Nothing could be further from the truth. To say that an illness is stress-related is not a fancy new way to blame the victim. It is a recognition that severe, prolonged physical and emotional stress can have adverse physical effects. Stress mechanisms, it must be remembered, play a dual role. The rise in anxiety and hormone levels that accompanies stress is essential and protective.
All organisms have to experience stress and adjust to it.
Being born is stressful. Being alive is stressful. Without our stress hormones we would be unable to react effectively, or to deal with hunger, crowding, danger, infection, extremes of temperature, or the challenges of growing up. We would be unable to get out of bed in the morning. Scientists are beginning to unravel the physiological pathways between the brain and body.