There is no denying the fact that fear, anxiety, distress, confusion, frustration, insecurity and other manifestations of stress cause more illness in modern society than those caused by Microorganisms. Stress has percolated virtually to all strata of modern society, snatching away glamour and love of life from the face of mankind. As the mental stress is a perceptual phenomenon, it is the situation of an individual which is more likely to bring about stress. One man's stress may be another man's pleasure. Despite that every individual has his own set of stressed and threshold for stress, the epidemiological aspects of stress could be generalised. It is against this backdrop that the present book has been written. A modest effort has been made here to understand stress in depth—its causes, effects, prevention and control. Psychosomatic diseases resulting from stress, and the mental mechanisms and mental health have been particularly studied and elucidated. The book emphasises explicitly the role of a family in overcoming one’s stress. Furthermore, it emphatically suggests yoga as an effective means of relieving stress. The present book is a valuable assimilation of views of learned people on stress and the authors personal observations of many individuals under stress. The key to overcoming stress is to accept it, face it, fight it and exploit it for better. This is what the present book aims at conveying to all its readers. It is hoped that it will undoubtedly prove useful to the entire mankind in escaping or Combating mental stress.
C.R. Trivedi, P.G. in Preventive and Social Medicine (PSM), has been teaching PSM at NHL Municipal Medical College, Ahmedabad since 1976. Earlier, he served as Resident and Chief Medical Officer of Gujarat University—a job which enabled him to treat and observe a large number of patients under stress from close quarters. He has to his credit several national awards for his research and findings.
