Stress and Anxiety
Every week we seem to hear about someone who is suffering from stress. It is
becoming more widespread as the pressures and demands of modern living takes its
toll.
Stress can originate anywhere and the causes are numerous. Rushing in the
morning for work, bills in the post, poor relationships, traffic hold-ups, being
late for meetings, criticism, pressure, lack of appreciation or understanding
the list goes on and on.
What is stressful for one person may be perfectly acceptable to another, indeed
some people seem to thrive on stress and others seem to go to pieces over the
slightest little thing. Stress, it seems, is not triggered by an actual event,
but how we - as an individual react to that event.
The situation that makes us
feel stressed one day could have no impact the next. More usual though, is that
there is a gradual build up of stress, which may or may not, eventually exceed
personal tolerance levels.
Not all stress is bad, we need a certain amount of it to motivate us, to get the
best out of us. Without stress we can become apathetic, lethargic, lazy. Stress
is activating. It’s all a case of balance.
There are two main types of stress, Eustress is the positive and Distress of
course, the negative. There is also Post Traumatic Stress, which, as its name
suggests, can occur as a consequence of a past traumatic experience.
You might feel yourself to be under constant pressure and unable to cope with
the demands of today’s hectic lifestyle. It seems strange that when we have so
many time-saving, labor saving devices, washing machines, microwaves, tumble
dryers, dishwashers, fast cars, to name but a few, many of us still find it
difficult to enjoy quality time doing what we really want to do. How much time
have we actually gained from these inventions? When we do have the spare time,
how many of us feel guilty when we are inactive or doing something for
ourselves?
Many people today are suffering from ‘information overload’ too much information
for the brain to cope with. We wake up with fuzzy heads and we go to bed with
fuzzy heads. Some companies put undue pressure on their employees; performance,
productivity, profit the competition is fierce and we must all pull our weight
or face the consequences.
Primitive man was governed by the need to hunt for food and the animal body is
designed to act or react as in the ‘fight or flight’ response. When faced with
danger the blood flows away from the stomach and to the limbs, (hence that
sinking feeling) to enable man to run or fight; the digestion shuts down, which
is why it is never a good idea to eat when under stress, otherwise you could
suffer from indigestion. The muscles tense ready for action, the glands secrete
adrenalin, a powerful chemical eventually, when the threat of an attack is over
the body returns to a state of near normal, but it is still on the alert -
remaining vigilant.
Technology has advanced at a far greater speed than human beings have. And the
stressors of yesteryear are very different from the ones of today. We rarely
need to fight or flee these days, (even though we may feel like doing so,) but
our body is still prepared.
In consequence all that negative energy accumulates in the muscles. It may cause
ulcers, migraine, tension headache, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety or panic
attacks, perhaps just feelings of general unease. There could be dizziness,
irritability, a feeling of being constantly ‘on edge’.
Too much stress results in failure of the immune system to produce those
important T cells that help to fight off infection. The immune system then
attacks itself, resulting in arthritis, ME, MS, HIV, allergies, asthma, to name
but a few.
It is known that bereaved people are more at risk of illness than partners who
are together. The mental state is lowered leaving them wide open to negative
influences.
So what can we do to discharge the stress?
Well for a start, exercise is great; any kind of exercise will make us feel
good, whether it be aerobic such as swimming, dancing, walking, jogging, running
or anaerobic such as tennis, football, Exercise is a wonderful stress-buster
because it helps to release tension, but after a busy day most people prefer to
collapse in front of the television with a drink in their hand.
Take a look at the cause of your stress and see if you can do something about
it. At first glance this may sound obvious but if you analyze the cause you may
find that the reason is not always so easy to pinpoint. For example you may be
stressed because of the amount of work that you have to do, perhaps you are
dealing with complaints or difficult customers or trying to achieve impossible
targets etc.
If you can do something to alleviate the situation then do it. But if not,
accept that you have to change your reaction to it.
Our range of hypnotic
recordings can help in most situations. If you can't find
what you are looking for then please contact us and we will
point you in the right direction - if we don't have the
recording immediately at hand then we will produce it within 48
hours.
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