RATIONALE

The concept of psychological stress is of increasing public interest and represents an important subject for research. The growth in interest in the field reflects an enhanced awareness of the impact of adverse work and life circumstances on quality of life, mental health and physical health. Although commonly understood as a feeling of intense emotional pressure, stress is more technically described as a sense of being unable to cope with the demands presented by one’s environment.

The WHO lists psychological stress as a "major workplace hazard" in its Global Strategy for Occupational Health. In extreme contexts, serious catastrophes or major accidents where human life is threatened can result in severe mental health consequences. However, the adverse impact of stress also can be felt in a variety of less extreme contexts: in workplaces, psychological stress and overload are associated with sleep disturbances, burn-out syndromes, depression, and an elevated risk of physical ill-health (in particular, cardiovascular disorders). As an index, costs to the economy resulting from stress (in terms of lost productivity, absenteeism, employee turnover, and associated health care and social security costs) have been computed as 1.4% of GNP for European countries; or €300 million annually in Ireland alone.

Life stress is a significant risk factor for physical ill health, through its effects on the major systems of the human body (e.g., the cardiovascular and immune systems) and its adverse impact on health behaviour (e.g., exercising and smoking). In secondary care contexts, stress has been shown to delay recovery and to damage responsiveness to medical interventions.

Stress also interferes with quality of life (on an individual and societal level) and contributes to problems of great public policy significance, including onset of clinical depression, risk of suicide, and perpetuation of problem alcohol behaviour. In educational contexts, stress is associated with impeded learning and with reduced performance in examinations and other assessments.

The concept of stress warrants a consistent and academically sound treatment that is often lacking in local and national media reports, and indeed in some public policy documents produced by government bodies. Thus, the collaboration of researchers from different fields is central to the ethos of CROLS.

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