In Gabor Maté's book, "Scattered Minds", a book looking at Attention Deficit Disorder, he says, "But what if illness in not a separate category, if there is no line of distinction between the "healthy" and the "non-healthy" if the "abnormality" is just a greater concentration in an individual of disturbed brain processes found in everyone?...we could all go crazy. Maybe we already have."

Kind of gives a new meaning to "normal" doesn't it? Perhaps everyone does have similar potential for abnormality and we are all sitting at different levels. I would speculate that levels rise and fall daily or weekly similar to a barometer. Too much of a bad thing can raise a barometer from healthy to non-healthy, and it can take a long time to return to *normal*. If things start to heat up for me I occasionally feel as though I am going to "lose it". Stormy weather can bring on the blues, sunshine can inject me with energy, and too much stress shuts down my short term memory completely. The key to keeping my barometer steady has been learning to say no. I said no to a lucrative career that was very stressful for me. I look forward to my days now. It was difficult at first, but the change has been worth the sacrifice in earnings. Yes, we could all go crazy, but is it necessary? If your barometer is feeling a little low, take a look at the things in your life that are causing the low, then prepare yourself for a change of weather!