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extinguisher.’ Or in another situation, ‘If you really think we have a problem with our marriage, why not go to a marriage counselor. Perhaps then we can understand the roots of the problem and find out how to cope with it.’ We have two intelligent adjustments to stresses. But what if one says, ‘I’ve tried everything I can think of to be friendly to Mr. Jones. Everything else here at work is really great and I don’t want to quit. So I guess I’ll just stay out of his way.’ Or with another type of problem, ‘This air pollution bothers me as much as it does the rest of the family. I think I’ll take that job away from the city. We’ll probably be happier and healthier there.’
“The first two responses indicate an intelligent way of attacking a stress situation. The third and fourth responses indicate intelligent methods of withdrawing from a stressful situation. But often we use non-intelligent, mentally unhealthy ways of adjusting to a problem. Now let’s look at a couple of unhealthy