when the perceptual power cannot locate or avoid the cause of 
irritation. Our language has many expressions that indicate 
this self-amputation that is imposed by various pressures. We 
speak of “wanting to jump out of my skin” or of “going out of 
my mind,” being “driven batty” or “flipping my lid.” And we 
often create artificial situations that rival the irritations and 
stresses of real life under controlled conditions of sport and 
play.

     While it was no part of the intention of Jonas and Selye to 
provide an explanation of human invention and technology, 
they have given us a theory of disease (discomfort) that goes 
far to explain why man is impelled to extend various parts of 
his body by a kind of autoamputation. In the physical stress of 
superstimulation of various kinds, the central nervous system 
acts to protect itself by a strategy of amputation or isolation