Thanks for the memo

So the brother shoves something from a pile that hasn't fallen for two seconds out of his latest Reader's Digest my direction and I'm face to face with a compliable card with the header screaming: Stress.

Right.

So I don't pin everything down quite so directly like that. Especially with the brother. Coming from someone I liberally water sticky topics of conversation down for and don't do deep, soul baring talks with, and with whom I on a single occasion this recent past begged stress as a wildcard for an excuse only to hear an incredulous: what stress? reply, I wasn't expecting this. 

But hey, I can still give the card a look over.

So there is a rendition of this girl sitting sideways with lines directed at her in three places accompanied by corresponding symptoms: head - anxiety, irritability, tension headaches, depression; lips - mouth ulcers and susceptibility to colds increase as immunity is weakened; stomach - digestive problems such as indigestion and IBS.

Right.

So as not to miss the warning signs: muscular aches and pains and general tiredness; skin conditions; heart palpitations and excessive sweating.

I see. Apparently, I'm all prepared for fight ot flight. 

So below that is a summary of what the culprits are: the most common causes of stress involve work, money and relationships.

Checked, checked, checked. Wait. If I have none of the above, then I should uncheck, uncheck, uncheck?

So I flip the card because it goes on, complete with a symptoms summary box, in case I needed further comparison with something not already mentioned: difficulty sleeping, leading to constant fatigue; poor concentration and increased irritability; feelings of panic or anxiety; lack of appetite, constipation or diarrhea; trembling.

So I'm a walking, talking, stressed PBL. Where do we go from here?