Stress Discourse and Western Biomedical Ideology: Rewriting Stress

Abstract

Popular psychosocial theories of stress and coping are based on an empiricist paradigm and a Western biomedical framework that reflect Western ideologies and values about health and illness. Problems associated with this discourse lie mainly in the ideologies that emphasize naturalism, individualism, rationalism, and objectivity. We suggest that stress and coping theory should be concerned with the ways in which power relations and social institutions produce the meaning of stress. The inclusion of alternative discourses that attend to the micro and macro social and historical factors is necessary for the further development of stress and coping theory and practice.