Stress and Anxiety

How hypnotherapy can help with stress

Hypnotherapy is a highly effective treatment for dealing with stress. During a course of hypnotherapy you will descover the root cause of why you are not coping and the hypnotherapist will help with relaxation.

Why is stress harmful?

Stress is something we all encounter and a certain level of stress may be necessary and enjoyable in order to spark us into action. Life changes, such as moving house, getting married or coping with a bereavement, can all cause it, while negative social conditions, such as unemployment, poor housing, noisy neighbours, relationship problems and difficulties at work, can also contribute.

Stress means different things to different people.

A situation that is intolerable to one person may be stimulating to another. What you feel is determined not just by events and changes in the outside world, but how you perceive and respond to them.

The important point is that you can learn to recognise your own responses to stress and, if necessary, develop skills to deal with it. In the animal world, the response to danger is to run away or to turn and fight. People respond to emotional stress as if it were a physical threat; rapid changes in the muscles and organs of the body are involved. Your muscles tense, ready for action and your heart beats faster to carry blood to where it's most needed - the muscles and the brain. You breathe faster, sweat more and your mouth becomes dry. These physical reactions are due to hormones that the body produces, including one called adrenalin. This automatic reaction to a threatening situation is known as the 'fight or flight' reaction. It equips us to fight or escape from an enemy. You may merely be having an argument with a colleague, but your body may react as though you were gripped in a life-or-death struggle with a lion.Unfortunately, many people turn to cigarettes, alcohol or tranquillisers as a way of coping with stress. These may seem to help in the short term but, in the longer term, may further undermine your wellbeing.

 

How you can tell if you are under too much stress?

As stress begins to take its toll physically, emotionally and on your behaviour, a variety of symptoms can result. Check off the symptoms you recognise in the following lists. If you identify a large number of signs in yourself, don't panic! You're among those who can benefit from applying the principles and techniques outlined in this booklet.

How your body may react to too much stress

• breathlessness
• headaches
• fainting spells
• chest pains
• tendency to sweat
• nervous twitches
• cramps or muscle spasms ·
• pins and needles
• high blood pressure
• feeling sick or dizzy
• constant tiredness
• restlessness
• sleeping problems
• constipation or diarrhoea
• craving for food
• indigestion or heartburn
• lack of appetite
• sexual difficulties
  

 

How stress may make you may feel

• aggressive
• a loss of interest in others
• irritable
• taking no interest in life
• depressed
• neglected
• bad or ugly
• that there's no-one to confide in
• fearing diseases
• fearing failure
• a loss of sense of humour
• dreading the future
  

How you may behave when suffering with stress

• have difficulty making decisions
• avoiding difficult situations
• frequently crying
• have difficulty concentrating
• biting your nails
• denying there's a problem
• unable to show true feelings
  

Some facts and figure about stress

• In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report on work related stress, 20 per cent of respondents suffered from stress at levels described as "very" or "extremely stressful".1
• Workplace stress is estimated to be the biggest occupational health problem in the UK after musculoskeletal disorders.
• The most common stress related complaints presented to GPs are depression and anxiety and are reported to affect 20 per cent of the UK working population.
• Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, now account for more Incapacity Benefit (IB) claims than back pain.2
• It has been estimated that nearly 10 per cent of the UK's gross national product (GNP) is lost each year due to job generated stress.
• Stress is the highest cause of absence among non-manual employees, with an estimated 12.8 million working days lost in Britain in 2003/04 due to stress, and depression or anxiety ascribed to work related stress.3
• Nearly three in every ten employees will have a mental health problem in any one year, the great majority of which will be anxiety and depressive disorders.
• The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that 30 times as many working days are lost due to mental ill health as from industrial disputes.
• Mental health problems account for the loss of over 91 million working days each year.
• Half of all days lost through mental ill health are due to anxiety and stress conditions.4
• In a CBI survey of over 800 companies, 98 per cent of respondents said mental health should be a company concern, with 81 per cent of those saying that the mental health of employees should be a company priority.5

SOURCES:
1 "The Scale of Occupational Stress: The Bristol Stress and Health at Work Study", HSE Contract Research Report 265, HSE Books (2000).
2 "Long term sickness absence", British Medical Journal, 330, pp 802-3.
3 Health and Safety Executive (2004) Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2003/04. Available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overpic.htm ?
4 Gray, P. (2000) Mental Health in the Workplace: Tackling the Effects of Stress, London, Mental Health

Free initial consultation

However, no assumptions as to treatment will be made prior to a initial consultation, for which there is no charge. Only after this meeting has taken place can the needs of the individual, and their circumstances, be evaluated and discussed, at which point an appropriate course of treatment can be agreed upon.

 

Contact us now by email: help@headhighhypnotherapy.co.uk