Chemical dependency and stressful life events

Scientific inquiry into the impact of life stress events and chemical dependency has been the focus of several investigations. At the forefront of understanding life stress events and its impact on the human organism are a variety of theories which argue either that stress lies within the environment, that it is couched in cognitive appraisal, or that it is biochemically and genetically based within the human organism. This article examines chemical dependency as a stressor and conceptual models of stressful life events as they relate to chemical dependency. Issues for future clinical research are explored.