Stress / Anxiety

Defintion:

One widely accepted definition of stress is ‘ a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize - Richard S Lazarus ’ .

An emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health which can be characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability and depression.

Description:

Modern day life runs at a fast pace. With it comes responsibility and expectation. Unfortunately the pressure of meeting those expectations and achieving results to ever tighter deadlines, can become very stressful. Our anxiety can also appear to get worse when we perceive things around us to be out of our control.

Anxiety, or stress, can be experienced when we feel there is not enough time in the day to achieve our desired goals. Not knowing which way to turn, "running around like headless chickens". Over worrying about events can raise our anxiety levels due to negative thinking, resulting in immediate transference to anxiety. If we maintain focus on the negative, this reduces capacity for positive thoughts, thoughts which are required to give us a state of happiness and good mental health.

When our anxiety is high, we react to things around us more emotionally and feel a lack of control, resulting in our inability to handle things in a logical relaxed state.

If you were to ask someone what stress was, they would probably describe it in terms of what causes the stress. Some common examples would be the boss, financial matters, work loads and various other responsibilities so kindly bestowed upon us in this modern stressful world we live in. In 1997 a chap called Lavallo defined stress as a ‘ bodily or mental tension to something that knocks us off balance either physically or mentally ’ . So if stress can also be described by our bodily reactions to the stressor, or component that causes us to feel stressed, then what actually happens when we experience stress?

A psychologist by the name of Hans Selye developed one of the most famous theories on stress. He described three stages;

Alert Stage:

This is where we experience the initial reaction to the stressor. The brain and stress hormones are activated in preparation for what happens next. This is the beginning of the ‘fight or flight’ response (the subconscious response to a threat is to either stand and fight the threat, or to flee - in order to continue your survival).

Resistance Stage:

The body system best suited to deal with the stressor is activated. So if you were met face to face with a rather vicious creature with a healthy set of sharp teeth, you would probably decide running was a good option. The nervous system and hormones would make sure you had enough blood pumping to your legs and your respiration would increase to pump oxygen through the body (Requires high levels of physical and emotional resources).

Exhaustion Stage:

If the bodily system activated in the resistance stage doesn’t get the job done and the stressor continues, we proceed to this stage and we are no longer able to resist the stress. We become vulnerable to disease.

Unzipping your tent to breathe in some fresh outdoor air, only to find yourself staring into a perfectly formed row of teeth of a grizzly bear, would be an example of acute stress. But when we talk about stress becoming a problem, we are of course referring to chronic stress, a constantly gnawing level that gradually breaks down our immune systems. Modern day life with all of it’s increasingly tighter deadlines and pressures can indeed result in chronic stress, especially if the stressor remains active.

A prime example of this is waking up every morning and going to a job you despise or feel you simply aren’t enjoying because it’s not creative, or rewarding enough. Perhaps it’s too much of a high pressure environment. The job itself stresses you out, it’s become the stressor and you return to it everyday. I’ve had a job like this and it‘s only when I left for a much more creative job, that I really appreciated the difference in my stress levels. Some people realise they need change but the feeling of security the job provides far outweighs the motivation for change. This in itself can add a sense of frustration and gladly contribute to the levels of stress already being experienced.

Stress will always be apparent in modern day living and we will always experience things that stress us out. It’s how we deal with it that matters.

Therapy:

During therapy you will actively seek to realise what your stressors are. These may be situations or people you encounter on a daily basis, of which you may feel you have inadequate resources to handle in a capable way. By understanding which resources you feel would help you deal with these occurrences in a much more satisfactory way, we can build and strengthen them through carefully constructed suggestions. Using guided imagery you can build on a positive future, imagining things going well. You can then begin to notice these changes and through a re-evaluation of these stressors, begin to believe in your capability, standing you in good stead for the next time you encounter a 'stressful' situation.

You will also be taught self-hypnotic techniques you can use anytime, anywhere and appreciate just how powerful self-hypnosis is, as it will enable you to acheive a deep relaxing state of being and continue to help reduce your stress levels.

You will also receive a backup Hypnotic CD to help continue therapy while you are at home.

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