THE JOY OF STRESS

A unique approach to the growing problem of stress in daffy living. Hanson, a Canadian family practitioner, gives a no-nonsense look at how we can stop letting stress run our lives. As he writes, ""Short bursts of well-intentioned enthusiam followed by regression into a life of bad habits are not the answer."" People's lives, he argues, are broken down into four quadrants--financial sufficiency, personal happiness, sound health, and respect on the job. Only by attaining mastery of all four can one control stress, and this control is the key to ""surviving and thriving on stress."" The Hanson method boils down to: ""Learn to ignore what you can't control, and learn to control what you can."" Hanson's focus is on the middle of Hans Selye's general adaptation response to stress, which consisted of 1) the alarm stage, 2) the resistance stage, and 3) the exhaustion stage. In order to lengthen the resistance stage, Hanson enlarges upon the famous Holmes-Rahe Scale of Stress Measurement by offering his own Hanson Scale of Stress Resistance. This may come across as gimmicky, but is actually a sensible approach. His scale offers a negative measure for weak choices in response to the Holmes. Rahe stresses and positive measures for strong choices. Ultimately, Hanson's three principles of stress management are: 1) pamper yourself, 2) stop stone-walling, and 3) face the truth. In this way, as he says, you can ""take the thrill from stress, but leave the threat behind."" Already a number-one best-seller in Canada, it's one of the best of the crop of self. help books.