There has been an increasing public and academic interest in stress and its ill effects
on people. Author reviewed psychiatric aspects of the stress and stress syndrome. The
pathogenesis of the stress syndrome, acute or chronic, is best understood as the interaction of
three elements ; nature of stressful event, constitutional factor of the victim and
sociopsychological environment during and after the event. Nature, novelty, strength 1and
duration are the variables of the stress.
Psychosocial maturity, past experiences and personality are the determinants of the individual
response to the stress. Quality of social support system, society's view on the victim and
social matrices of the event are thought to be the last's.
|