ABSTRACT
The purpose in giving the facts is not to be alarmist, but rather to give the problem of stress its proper emphasis. First, stress is a real problem a problem that causes at the personal level real pain and suffering. Second, at the organization level it causes disruption and loss of production. There is no doubt that anxiety is central to all psychoanalytic theory and is probably the most important unpleasant feeling that human beings experience. Feelings of pleasure or of pain are highly subjective and it is extremely difficult to share them with another person. Just as there are ego defences against anxiety, there should be social defences, showing a two-way influence between structure and people. The structure of organizations and society could, presumably, be used by individuals as defences against anxiety and, in turn, these structures could be formed and modified by individual defence mechanisms.
