Mastery of stress: psychosocial aspects.

Psychological stress may increase an individual's vulnerability to mental and physical illness. This may be prevented if the individual receives social support in mastering the stressful situation in the form of cognitive guidance that compensates for the inevitable reduction in his problem-solving capacity caused by stress-induced emotional arousal. This guidance should also help the individual or compensate for this arousal and enable him to come to terms with inescapable changes in his life produced by the experience. Empirical researches confirm that exposure to high stress by individuals receiving adequate support does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness.