How to Survive Being Alive

In 1977, the theory that stress, positive as well as negative, could lead to accidents or illnesses was far outside the mainstream. How could a pleasurable and exciting event such as a promotion, a marriage, a financial windfall, a vacation, or even Christmas be a bad thing? In their book, How to Survive Being Alive, authors Elton Welke and the late Dr. Donald L. Dudley put in plain language what many doctors had always suspected-that the body responds to life's highs and lows by lowering its defenses. Dudley and Welke's introduction of life-change scales to laymen clearly identified the possible consequences of experiencing too many changes all at once or making drastic revisions in life-style. They included the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, first created by psycho-physiologists Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, which provided a practical means of measuring the stress-related consequences that certain events and milestones can precipitate. How to Survive Being Alive dramatically and permanently changed the dialog between doctor and patient. As a direct result of its publication in 1977, many more doctors began to consider the physical and mental states of their patients, rather than simply treating symptoms. This classic guide to identifying and learning to cope with stress as well as improving interpersonal relations with others is also surprisingly relevant in our even more hectic twenty-first century world.

Author: Elton Welke, Donald L. Dudley
Publisher: Coffeetown Press
Published: 03/01/2014
Pages: 212
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.47lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.45d
ISBN: 9781603811606

About the Author
Welke, Elton: - Elton Welke graduated with a degree in zoology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962. In years following he served as Senior Editor and Executive Editor of Sunset Magazine, Travel Editor of Better Homes and Gardens, Managing Editor of Apartment Life Magazine, consultant to Ortho Books, and contributor to National Geographic Books, Insight Guides, Time-Life publications, and to magazines and newspapers nationwide. He has authored and/or edited books for Appleton Century, Doubleday, Chronicle Books, and Lane Publishing Co. From 1990 to 1998 he was Publisher of Microsoft Press. He presently serves on the boards of two companies in Beijing, China.Dudley, Donald L.: - Donald L. Dudley, MD graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in 1964, followed by residency training in psychiatry, biophysics, and neurology. He served on the medical school's faculty for 32 years, where from 1981 to 1991, he was Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery. He was Chief of Behavioral Medicine at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from 1975 to 1981, and from 1987 to 1993 he was President and Medical Director of the Washington Institute of Neurosciences. During his storied career, Dr. Dudley authored more than 100 books, monographs, and professional papers. Don Dudley died in 2000 after a lifetime of battling chronic pain syndrome; a rare thalamic disease for which there was no cure nor truly efficacious relief.