What is Stress?

Stress is the body's response to any demand or pressure. This can be caused by major life events, such as a death of a loved one, or strains that last over a period of time, such as living with financial problems, or daily or occasional strains such as work pressures. These are called stressors.

To cope with these stressors the body is required to make physical and chemical adjustments. Some of the first stress reactions are a rise in blood pressure, muscle tension, quicker breathing and heart beat, and dilated pupils.

If high levels of stress continue, and it exceeds the person's ability to cope, exhaustion occurs, causing damage to the person's physical and emotional well-being.

There are many different ways people can react to stress. From panic attacks to digestive problems to difficulty sleeping. Here is a stress checklist, if you have been affected by several of these symptons over a period of time, chances are you are suffering from stress.

Physical - Headaches, teeth grinding, fatigue, insomnia, back aches, stomach problems, colds, neck aches, shoulder pains, increased use of drugs/alcohol.

Emotional - Anxiety, frustration, nervousness, depression, worrying, tension, mood swings, crying spells, irritability.

Mental - Forgetfulness, poor concentration, low productivity, negative attitude, confusion, no new ideas, lethargy, boredom.

Social - Isolation, loneliness, lashing out, clamming up, lowered sex drive, nagging, fewer contacts with friends.

Unrelieved stress can take an emotional toll in the form of anxiety or depression, or a physical toll in the form of high blood pressure and heart disease. If unattended, stress can seriously damage physical health; psychological well-being; and relationships with friends and family. If you are stressed it is vitality important for your health and wellbeing that you seek help today.

How can hypnotherapy help with stress?

People are stressed by many different things, speaking in public, meeting new people. If it was the situation causing the stress, everybody would be stressed by the same situation. The key is that how you react to that situation. If you react in a negative way it causes you to feel stressed.

Treatment involves finding out what triggers your stress, why you react in certain ways to certain situations. Once this is done your reaction to the stressful situation can be changed from a negative one to a positive one. The next time you are in that stressful situation you will feel calm and in control.

Our therapists

Emma James MANLP, MATLT, MAHYP, Dip FTST, IIHTT is a leading personal therapist, a certified master practioner in NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line Therapy. For more details click here.

Rue Dobson Dip Psy/Phil Dip Couns Dip Clin Hyp MBACP MBSCH has been studying pyschology for over 17 years. He is qualified in person centered counselling and clinical hypnotherapy. For more details click here.

Brian McHugh Certified NLP Master Practitioner has been using his NLP and coaching skills to help people make the positive changes that they know will improve their quality of life. For more details click here.