STRESS – ARE YOU VICTOR OR VICTIM? Mike Dillon
One would have thought that as stress has received so much attention for many years, society would have found ways of banishing its effects and most people would know how to manage their lives and emotions to cope with stress. This is blatantly not the case. Research has indicated that three quarters of all complaints people go to GPs for are stress related. In addition to the obvious effects of stress, which can have serious consequences over the short and long term, more subtle causes and stress related problems can ruin the quality of our lives and of course the lives of those around us. This can frequently make the simplest of daily routines difficult and sometimes intolerable. Such effects can go unnoticed, for a while, but then our quality of life begins to suffer, until we arrive at a situation and wonder what on earth happened and ask, “Where have the good times gone?” Stress, if it is severe, can cause a variety of physical symptoms that are obvious, so awareness is easier. However other stress related problems can be more subversive, and therefore more dangerous, such as high blood pressure, ulcers, stomach disorders, back pain and a host of other symptoms. These can become serious conditions, without a person realising it, until the condition is well advanced. People want to do more than simply try to cope with increased stress, which can often be like walking on quicksand. They want to change more profoundly, that means finding ways to handle stress at deeper levels of consciousness. Hypnotherapy has been the subject of clinical trials and is now widely accepted as a very effective way of teaching the mind to cope with stress and deal with the many dangerous effects that can be caused by too much stress.
Members of The Association of Hypnotherapy & Stress Management have been trained in hypnosis and the many ways it can be used to help people suffering from severe stress and the many psychological and physical symptoms stress can cause. Smokers, heavy drinkers and people with eating disorders often claim their habit or habits, some people indulge in all three, help to calm them down and reduce stress in their lives; in fact the opposite is true, as all can act as depressants. After the ‘high’, the mind and body experience goes and the mind and body find it harder and harder to cope with stressful conditions. Together with the considerable health risks these habits can cause, which threaten good health and even our lives, these habits can be, and often are, lethal. That is why effective and successful hypnotherapists are always in demand to help people with these stress related problems.