I don't know about you, but I have come to the conclusion that many of the so-called conveniences in our lives can pile up and drive us to drink. For example, I know when I text or e-mail someone or even that old standby of phoning - if I don't hear back from the person in a reasonable amount of time - my imagination starts to go wild. This is especially true if I'm waiting to hear back from a patient, a referent or a loved one. These alleged conveniences are supposed to make communication faster and simpler. Yet, they can sometimes put us on edge. I've also realized that nuance is often lost in an e-mail or text - resulting in six more e-mails trying to clarify an initial point. We live in a world that is driving us to drink and we need to reclaim it for ourselves. When some of my patients first come to see me they are in "live to work" mode and it's clearly impacting their ability to manage stress in a productive way. Instead, I encourage them to create balance in their lives and not give their devices so much power. Likewise, I want to advise readers to stop and breathe for a few minutes each day instead of drinking or drugging to alleviate stress at the end of the day or week. Let's get back to some of the old ways of communicating like actually looking each other in the eyes and making human contact!