poison ivy

i got this from a website with an article that caught my attention. the title of the article was
"Poison Ivy: an Exaggerated Immune Response to Nothing Much"

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Allergy is an altered or unwanted immune response. The immune system attacks something which is genuinely foreign, but which would be harmless, were it not for the immune attack. The immune system has evolved to neutralize and eliminate foreign substances from our bodies. However, it cannot tell whether the foreign substance is harmful, so it sometimes attacks harmless substances vigorously, causing an inflammation which can be far more harmful than the foreign substance alone. Hay fever (allergic rhinitis or asthma to plant pollens) is a good example.
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so from what i understand, it isn't really poison ivy's fault that its oils cause rashes in most people. after all, the sap of the poison ivy is quite harmless - except for the fact that it causes an immune attack from around 95% of humans. the plant isn't the problem - it's the response of the body that causes the irritation.

an exaggerated response to nothing much. hmm. i guess that pretty much sums up how i react to things most of the time. when i think of all the stuff that's floating around in my head, i could say that they are mostly trivial. nothing earth-shaking. nothing fancy. nothing that would turn the world upside down or inside out. and yet at times i find myself worrying too much.. or else, stubbornly refusing to look at the "problems" squarely. hence, the fitful sleep, melancholy, weight loss and countless moments spent staring out into space.

i haven't found a foolproof way of dealing with my poison ivies. until now i experience all sorts of "allergic reactions" to these problems that are, in truth, "nothing much." *sigh* i need corticosteroids.. and fast..