Hans Selye, the late Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist and so-called “father of stress,” described in Nature his work with lab rats in Montreal ...SkiptonavigationSkiptocontentDiscoverLatestObsessionsThesearethecoreobsessionsthatdriveournewsroom—definingtopicsofseismicimportancetotheglobaleconomy.FeaturedThesearesomeofourmostambitiouseditorialprojects.Enjoy!EmailsOuremailsaremadetoshineinyourinbox,withsomethingfresheverymorning,afternoon,andweekend.BecomeamemberFromourObsessionProductivity&CreativityLookingforcreativewaystobemoreproductiveorproductiveexercisesforboostingcreativity?Wehaveyoucovered.ByLilaMacLellanQuartzatWorkreporterJune29,2018Thisarticleismorethan2yearsold.It’shardtoimagineatimewhenpeoplewerenotstress-literate,sotospeak.Thesedays,weroutinelyrecognizetheredflagsofchronicstressonthebody—thefatigue,thelowmoods,theheadaches,andfrequentillnesses—ifnotinourselvesthaninothers.Weremindfriendsorfamilyorcolleagueswhoappeartobemarchingtowardatippingpoint,atwhichstressunravelsintolong-termburnout,thatshoulderingtoomuchcanhavephysiologicalconsequences.Butthebiologicalconceptofstress,orthestressresponse,wasnotpopularizeduntilthe1950s,althoughitsquietmedicaldebutoccurredin1936,inthesciencejournalNature,underadifferentname,“ASyndromeProducedbyDiverseNocuousAgents.”HansSelye,thelateHungarian-Canadianendocrinologistandso-called“fatherofstress,”describedinNaturehisworkwithlabratsinMontreal,wherehehaddeterminedthatanystimulant,orstress,wouldtriggerthesamechainreaction.Diseasedidn’tkilltherats,hefound,butstressdid.Hemadetheaccidentaldiscoverywhileconductingresearchintoovarianhormones.“Ifoundthatinjectionsoftheovarianhormonestimulatedtheoutertissueoftheadrenalglandsoftherats,causeddeteriorationofthethymusglandsandproducedulcersandothersymptoms,”SelyeonceexplainedtotheNewYorkTimes.”Theratsdied.LaterIfoundthatanyartificialhormonecompoundsandstressesandanykindofdamagedidthesamething.”Hisworkwasnotimmediatelyrecognizedasparadigm-changing.Conventionalbeliefheldthatspecificdi