Stress has become a problem for me, too. I have found that trying to avoid any stress makes it worse. There is no way to avoid all the stresses in life. Some stress is good, example - I have bills to pay (stress), so I go to work. You might have a test (stress), so you study for it. I might have an injured or sick animal on my farm (STRESS), so I find the best thing to do for it. We have to find a way to make stress work for us. I know that some stresses (like your parents) may not be able to turn into a good stress. Those are the ones we have to face and learn to get past. The more we face stress, the stronger we get, and stress doesn't effect us as much. The more we avoid it, the worse it gets, then every little thing becomes overwhelming. Lately, I find myself avoiding stress when I shouldn't. Sometimes I just want peace. But I think that the way to conquer stress is to master it. That's hard work, and sometimes I would rather avoid hard work! LOL!!! Yes, I believe that panic makes us ultrasensitive to things, I jump out of my skin on a regular basis. Now if watching ER makes you stress out, don't watch it. It's not helping you. But you have to try and find a way to work through the stress with your parents, you can't turn them off like a tv show! I also find that when I am under serious, real, stress (like a tree just fell on the barn), I can handle that. I'm scared, but I can function just fine. It's the little stresses that get all out of control. Good luck! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!
