Non-gulf War Scientific Literature Linking Stress to Health Problems

The chapter has four sections. In the first section, we review the literature linking stress to psychological health problems. In the second section, we examine evidence linking stress exposure to physical illness and disease, focusing on both stress in general and war-zone exposure in particular. In the third section, we examine the role played by cognitive and social factors in fostering the perception of illness and illness behavior. In the final section, we review factors that may render certain individuals more vulnerable to the potentially negative consequences of exposure to stress.