Before I came to Afghanistan I spent some time discussing stress and the story of boiling frogs came up. If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and then put that on the stove to boil the frog will stay in the pot as it doesn't detect the change in atmosphere. I was warned that people in my position are often like boiling frogs - not realising the effect living in a more restrictive culture can have. I saw a glimpse of this earlier in the year when I left the country to go on holiday and realised I was reluctant to greet people on the street and found it difficult to make decisions about shopping.The thing for me is that I do get to leave, I get to go home and enjoy de-stressing, but what about those people who don't? What about those people who live in this country but can't just get on a plane to take a break? Are they stressed? Are they boiling frogs? If they are what can be done about it? What can I do about it?
