Stress of War, Conflict and Disaster

Stress is a universal phenomenon that impacts adversely on most people. Following on the heels of Stress Science: Neuroendocrinology and Stress Consequences: Mental, Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic, this third derivative volume will provide a readily accessible and affordable compendium that explains the phenomenon of stress as it relates physically and mentally to war, conflict and disaster. The first section will be dedicated to study of the link between stress and various forms of conflict. Specific instances of conflict will be discussed - the Gulf wars, Korea, Hiroshima bombing, the Holocaust, 9/11, Northern Ireland, terrorism in general, torture. The second section will explore the stress impact of more general physical disasters such as airline and vehicle accidents, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. The final section will focus on the clinical relationship between conflict stress and various mental diseases – PTSD, suicide, disaster syndrome, etc – as well as the adverse impact of stress on human physical health in general.Comprised of about 100 top articles selected from Elsevier's Encyclopedias of Stress, the volume will provide a valuable desk reference that will put relevant articles readily at the fingertips of all scientists who consider stress.- Chapters offer impressive and unique scope with topics addressing the relationship between stress generated by war, conflict and disaster and various physical/mental disorders- Richly illustrated with over 200 figures, dozens in color- Articles carefully selected by one of the world's most preeminent stress researchers and contributors represent the most outstanding scholarship in the field, with each chapter providing fully vetted and reliable expert knowledge

About the Author

Dr. Fink is Honorary Professor in the University of Melbourne and Professorial Research Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Formerly, he was Scientific Director of the Mental Health Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Before returning to Melbourne in 2003, Dr. Fink was University Lecturer in Human Anatomy and Fellow in Physiology and Medicine at Brasenose College and the University of Oxford and served for nearly 20 years as CEO and Director of the UK Medical Research Council’s Brain Metabolism Unit in Edinburgh. He gained distinction through his seminal research discoveries in neuroendocrinology and psychopharmacology published in over 360 scientific papers. Dr. Fink served as President of the European Neuroendocrine Association. His distinctions include Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal Biological Society, Fellow of the Physiological Society, and Honorary Member of the British Society for Neuroendocrinology. Fink was Honorary Professor in the University of Edinburgh, delivered the inaugural Geoffrey Harris Prize Lecture of the British Physiological Society, and the Wolfson Lecture. In 1979 he was awarded the Royal Society - Israel Academy Exchange Fellowship which enabled him to spend a research year at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel. In 2000 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology. His membership of learned societies includes Emeritus member of the Society for Neuroscience, the Endocrine Society and the Genetics Society of America. Dr. Fink has edited several scientific books with Elsevier, including Stress Science: Neuroendocrinology (2009), Stress Consequences: Mental, Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic (2009), Stress of War, Conflict and Disaster (2010), the Handbook of Neuroendocrinology (2011), and most notably the 4-volume second edition of the Encyclopedia of Stress (2007) on which this new Handbook of Stress series is based. He was founding Editor-in-Chief of the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Stress (2000) which was awarded the 2001 British Medical Association commendation for its contribution to Mental Health. The first volume of his Handbook of Stress series, entitled “Stress: Concepts, Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior”, received the BMA High Commendation in the Health and Social Care category as one of the top titles in its discipline.