The term "stress" had none of its current general senses before the 1950s. As a semi-psychological term referring to hardship or coercion, it dated from the 14th century. It is a form of the Middle English destresse, derived via Old French from the Latin stringere – to draw tight. It had long been in use in physics to refer to the internal distribution of a force exerted on a material body, resulting in strain.

A broad biopsychosocial concept of stress and adaptation offered the promise of helping everyone achieve health and happiness by successfully responding to changing global challenges and the problems of modern civilisation. He coined the term "eustress" for positive stress, by contrast to distress. He argued that all people have a natural urge and need to work for their own benefit, a message that found favor with industrialists and governments. He also coined the term "stressor" to refer to the causative event or stimulus, as opposed to the resulting state of stress.

here