Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Flight or sleep???

So a long time ago, I had written about the fight or flight mechanism, but here I am having gone through many cycles of fight and flight and profuse sweating and what have you and I am experiencing what I can only describe as a whole new reflex. I present to you: the flight or sleep reflex.

Oh yes - just when I should be fighting or fleeing, here I am, feeling that everything will become better if I take a nice little nap.

This is not the first time that I have had the flight or sleep reflex (which will no doubt travel the world as the "slap or sleep"). The only evolutionary explanation I can come up with for it is that by taking a nap in the presence of the predator, one may be able to persuade said predator that one is already dead and therefore not so good meal. A sort of possum response.

Of course, in the real world of today's interglacial holocene, taking a nap is often not the best way forward. But by god, do I wish I could.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Spasticity

So, here I am - physically and mentally, like, squeezed and I'm wondering, like, when is it that I have to stop pretending that it isn't and actually face up to the fact that my left thumb is going spastic on me, a little bit more every day, but definitely spastic?

There's a pretty question.

Thing is I have never had anything go spastic on me yet. So to acknowledge the thumb's spasticity is to acknowledge a whole new different symptom. And I'm not sure I want to do that before finishing off some work I am working on, and stuff. Got to look into it because I can't remember if spasticity is caused in the brain or in the spinal column (like the various exciting forms of paraesthesia I live with).

But I won't look it up because that would mean taking my head out of the sand.