“ The 9th International Summer School on Stress 2024” Presents Stress Reduction, Resilience and a Wide Range of Stress-Related Topics
By Drs. Brent Davis, Oksana Zayachkivska, Sandor Szabo
Hans Selye, MD, PhD, DSc was the first to describe the body’s “general adaptation syndrome” later termed ‘stress.’ His students, including one of the authors (S. Szabo) have continued to research and educate in this area, and in 2013, they organized the 1st Summer School on Stress (SSS) in Budapest, Hungary to provide a forum for research focused on stress. The founders of this School were Sandor Szabo, Arpad Somogyi, and Yvette Tache. Sadly, Prof. Somogyi passed away earlier this year, and his presence is sorely missed.
The theme of this year’s school which was held at AUHS was Stress Reduction and Resilience. Among the topics discussed were:
- Stress can make you stronger: Adaptation & “cross resistance”
- Small doses of distress may “vaccinate” you against big distress
- Smart strategies for management work stress
- The ways to boost dopamine and endorphins: Therapy with pets, nature adoration and outdoor activities and recreation therapy
- Motions are precursors of emotions
- Healthy nutrition for building resilience
- Digital detox: Practical strategies
These topics ranged in scope from intracellular response to stress to the response of the whole person. Several factors that affect resilience were proposed as well so that there was a balance between basic science and therapeutic interventions.
In addition to platform presentations by SOM faculty, students of SOP and General Education of AUHS also participated in a poster session, the first organized in the 30-years history of AUHS which covered many interesting and informative research projects examining factors such as diet, art, exercise, religion, sleep, and animal therapy. One poster focused on the benefits of a ‘digital detox.’ While most of the studies were performed on adults, there was one on the effect of stressors on young children. Three student posters: “Harnessing the Power of Faith: Religion’s Influence on Stress Reduction and Resilience Across the Lifespan” by Martha Batista (GE, BSN-RN student), “Stress-Induced Inflammation and the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Exercise” by Carmel Sampson (PharmD Candidate, Class of 2026), and “The Healing Power of Animals” by Marisol Rodriguez (GE, BSN-RN student) were nominated for the Best Poster Award. This 9th SSS also had an international component, i.e., there were two video presentations from Ukraine, one dealing with war traumas as stressors, the other analyzing the stress effect of COVID-19. A video presentation from Hungary/Austria discussed work-related stress and its reduction.
All in all, the scope of the presentations and posters was quite comprehensive and lays the foundation for a better understanding of stress and how to handle distress, and to create cross-resistance for an even more impactful school next year and in our daily lives.
The 3 student posters were nominated to the Best Poster Award.
