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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Appearance matters, even for government buildings ... Head and boulders above the rest ... J'ville planner at 'flash point' turns in resignation ... Our View: Appearance matters, even for government buildings ... Head and boulders above the rest ... J'ville planner at 'flash point' turns in resignation ... Get A Life: No need to over-react Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 20, 2014 at 9:33 AM Posted Oct. 20, 2014 at 9:33 AM » Social News By Loretta LaRoche More Content Now How many times a day do you drive yourself crazy by over-reacting to situations that could be handled with a lot less drama? How many minutes, hours or days have you spent uttering dialogue more appropriate for battle than for a crashed computer, a long line or a child that misbehaves? Virtually anything can trigger a fight-or-flight response if you interpret the situation as harmful or threatening. Life becomes unbearably stressful when you make faulty conclusions about your world. It is your interpretations about experiences that create anxiety, anger and depression. When you decide that a wet towel left on a bed is an offense similar to a mugging, you are creating a stormy emotional climate for yourself, one that will lead to enormous stress in your life. I have a friend who drives as if they’re an ambulance driver. His goal is to get ahead of everyone and also to comment on how everyone on the road is an idiot. If they’re fixing the road, he is certain it’s a plot to keep him from getting to his destination. If someone in front of him slows down, he practically goes berserk. If there’s traffic, he acts as if hundreds of people were called to inform them that he was driving so they could show up and make his life difficult. In other words, it’s a plot! He doesn’t seem to understand that every time he upsets himself he is emitting cortisol, a byproduct of stress. Constantly being in this state can aid and abet the onset of chronic illnesses. Too much stress could lead to a heart attack or a stroke. How about the person who’s in the presence of this type of rhetoric? Don’t think they don’t get impacted! I can feel myself getting tense every time I’m in the car with him. When we finally arrive at our destination I look like a dead parrot. People don’t realize that a lot of their physical complaints come from their stress response. Headaches can be the result of holding tension in your shoulders and neck. Back pain is often the accompaniment to internalizing stress, as is a host of other aches and pains. Sharing these physical ailments over and over with co-workers, family or friends only exacerbates the problem, especially if you have no interest in dealing with it. It also drives everyone nuts around you because it feels like a never-ending story. Perhaps one of the ways to break the cycle of over-reactivity is to have someone tape you for one day when you’re not aware of it. Of course you have to pick someone you can totally trust. Hearing yourself is much different from having someone share how they hear you. It just might help you lighten up! Author, humorist, PBS star and Fortune 500 trainer Loretta LaRoche lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts. To share your pet peeves, questions or comments, write to The Humor Potential, 50 Court St., Plymouth, MA 02360. Visit her website at www.stressed.com. 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