putting Stress in Life: Hans Selye and the Making of Stress Theory." Social Studies of Science, vol. 29, no. 3, 1999, pp. 391–410.