In 1977, the theory that stress, positive as well as negative, could
lead to accidents or illnesses was far outside the mainstream. How could
a pleasurable and exciting event such as a promotion, a marriage, a
financial windfall, a vacation, or even Christmas be a bad thing? In
their book, How to Survive Being Alive, authors Elton Welke and the late
Dr. Donald L. Dudley put in plain language what many doctors had always
suspected-that the body responds to life's highs and lows by lowering
its defenses. Dudley and Welke's introduction of life-change scales to
laymen clearly identified the possible consequences of experiencing too
many changes all at once or making drastic revisions in life-style. They
included the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, first created by
psycho-physiologists Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, which
provided a practical means of measuring the stress-related consequences
that certain events and milestones can precipitate. How to Survive Being
Alive dramatically and permanently changed the dialog between doctor and
patient. As a direct result of its publication in 1977, many more
doctors began to consider the physical and mental states of their
patients, rather than simply treating symptoms. This classic guide to
identifying and learning to cope with stress as well as improving
interpersonal relations with others is also surprisingly relevant in our
even more hectic twenty-first century world.
