Stress and the Daily Rut

I have this mild obsession with stress and its effects on health that I have found hard to explain. This article in the New York Times seems to explain why:

• Stress rewires the brain to think sinister thoughts that might not be real.
• In most animals, the calming effect overcomes the stress response of fight-or-flight once the danger has passed, but the overactive human mind extracts phantom threats and keeps us stressed longer than we need to be.
• Laboratory tests show that chronically stressed rats lose their cunning and instead fall into rote response.
• A goal-directed behavior, as opposed to habit-based living, is a sign of mentally healthy, stress-free life.
• Once in a rut, people default to habits that dig people deeper into rut.
• The brain is a very resilient and plastic organ.
• Thankfully, taking vacations and living in a stress-free state improves our ability to innovate.

For more, click on the link and explore: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18angier.html?em