ABSTRACT
My first connection with the word ‘stress’ is a link with the world of objects in the physical rather than the psychodynamic sense. If I were a structural engineer I would be concerned with the ability of a structure and its component materials to deal with the forces which will potentially compress and distort it. The material under stress would have intrinsic properties such as elasticity and brittleness which affect its ability to react to a load. In supporting an external load I would be concerned about how any supporting element might redistribute the load.
