Beta Blocking the Nerves

About an hour ago I finally got home after what, not so long ago, would have been a nightmarish drive back from seeing my mother, through a blizzard.  Now, you might well ask why I was so reckless to have driven down there in the first place, bearing in mind the prevailing weather conditions.  Well, the fact is that  I had considered taking the  train after yesterday's heavy snowfalls but, when I got up today, I found that he roads in and around Crapchester had been cleared and gritted.  Moreover, the council had also cleared the car park where my car lives, meaning that (once I'd dug it out from under a layer of snow) I could get it out of the car park and, more importantly, get it back in again.  (There is a slight ramp at the entrance/exit of the car park which, if covered in sufficient snow or ice, is impossible to scale when turning in from the main road).  So, I decided to take the car (especially as, at that point, no further snowfall was forecast).  It was a good journey down there: cleared roads and little traffic.  Coming back this evening was a different story altogether.

Of course, it did start snowing again and this time it seemed that there was little or no attempts being made to keep the roads clear.  It was only when I got onto the dual carriageway of the A303 that the road surface started to clear properly.  But when I came off, down the Crapchester exit, things got much worse as it became obvious that no attempt to keep the road surfaces clear since the morning.  Obviously, though, I got home safely.  But to return to the original point of this post, not so very long ago such a perilous journey would have left me tense and nervous.  But this time, thanks largely to the beta blockers I'm now taking for my blood pressure, I remained preternaturally calm, I didn't feel any nerves while driving and wasn't tense or tired when I was finally able to park the car up in its space.  As I've mentioned before, the beta blocker slows the heart rate in order to lower blood pressure and to do this, it reduces the amount of adrenaline you body produces.  Which, in turn, means that you suddenly don't find yourself suffering 'nerves' when stressed.  It doesn't make you fearless, but I certainly find the effect calming. Of Course, it also suppresses the 'fight or flight' reflex to a large degree, so it is a double edged sword: the reflex is there for a purpose - self preservation.  Still, I won't deny that, tonight, I was grateful for the beta blockers steadying my nerves.