How to Survive Being Alive, by Elton Welke and Donald L. Dudley, M.D.

How to Survive Being Alive (212 pages), by Elton Welke and Donald L. Dudley, M.D., a groundbreaking guide to coping with stress, permanently changed the dialog between doctor and patient. After its first release in 1977, many more doctors began to consider their patients’ physical and mental states, rather than simply treating symptoms. This edition includes new material and an introduction by George Ojemann, M.D.

“Lucid Wisdom for learning how to achieve and enjoy a healthy life.” —Ray H. Rosenman, M.D., author of Type A Behavior and Your Heart

“Having devoted all my life to this complex topic, I realize how difficult it is to select what really is of practical use in daily life in a light and amusing style …. Despite the many books that attempted to do the same (including my own), I am convinced that this volume is among the best.” (1977) —Hans Selye, M.D, Ph.D., D.Sc., author of Stress Without Distress

In 1977, the theory that stress, positive as well as negative, could lead to accidents or illnesses was far outside the mainstream. How could a pleasurable and exciting event such as a promotion, a marriage, a financial windfall, a vacation, or even Christmas be a bad thing? In their book, How to Survive Being Alive, authors Elton Welke and the late Dr. Donald L. Dudley put in plain language what many doctors had always suspected—that the body responds to life’s highs and lows by lowering its defenses. Dudley and Welke’s introduction of life-change scales to laymen clearly identified the possible consequences of experiencing too many changes all at once or making drastic revisions in life-style. They included the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, first created by psycho-physiologists Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, which provided a practical means of measuring the stress-related consequences that certain events and milestones can precipitate.

Says co-author Elton Welke, “Although we anticipated skepticism, many doctors and nurses told us that they were relieved to see what they had observed personally finally corroborated in print.”

Donald L. Dudley, MD served on the University of Washington medical school’s faculty for 32 years as Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery. He was also Chief of Behavioral Medicine at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and President and Medical Director of the Washington Institute of Neurosciences. Dr. Dudley authored more than 100 books, monographs, and professional papers. He died in 2000.

Elton Welke has served as both Senior and Executive editor for Sunset Magazine, Travel Editor of Better Homes and Gardens, and Managing Editor of Apartment Life Magazine. He has contributed to and edited many magazines and newspapers and authored and edited books for publishers nationwide. From 1990 to 1998 he was Publisher of Microsoft Press.

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