Stress, including severe psychological traumas, comprises one of the leading problems in today's society.  Certainly, in South Africa, psychological trauma was rated one of the key challenges in an Essential National Health Research priority setting exercise. The adaptation to challenges from the environment and as well as to disturbances of the "milieu interne", is fundamentally linked to the activation of stress-responsive systems. The activation of these systems, i.e. the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system and the sympathoadrenergic system, is necessary for coping with stressors and for survival. However, the exaggerated or dysregulated activity of these systems not only renders human beings prone to psychiatric disease, but also to metabolic-endocrine disorders, heart disease and premature ageing.

Against this background, the objectives of the seminar were:
- To further the mutual transfer between basic neurosciences, preclinical stress research and clinical research.
- To review the state-of-the-art knowledge on the pathophysiology of stress and stress-associated psychiatric disorders.
- To elucidate specific stress-related mental health problems in the two different countries in order to focus on synergistic and complementary competencies in preclinical and clinical research (Switzerland versus South Africa).
- To provide a platform for discussing issues, exchanging ideas and experience and promoting better understanding on the role of stress in health and mental disorders.- To establish networking among participants of the two countries.