I am persuaded that stress is a much more significant factor in health than many people realise. Dr Malcolm Kendrick, for example, believes it is the single most important factor in determining heart disease risk. And Robb Wolf believes that it can be critical in managing belly fat and metabolic syndrome. Here are some of the books I have reviewed about stress and how to deal with it:
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The Stress of Life, by Hans Seyle – Hans Selye is the grandfather of stress studies and this book is both approachable and detailed, providing summaries for those who like to skate over the complicated bits and plenty of technical information for the geeks like me who like to get stuck in to the detail.
The Status Syndrome, by Michael Marmot – Michael Marmot is the man behind the famous UK Whitehall study, which subjected a number of civil servants to all manner of tests and questions. He has written eloquently on the importance of status as a stressor above all others for human beings, in its ability to dictate the control and autonomy we have over our lives
Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky – Robert Sapolsky writes authoritatively and extensively about all kinds of things that stress does, not just make us get ulcers. This book is a great reference work for all things stress-related and covers everything from why you remember things better when you’ve been stressed to how your brain changes when you’re depressed.
The Cortisol Connection, by Shawn Talbott – Shawn Talbott covers all the key issues about stress and its effects and also proposes a whole range of possible solutions, ranging from the time-honoured to the new and radical
The Western Way of Death, by Malcolm Carruthers – Malcolm Carruthers has been talking about why stress is the key cause of cardiac disease since before I was born and he is still just as relevant now as he was then
How to be Idle, by Tom Hodgkinson is a tongue-in-cheek look at why sleep and contemplation are better than stress and constant action. Tom takes a hard look at English history and comes up with some sharp observations of how we managed to get into the mess we are in
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