In the seventeenth century, the word stress mean “state of distress”, symbolizing the idea of oppression, hard life, deprivation, fatigue, and adversity. From the eighteenth century, begins to mean strength, pressure or strong influence acting on a physical object or a person.
In the 20th century, comes the idea that certain aggressive living conditions (stress) can cause some physical or mental diseases (strain). In 1951, Hans Selye highlights the “General adaptation syndrome” or “Biological stress syndrome”, defining the stress as an interaction between force and resistance that is opposite.