: P RE FAC E<br > he first edition of rifts book evolved out of two needs~ The first per-<br >I lained to my discussions with students， colleagues， friends， and rela-<br > tives who， as I listened more carefully， seemed to be crying out for<br > help in dealing with the stress of llfe. Upon closer scrutiny， I reafiT~d<br > thai the only cries I was deaf to were my own. h too， needed help<br >managing stress. The second need related to the nature of texts on this subject. 1<br >thought the:/were informative or interesting but seldom both. Furthermore， I<br >didn t think stress management was presented as fi~e complex subject I envisinn<br >it to be. I thought books on this subject explored parts of st ress management but<br >omitted several key components. Both of tbese needs continue to exist and cry<br >oat for this， the seventh edition of Comprehensive Stress Managelnen t.<br > This book， tben， is written in a more personal， informal manner than<br >most and is organized to consider stress as a function of situations in life that，<br >when perceived as distressing， result in emotional and physiological arousal，<br >There is an abundance of scientific and statistical information in this book， but it<br >hangs onto anecdote， humor， and personal experience o breathe life into its con-<br >tent. In addition， numerous means of assessment are provided so that content<br >takes on personal meaning for each reader.<br > /TO THIS EDITION<br > "nc ， c "n. " eui ，<br >We all learn from our expene es and I am no ex eptto Cons q e ~ this<br > seventh edition of Comprehensive Stress Management incorporates changes rec-<br > 0mmended by readers of the first six editions while maintaining the elements<br > ~dutd by those readers. Revisions include the fofimving:<br > 1. The latest research on tile relationship between coronary heart disease，<br > stress， and the production of plasma homocysteine has been included in<br > Chapter 3. Researchers suspect that stress， anger， and hostility stimulate<br > the production of homoc) steine wbich， in turn， leads to coronary heart<br > disease. In addition， other variables that studies have found associated<br > with heart disease are discussed， such as low socioeconomic status，<br > bopel~ne~， and ~rdiac rhythm.<br > 2， Current research in complementary and alternative medicine and the<br > National Institutes of Health s office of Alternative Medicine s research<br > agenda are presented in Chapter 3. Several of the alternative approaches<br > to illness and disease include a stress related component.<br >: g， The presentation of posttraumatic stre~ disorder (PTSD} is expanded<br > in Chapter 3 to reflect the most current thinking and findings. PTSD is<br > more prevalent than most people realize and is deserving of this added<br > attention_<br > 4. Vegetarian， ethnic， and cultural food pyramids are discussed in<br > Chapter 5 in the topic of nutrition and stress， In addition， a bod ~， mass<br > index table is included in Chapter 5 so the reader call calculate his or<br > her own body mass index.<br > 5. Social support is discussed ill more detail. The different types of<br > support available， and the benefits of these different kinds of supporL<br >