Between showering and getting dressed in the morning, I go online. Coffee in hand, I plow through my e-mail, deleting Viagra ads, filing attachments I don't have time to read. The phone rings, then my blackBerry from work. I open a drawer, find the file I need for a meeting, and discover my coffee is gone. I can't remember drinking it.
Many Canadians describe themselves as scattered, even anxious, without knowing why. One clue is in the multi-tasking culture of overwork that's become a hallmark of our world. Hans Selye once described chronic stress as having anesthetizing effects. Cortisol, the negative stress hormone, appears to numb the senses, producing a dissociation from the world when it becomes too much. At the same time, stress leaves people slightly depressed -- partly from a loss of control as they are distracted by new demands, and partly from a sense of incompleteness. As one friend lamented: "You're always just putting out fires. You say, `Here, try this; I'll get back to you.' But you never do!...."
