Work In Progress

So I thought I had a handle on this....... "Type A"..."Type B".  I am clearly a "Type A"---with a slow to arrive "Type B" that strolls in for herbal tea and yoga after I have been feeding my soul and NOT at work for an extended period of time.  ( I really like her!!!) However, "Type A" and "Type B" emerged as labels for how people respond to stress and were employed, and were later tested in a later experiment to see if these "types" could predict coronary heart disease----- in men----- over 60 years ago----.  The experiment didn't factor in women or the stress reduction medication and techniques available to assist with coping with stress today. Damn.  I thought I was done. But instead I will dig a little deeper (ok a lot deeper), to get a more full picture back to Hippocrates (c. 460-c.3 70 BC), the father of modern medicine, who identified four "temperaments". These "te...

As a self identified "Type A" behavior "enthusiast", getting to know my neighbor in "Type B" might help me get a handle on why I too often feel like I am banging my head against a wall at work.    But before I get too far, after all, there are a bazillion "self assessment" tests out there from, " What potato chip flavor are you ?" to " Which Prince outfit are you ?" In the 1950's, two cardiologists, Friedman and Rosenman used Type A and Type B as a way to describe behavioral responses associated with how male patients with heard conditions responded to stress in their waiting room.    They observed that some of the men actually wore down the edges of the seats from sitting poised on the edges of the seat and jumping up frequently, (labelled Type A) while others were able to relax in their seats and the wear on the chairs was focused more evenly (labelled Type B).   They went on to invest...