It has recently come to my attention how many people in LA fit the criteria for "type A personality". (Yes, this is something i only recently picked up on despite having lived with the nonstop traffic, honking, screaming, and materialistic obsessions in this city for the past 4 years.) According to my awesomely "WIcKed" (ooooh i'm so cleeeever) wikipedia skills, this personality is defined as
"impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about one's status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation. Type A individuals are often highly achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. They have been described as stress junkies." AKA PREMEDS
And according to my professor and a well-researched book entitled "why zebras don't get ulcers" (which, believe it or not, actually applies mostly to stress-related diseases in HUMANS), type A personality individuals are at greater risk for a multitude of nasty, chronic diseases including (but certainly not limited to...)
heart disease/ atherosclerosis
digestive problems (ulcers, diarrhea, constipation...)
cancers of all colors, shapes, and sizes!
Now I see examples of this everyday, and if you look around, i'll bet you would too. Take the man in the beat up stationwagon today who tried to run over a pedestrian crossing the street to a GREEN WALK SIGNAL. He sped up rapidly, clearly trying to take advantage of the chain of cars turning right on a red light. As we crossed, he slammed on his brakes, honked violently, and shook an angry fist out of the window while screaming incomprehensible gibberish (in a VERY stereotypical, neck-vein popping manner). It was ridiculous! I couldn't help it but gesture at the GREEN walk signal. Whatever happened to pedestrian's right of way? If the mentality now is "the biggest vehicle/object on the street rules," I better rush out to buy me a hummer. which would probably then be torched the next day by greenpeace activists (ironically, in the process releasing more air pollution than the car would ever have throughout its normal lifetime usage)
Or how about people who don't understand that standing one centimeter behind you and breathing down your neck (or up your shoulder, for those of you who are NOT vertically challenged :'(...) does NOT make the line any shorter? AHEM *woman waiting in line behind me in the medical center cafeteria yesterday* The alternative may be even worse, like that woman at the grocery store who spent literally 15 minutes yelling at the cashier for charging her a whole whopping 20 extra cents for red delicious apples instead of the fuji ones she had intended to purchase. woman, with gas prices today, i think you would've been better off munching on your apple a day at home than driving BACK to the grocery store to send your blood pressure skyrocketing.
but by FAR i think premeds epitomize the stressed-out, type A personality. I mean most of our anxiety comes from uncertainty about our future (learned helplessness, if you happen to be a psych student), and what is more stressful than having to juggle a full course load with research, a kick-me-in-the-head-hard standardized test, extracurricular stuff, and a social life (all the while not knowing if any of what you are doing will ever amount to anything?) It made me really sad today to hear abt some premeds emailing/intimidating others out of applying for leadership positions in a certain campus organization. COME ON! (gob-style, for those arrested dvlpmnt fans who get it!) it makes me sad to think that some people believe they can only be successful with others' demise.
(i'd like to think i'm a realistic optimist?)Luckily, the effects of the type A personality (and STRESS) can be mitigated by your mentality!
taking deep breaths help (with your tummy rising and falling). also stopping to smell the roses and not worrying as much. i mean in life the most things ppl worry abt are stuff that has 1) already happened or 2) probably won't happen. so live each day knowing it's "the first day of the rest of your life" - Dan (congrats on breaking the gaming streak, i'm proud of you!)
"Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten."
No comments:
Post a Comment