eparation from a spouse; 63 for the death of "a close family member"; 47 points for the loss of a job; 40 for a wife's pregnancy; 38 for a "change in financial status.")
             What are the effects of stress? The authors report that a number of unhealthy bodily responses may result from "long-lasting excessive stress," which is the kind of stress that a person may experience in the workplace when very unpleasant and challenging situations occur on a regular basis (due to a pushy or emotionally unstable boss, unfriendly colleagues, or intense pressure to produce beyond what is normally expected at work). The body may suffer from depression, authors explain on page 134, along with "high blood pressure, ulcers, colitis, arthritis, diabetes, stroke, and heart attack."
             The authors offer "six stages of stress"; the first stage (Stage I) is fairly pleasant, and the person is given to "acute perception" and excessive nervous energy; Stage II the person begins to feel weary after lunch or early afternoon; there is a tightening of muscles around the back and the skull and a "feeling of being unable to relax." In Stage III the individual is feeling enough stress to perhaps want to visit a doctor; the person is disturbed enough to have ill-functioning bowels and is losing sleep; Stage IV is when the individual is having difficulty just getting through the day; socially the person is lost, there are bad dreams and a constant sense of negativism; there is also an inability to concentrate on work. The Stage V symptoms include "extreme fatigue" and " difficulty in managing fairly simple tasks"; the person also experiences "pervasive fear" and "extreme disturbances of bowel and stomach functions."
             In Stage VI of the stress descriptions there is "panic," a "gasping for breath" along with numbness in hands and feet, the...