This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the phenomenon of stress. Sloan Mahone gives a historical perspective on the topic, Ian Brown presents latest findings on occupational stress and John Morris covers stress from a physiological perspective. Three Oxford University researchers from the areas of history of medicine, occupational health and physiology discuss how their disciplines define stress, how they approach it and what can be learned from their findings. Sloan Mahone, University Lecturer in the History of Medicine gives a fascinating insight into the social construction of mental health conditions experienced by people exposed to traumatic events. Ian Brown, Director of the Occupational Health Service at the University of Oxford, poses the question to what extent employment is a major cause of stress and anxiety and John Morris, Professor of Human Anatomy and Director for Preclinical Studies explains how stress is studied from a physiological perspective.