Examining the Health Effects of Stress

Scientists say stress can stifle creativity, lower immune function and even make the flu vaccine less effective. But can stress ever be good for you? Also, for some caught up in a crisis, the stress becomes too much to bear. How do some people manage to avoid it? This is a remote broadcast from the American Psychological Association's Science Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

Guests:

Wendy Berry Mendes, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, S. Robert Davis Chair, medicine professor of psychiatry and psychology; director, Division of Health Psychology, Department of Psychiatry; Ohio State University

Farris Tuma, chief of the Traumatic Stress Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health

David Krantz, professor and chairman in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md.