Stay calm when you know you'll be stressed

My own house was broken into a few years ago.

Just now, I had driven home. In the dead of winter in Montreal, it was about midnight. I had been across town visiting my friend. when the front porch thermometer indicated minus forty degrees and didn't even try to find out if it was Fahrenheit or Celsius.

The intersection of the two scales is minus 40.It was really chilly.

When I fumbled through my pockets while standing on the front porch,I discovered my keys were missing.Actually, they were laying on the dining room table where I had left them, and I could see them through the window.

I hurried around, trying all the other windows and doors and they were securely locked.I considered making a locksmithing call because I had my phone with me.

However, it can take some time for a locksmith to arrive at midnight.It was also chilly.

I was unable to spend the night at my friend Jeff's residence.due to my early morning travel to Europe the next day,and I had to fetch my bag and passport. So, utterly helpless and icy,

I used a big rock to smash out the basement window, remove the broken glass, and crawl in.I located a piece of cardboard and covered the opening with tape reasoning that early in the morning, while travelling to the airport,I could ask my contractor to fix it over the phone.

This would cost a lot of money.Now, because of my expertise as a neuroscientist, I have some knowledge of how the brain functions under pressure.It causes the release of cortisol, which quickens heart rate.

It adjusts the amount of adrenaline and it distorts your judgement.So when daybreak came,

After getting too little sleep, I woke up. Concerned about the window hole,and a reminder in my mind to give my contractor a call,as well as the icy temps. With the impending appointments I had in Europe, additionally, given the abundance of cortisol in my brain,

My thoughts were foggy.However, because my thinking was foggy, I was unaware that it was foggy.(Giggles)

albeit most likely not more costly than a locksmith in the middle of the night, I reasoned that, given the situation, I was coming out even. And when I arrived at the airport check-in desk,

when I became aware that my passport was missing.

(Giggles)

I therefore ran home in the ice and snow for forty minutes.I hurried back to the airport after getting my passport.I arrived right on schedule.However, they had moved someone else into my seat.I became caught near the rear of the aircraft, close to the restrooms.

on an eight-hour flight, in a seat that would not recline.Well, with eight hours of sleep deprivation, I had plenty of time to reflect.

And I began to question, Are there any actions I might take to mechanisms that I am able to implement,that will stop negative things from occurring?

If unfortunate events do occur, they will be less likely to be a complete disaster.I therefore began to consider that.But it took me a month or so for my ideas to really come together.

I was having supper with Nobel Prize winner Danny Kahneman, my colleague.and I informed him, feeling a little ashamed, that I had smashed my window.

and I realised I forgot my passport,and Danny informed me said he had been honing a skill known as prospective retrospect.

It was something he received from Gary Klein, the psychologist.who had written a few years prior about it,likewise known as the pre-mortem.By now, everyone is aware of what a postmortem is.Whenever there's a catastrophe, a group of specialists responds and attempts to determine what went wrong, right?

According to Danny, the pre-mortem involves planning ahead and identifying all potential problems before attempting to determine what can be done to lessen the harm or stop them from happening.

Thus, I would want to discuss with you today a few pre-mortem actions that we can do.

While some of them are readily apparent, others are not as much.

I'll address the most evident ones first.

Assign items that are prone to becoming lost a specific spot throughout the house.

Now, this may seem like common sense, and it does, but there is a ton of scientific evidence supporting it, based on how our spatial memory functions.

The hippocampus, a region in the brain that has been there for tens of thousands of years, is responsible for remembering the locations of significant objects, such as fruit trees, wells, and fish.

Now, this may seem like common sense, and it does, but there is a ton of scientific evidence supporting it, based on how our spatial memory functions.

The hippocampus is a mechanism in the brain that has developed over tens of thousands of years to remember the locations of essential objects, such as the position of a well, fish, a stand of fruit trees, and the homes of friendly and hostile tribes.

The area of the brain that enlarges in London taxicab drivers is the hippocampus.

It's the area of the brain responsible for helping squirrels locate their nuts.

And in case you were wondering, the experiment in which the squirrels' ability to smell was taken away was actually carried out, and the squirrels were still able to locate their nuts.

Instead of utilising scent, they were making use of the highly developed hippocampus, a part of the brain that helps with object recognition.

However, it works incredibly well for immobile objects and less well for mobile ones.

This explains why we misplace our passports, reading glasses, and vehicle keys.

Decide where you want your keys to be kept in your house; a pretty bowl or a hook near the door might work well.

One drawer in particular—for your passport.

A specific table for your reading glasses.

Your belongings will always be where you need them if you set up a space and are meticulous about it.

Travel—what about it?

Take a picture of your passport, credit cards, and driver's license using your phone and email it to yourself to save it on the cloud.

You can arrange for a replacement in the event that these items are lost or stolen.

These are a few things that are rather evident now.

Recall that the brain releases cortisol when you are under stress.

Because cortisol is harmful, it impairs reasoning.

Therefore, acknowledging that you won't function at your best under pressure and putting procedures in place are important components of the pre-mortem process.

Making a medical decision can be one of the most stressful situations one can find themselves in.

All of us will eventually find ourselves in a situation when we must make a crucial choice regarding our own or a loved one's future medical care, or we will have to assist them in making a decision.

I would want to discuss that.

And I'll be discussing a very specific medical issue.

However, this serves as a stand-in for all types of medical decision-making, as well as financial and social decisions, and any other kind of decision that might benefit from a logical analysis of the available information.

Let's say your doctor tells you, upon reviewing your test results, that your cholesterol is a little elevated.

As everyone is aware, elevated cholesterol levels are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.

You begin to believe that having high cholesterol is not a good thing, and the doctor responds by offering you a statin, a medication that will help you lower your cholesterol.

Furthermore, you've undoubtedly heard of statins and are aware that they are among the most commonly prescribed medications in use today.

It's likely that you even know someone who uses them.

You're probably thinking, "Yeah! Please give me a statin.

However, at this moment, you should pose the following query:

a figure you ought to request

that the majority of doctors prefer not to discuss,

and even less is what pharmaceutical firms like to talk about.

It is for the quantity that must be treated.

What is this, the NNT, now?

It's the quantity of individuals that require drug use.

or have any kind of medical procedure, such as surgery

prior to helping even one individual.

You may be wondering what type of absurd statistic it is.

One should be the number.

My physician refused to provide a prescription for me.

if it won't be of assistance.

However, it is not how medical practice actually operates.

Additionally, if anyone is to blame, it is scientists like me. The doctor is not to blame.

The fundamental mechanisms are poorly understood.

However, GlaxoSmithKline calculates

that only 30 to 50 percent of patients benefit from 90% of the medications.

Thus, the amount of patients that the most often prescribed statin must treat,

What do you think it might be?

How many must take it before even one person receives assistance?

Three hundred.

This is based on studies.

by researchers Pamela Hartzband and Jerome Groopman,

Verified independently by Bloomberg.com.

I personally went through the numbers.

Before one heart attack, stroke, or other adverse event is prevented, 300 patients must take the medication for a full year.

You're probably thinking, "Okay, so there's a one in 300 chance that this will lower my cholesterol."

Doc, why not? Still, give me the prescription."

However, you should now inquire about another statistic by saying, "Tell me about the side effects." Correct?

Therefore, 5% of people get side effects from this specific medication.

They include horrible things like crippling joint and muscular pain and gastrointestinal problems, but you're probably thinking, "Five percent isn't that bad, I'll still take the drug."

But hold on a moment.

Keep in mind that you cannot think clearly when under stress.

Thus, plan out your solution in advance to avoid having to come up with the line of reasoning at the last minute.

Surely, 300 people use the drug? One person's assistance,

Of those 300, 5% had adverse effects.

15 persons, that is.

There is a 15 times greater chance that the medicine will harm you.

then the medication is supposed to assist you.

I'm not advising you to take a statin at this point.

All I'm saying is that you and your physician ought to discuss this.

Ethics in medicine demand it.

It is a component of the informed consent principle.

It is your right to talk to someone about whether or not you want to assume the risks by having access to this kind of information.

You may be thinking right now

For shock value, I've grabbed this number out of the air.

However, this number was pretty common and required to be treated.

Regarding the most common procedure for males over 50,

prostate removal due to malignancy,

49 is the required number to treat.

That is correct, for every person who receives assistance, 49 procedures are performed.

In that instance, half of the patients experience the negative effects.

These consist of erectile dysfunction, impotence,

rectal tearing, incontinence when peeing,

leaking of feces.

And they barely last for a year or two if you're lucky enough to be in the 50% who get these.

Thus, the purpose of the pre-mortem is to plan ahead.

answers to the inquiries you may be able to make

it will further the discussion.

All of this shouldn't need to be made up on the fly.

Additionally, you ought to consider matters such as living quality.

Since you frequently have an option,

Do you think I should live a shorter, pain-free life?

or a longer life that could be quite painful in the end?

These are topics worth discussing and considering right now.

with your loved ones and family.

Even though you might decide otherwise in a hurry, at least you have experience thinking this way.

Recall that when our brains are under stress, they release cortisol, which causes a number of processes to shut down.

This has an evolutionary explanation.

When confronted with a predator, your digestive system, libido, or immune system are useless because they use up your body's metabolism. If you don't act fast enough, you could wind up as the lion's meal, in which case none of those factors matter.

Regretfully, logical, sensible thought is one of the things that gets lost during those stressful situations.

as demonstrated by Danny Kahneman and his associates.

Thus, we must practice planning ahead.

to circumstances such as this.

Realizing that we are all fallible seems to be the key takeaway from this, in my opinion.

Everyone will occasionally fail.

Anticipating potential failures is the objective here.

to install mechanisms that will lessen the harm,

or to stop the negative things from occurring initially.

Returning to that wintry Montreal evening,

Upon returning from my travels,

My contractor installed a combination lock next to the entrance that has an easy-to-remember combination and a key for the front door inside.

And I must confess,

There are still mountains of unsorted letters in my possession.

as well as mountains of unread emails.

Thus, I'm not entirely structured.

however, I consider organization to be a slow process.

and I'm making progress.

Many thanks for it.