More than ever before scientific surveys are proving the essential responsibility of stress in triggering or aggravating numerous physical and emotional disorders. A cover story in a 1983 issue of Time Magazine described stress as “The Epidemic of the Eighties.” The journalist also declared that stress is our considerable health issue. And one has to acknowledge that the world has become even more complicated and stressful in the last 25 years since that article was published.
Many surveys show that almost everybody perceives themselves as being subject to a lot of stress. Authorities in this domain estimate that 75 to 90 percent of the visits to PCPs (Primary Care Physicians) somehow have to do with stress.
Most adults claim their stress is mainly due to their job. Stress levels have also grown in children and the elderly population for reasons including: Peer pressures that often push people to everything from smoking to alcoholism and drug abuse; the wearing away of religion and family values; growing crime rates; fear for personal security; as well as social isolation and loneliness.
Stress is a factor of problems such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. This is because of the increased sympathetic nervous system activity as well as a high level of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress has been associated with weakened immune system resistance. Stress can cause anxiety, depression, and its various effects on the body’s organs.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “stress” as follows: “To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain”
The following is the definition of “tension” from the same dictionary: “Mental, emotional, or nervous strain”
The word “anxiety” is defined as follows: “A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties”
And the following is the definition of “depression”: “The condition of feeling sad or despondent”
It defines “clinical depression” as follows: “A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death.”
One thing is for sure, our thoughts are the primary cause of our feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. In other words, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences strongly influence our feelings. So if we can learn how to change our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, we can release our feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression and replace them with a better state of being.
People have always tried to find methods for releasing stress. The pharmaceutical industry seems to have a pill for everything. For that the industry has produced a large line of tranquilizers from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to utilize these pills for relief, please make sure that you are aware of the side-effects by reading the fine print, which often are, among others, addiction and dependency. Unfortunately, these types of drugs try to treat the symptoms, but not the cause. So if one stops ingesting them, the symptoms can return.
A more appropriate way of releasing tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on the root cause, which as I wrote above, is usually our thought processes. Now, here is the good news. Hypnosis is all about relaxation. The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective method of treating stress and stress related symptoms. However unlike pills, there are completely no negative side effects.
Hypnosis is the Alpha level of consciousness. It is the daydream like temporary psychological frame of mind which we pass through as we are just about to fall asleep at night. And we pass through it another time as we awaken again. There are lots of different ways that will help us guide ourselves into this relaxed mood, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD’s.
Once we are in a hypnotic state, we are able to interact with our unconscious mind, which is the center of our feelings. And it becomes easier to admit new ideas and points of view that can help us to get rid of anxiety, or even prevent anxiety from occurring in the first place.
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), which is a recent sort of hypnotherapy, has different excellent methods for getting rid of stress. Perhaps the most effective technique is called the “swish” pattern - or the “flash” pattern. When you use the “flash” pattern, your unconscious will automatically use negative, stress producing mental images, to create relaxation producing mental images. In other words, your stressors will automatically cause relaxation!
TO SUM THINGS UP Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be triggered by our thoughts. So if we change our attitude and the way we resent our situation and our experiences, we can get rid of these feelings at the root. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that we can use to help us change our attitude and point of view to easily get rid of the root cause of these negative feelings.
Alan B. Densky is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He offers a complete line of anxiety management hypnosis CDs, and advanced stress reduction CDs through his Neuro-VISION hypnotism website. You can visit his video hypnosis blog, and download a free MP3.
- Alan B. Densky, CH