Our expert says:

CyberShrink

Ah, in my time I've known a few ranting philosophers ! When I was a Medical Student at Guy's Hospital, London, I discovered that the great philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose work I rather like, during World War II when he was Professor at Cambridge University, though he would not take part in combat, took long leave from his universirty and came to Guy's and worked as a volunteer in the pharmacy. I tried to locate any of the ointments he had mixed, or pills he may have rolled ( as they did in pharmacies in those days ) but could never be sure I found any.
Anyhoo
I'm sure the higher levels of background stress lowers our general capacity to handle the specific stresses that present to us. And I also feel there are tides in the affairs of men as the wise guy of Avon once said, which sweep higher and lower. George Brown the hapless British Prime Minister ( ever come across a man with less hap ? ) was NOT a brilliant Chancellor . Finance Minister --- he was just lucky to be in the job while economies round that way were doing rather well, despite his actual policies and actions, and he gleefully took credit for it ; now the tide is running in the opposite direction, he doesn't want to take any responsibility for it at all.
Fortunately, Smoky is very fond of purring, and prefers to spend much of the night slouched across my chest, purring cheerfully whenever I move. Apart from occasional excursions when she circumnavigates my head, marching round the pillow before settling again