The End of Stress as We Know It provides readers with the "gold standard" in understanding how their bodies work under stress and why they have the power to avoid its debilitating effects. Bruce McEwen, Ph.D., one of the world's authorities on the subject of stress, here provides unshakable evidence of how mind and body work together either for good or for ill when we are challenged by life's events.

Describing the subtle damage that comes from failing to turn off the body's danger alert system, Dr. McEwen shows how chemicals activated during stressful situations can protect the body under acute conditions, and how, when chronically activated, they can cause long-lasting harm. He counsels that many stress management programs can help us, if we understand the powerful mind-body forces activated by stress.

The premise of this book is that knowledge is power. By learning how the body reacts to large and small challenges in our lives, by understanding how we put ourselves in situations that cause upheaval in our minds and bodies, we can make the best choices--backed up by the latest scientific knowledge.

Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D., is the Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. As a neuroscientist and neuroendocrinologist, Dr. McEwen’s laboratory discovered adrenal steroid receptors in the hippocampus in 1968. His current research focuses on stress’ effects on the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus, along with sex-hormone effects and sex differences in these brain regions. Dr. McEwen is author of The End of Stress as We Know It (Dana Press/Joseph Henry Press, 2002) and The Hostage Brain (The Rockefeller University Press, 1994).

"McEwen's book is skillfully written and will appeal to a wide readership."

-Library Journal



"The Editors Recommend."

-Scientific American



"...a fascinating read...the wealth of facts have been brilliantly summarized in an often entertaining manner..."

-Nature

Foreword by Robert Sapolsky Chapter 1: A New Way to Look at Stress Chapter 2: The Stress Response—or How We Cope Chapter 3: Stress and the Emotional Connection Chapter 4: Allostatic Load: When Protection Gives Way to Damage Chapter 5: Stress and the Cardiovascular System Chapter 6: Stress and the Immune System Chapter 7: Stress and the Brain Chapter 8: How Not To Be Stressed Out Chapter 9: Positive Health Chapter 10: Where We Could Go from Here Appendix: Chemical Messengers of Allostatis, Their Receptors, and Their Protective and Damaging Effects Notes Index