Number 13 March 28, 1977 Citation Classics Selye H. The general adaptation syndrome and the diseases of adaptation. Journal of Clinical 6:117-231, 1946.

The general adaptation syndrome is defined of in its entirety and, although much has as the sum of all non-specific, systemic been learned since then, every word in the reactions of the body which ensue upon paper still applies today. long continued exposure to stress. The "I wrote The Stress of Life in the belief that paper calls attention to the possible connec- because the general public was becoming tion between the adaptation syndrome and keenly aware of the role played by stress in their various diseases. If this linkage can be own lives, they would like to understand just proven, the author contends, then it follows what stress is and what it does to us. At the end that some of the most common fatal of that volume I inserted a few philosophical diseases of man are due to a breakdown of musings on a code of behavior designed to the hormonal adaptation mechanism. [The meet and constructively deal with the stress of SCI® indicates that this paper was cited 167 life... times in the period 1961-1975.] "I went on to write another volume. Stress Without Distress,2 in which I expanded what I had called a 'philosophy of gratitude' into a Hans Selye, C.C., M.D., Ph.D., D. Sc. code of behavior named 'altruistic egoism' and Universite de based on the conviction that by earning our Institut de Medecine neighbor's love and becoming necessary to Case Postale 6128 him, we can satisfy our own selfish needs while Montreal 101, Canada helping others. In this way we avoid creating November 22, 1976 interpersonal stress situations, and instead can "It is gratifying to learn that my 1946 article make stress work for us. Looking back at the has been so frequently cited, but it is even more most cited 1946 article, I can see that the ideas encouraging to consider the progress in stress that inspired this philosophy were already im- research since then. This article represented an plied in it. Towards the end of that essay I attempt to review the status of the stress con- wrote: 'Adaptation to our surroundings is one of cept at the time. As such, it was both a the most important physiologic reactions in continuation of my first tentative essays on this life; one might even go so far as to say that the topic and a springboard for my later publi- capacity of adjustment to external stimuli is the cations on the implications of stress in health most characteristic feature of live matter.' and disease... "On a more personal note, it amuses me to "I could not answer why it was this article, see that even with all this progress since 1946 I among the 1600 papers and 33 books I have am, in some ways, right back where I started. When I wrote that article I had just left McGill published, that attracted the most attention. I University to accept a position as Director of suppose it might be because it gave the first the University of Montreal's new Institute of holistic survey and description of the diseases Experimental and Surgery. I was put- of adaptation (or 'stress diseases'). Un- ting together a documentation service and a doubtedly, it was also very helpful that an laboratory, secretarial, and administrative staff entire issue of The journal of Clinical Endo- that was to serve me well for the next thirty crinology was devoted to my article, thanks to years in the same location. Today I am once the editorial decision of Kenneth Thompson to again in the position of a beginner organizing a print my paper as a whole. This was not my first research, teaching, and library center, having nor, in my opinion, my most important publi- just created the International Institute of Stress. cation; I would say that my book The Stress of 1 But this time my scope is larger; I envision a Life would be my most popular volume, hav- network of institutions around the world to be ing been written in 1956 and kept continuously affiliated with the Montreal headquarters. Still, in print unrevised-and translated into sixteen my goals are the same: to help in the art of languages--until an updated edition was com- healing or, better, preventing disease, at the pleted in 1976. But perhaps the success met by same time satisfying my insatiable curiosity this 1946 article can be explained by the fact about the mysteries of life and happiness." that it was the first attempt to survey the field 1. Selye H. The stress of life. New York:McGraw-Hill, 1956. 2. ------. Stress without distress. Philadelphia: Lippincott Co., 1974. 313