Note: I first published this post in 2011. Be sure to read Tom Beckman’s comments and click the link if you’re looking for the source of the quote. Thanks so much to Tom, who is the associate director of the Health Professionals Program at the HeartMath Institute, a great program for stress reduction, for this persevering research!
Note: It’s November 2022, and I want to add something about how stress and disease are related. Our autonomic nervous systems react to threats (severe, mild, and even imagined threats) by preparing us to take action (to run, fight, hide).
When this happens, our heart rate increases, pupils dilate, lungs take in more air, digestion slows, cortisol and epinephrine/norepinephrine are released.
In other words, stress prevents our systems from resting, repairing, restoring, regulating, and digesting — the functions that keep us healthy.
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I’ve heard this statistic for several years. I’ve seen various forms of it in print, too, often attributed to the Centers for Disease Control but sometimes to the American Medical Association.
I’ve searched the CDC and AMA websites but haven’t found it.
I also searched Snopes.com, but it doesn’t include it.
Because there are variations (some say doctor visits, and the numbers range between 60 and 99 percent), it’s been difficult trying to hunt down the source of the quote.
That’s why I’m posting this. If any readers can shed some light on this, I would sure appreciate hearing from you. I’d love to have verification of the actual original quote and the date it was first published.
I’d like to use the quote with integrity.
Also — if this is close to true, is it possible that we’ve been chasing the rabbit down the wrong hole? That we’ve been addressing symptoms and not the cause?
The Well: bodymindheartspirit 
The only thing I’ve found was Center of Disease Control.
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http://www.stress.org/americas.htm
This may be helpful. Good luck. Also, look at the work of Robert Sapolsky. Years of documentation on effects of stress. He’s at Stanford.
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I have always heard it was from the WHO World Health Organization. I’m looking for the reference also.
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Please contact me if you find the source!
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http://istpp.org/coalition/stress_prevention.html
The Congressional Prevention Coalition on Stress Prevention: Its Impact on Health and Medical Savings, on June 24, 1998 was co-sponsored by Senators John Chafee and Bob Graham, and Representatives Jim Leach and Jim Moran and the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy.
“The Need
Despite rapid advances in modern medical science–and record high per capita medical expenditures–Americans endure some of the poorest health of any industrialized nation. But much of our nation’s ill health is preventable.
Leading medical experts estimate that 90% of disease is caused or complicated by stress. This epidemic of stress is a strong contributor to both high medical costs and poor medical outcomes.”
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This publication — http://www.healthadvocate.com/downloads/webinars/stress-workplace.pdf — contains this quote: “And 60 to 90 percent of doctor visits are attributed to stress-related illnesses and symptoms.” Health Advocate attributes that quote to two sources: 1) Humana. “Combat Stress at Work to Promote Health.” Focus. Apr. 2009. . http://www.dmaonline.org/Publications/articles/2005_02_039StressChange.pdf.
2) Benson, Herbert, M. D. “Role of the Mind in Physical Healing and Health.” Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives. Nov. 1997. (published by American Psychological Association.) .
These things have been reposted on the CDC web site but this is as close I could come to the original source(s).
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Awesome. I’ve been searching for that source for years. Thank you, Anonymous.
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Hello.
I suggest to you Dr Bruce Lipton’s researches. He tell that 95 (not 90)% of disease is stress-related.
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I’ve been researching the same statistic. Maddening. Here is one more source, but not the direct research. This author cites CDC and “Occupational Health and Safety news and the National Council on compensation of insurance”
Razali, S.M. (2008). Life Event, Stress and Illness. Malays J. Med. Sci. 15(4): 9-18.
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I tracked down a chain of peer-reviewed references for the statement. See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/citations-90-all-doctors-office-visits-stress-related-tom-beckman?trk=hp-feed-article-title-publish
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Here are the citations: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/citations-90-all-doctors-office-visits-stress-related-tom-beckman?published=u
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Awesome. Thank you SO MUCH for this. The 1971 article speaks of data from 25 years previously. That would be 1946. Some statement about the percentage of doctor visits related to stress has been kicking around for 70 years! Now, we have so many tools to help with stress, but the mainstream medical world still seems deeply entrenched in not addressing it.
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Thank you so much! I’ve been looking for this source as well. I appreciate you uncovering the mystery for me!
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http://istpp.org/coalition/stress_prevention.html
The Congressional Prevention Coalition serves as a forum for education and discussion on the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of preventive approaches in health, social and economy policy. This new, active Coalition communicates to the Congress science-based information about prevention-related initiatives in social and economic policy and focuses on ways to integrate disease prevention and health promotion in our health care system.
The Need
Despite rapid advances in modern medical science–and record high per capita medical expenditures–Americans endure some of the poorest health of any industrialized nation. But much of our nation’s ill health is preventable.
Leading medical experts estimate that 90% of disease is caused or complicated by stress. This epidemic of stress is a strong contributor to both high medical costs and poor medical outcomes.
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Thank you, David.
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