for dillon vargas, frank pink, and kathleen morrell, people whose physical ailments are vastly different, there seem to be two common elements-- they believe stressful events of some kind played a role in the onset of their illnesses. they believe that stress reduction in the form of biofeedback or relaxation exercises can help them. for these three people, the result is an increased calmness, self-confidence, empowerment, and a lessening of symptoms. for the rest of us, it's an ongoing question. increasingly, researchers are trying to discover the exact dimensions of the role our emotions and other psychological factors play in our physical illness and physical well-being. captioning performed by the national captioning institute, inc. captions copyright 1991 alvin h. perlmutter annenberg media ♪ for information about this and other annenberg media programs call 1-800-learner and visit us at www.learner.org.