More than ever, scientific research is confirming the fundamental responsibility stress can play in causing and aggravating different physical and emotional disorders. In the June 6, 1983 issue of Time Magazine, the cover story labeled stress, "The Epidemic of the Eighties." It also said that stress is our leading health problem. And there is no doubt whatsoever that the world has become even more complicated and stressful in the past twenty-five years since that article was written.

Many surveys indicate that most adults perceive themselves to be under a great deal of stress. Authorities in the field estimate that 75 - 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems.

Most adults report that their job is the major cause of their stress. And stress levels have also increased in children as well as the elderly population for reasons including: Peer pressures that often lead to everything from cigarette smoking to drug and alcohol abuse; the wearing away of family and religious values and ties; increased crime; threats to personal safety; and last but not least social isolation and loneliness.

Stress contributes to diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, and ulcers. This is because of the increased sympathetic nervous system activity and a flood of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress has been associated with impaired immune system resistance. Stress can contribute to anxiety, depression, and its varied effects on the body's organs.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "stress" as follows:
"To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain"

It defines "tension" as follows:
"Mental, emotional, or nervous strain"

It defines "anxiety" as follows:
"A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties"

And it defines "depression" as follows:
"The condition of feeling sad or despondent"

It defines "clinical depression" as follows:
"A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death."

One thing is for sure; our thoughts can be the chief source of our feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. In other words, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences create our feelings. So if we can learn to change our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, then we can eliminate our feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression and replace them with a more positive state of being.

Since the beginning of time, people have sought out methods for releasing stress. The pharmaceutical industry seems to have a pill for everything. And to that end the industry has developed a wide array of tranquilizers from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to utilize drugs for relief, please be sure to read the fine print and learn about the side effects, which often include addiction and dependency. Unfortunately, these types of drugs attempt to treat the symptoms, rather than the cause. So as soon as one stops ingesting them, the symptoms can return.

A more intelligent way of eliminating tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on the root cause, which as I said above, is usually our thought processes. Now, here is the good news. The very essence of hypnosis is relaxation. The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective method of treating stress and stress related symptoms. And unlike drugs, there are absolutely no negative side effects.

Hypnosis is the Alpha level of consciousness. It's the daydream like state of mind that we pass through as we fall asleep at night. And we pass through it again as we awaken in the morning. There are hundreds of different ways that we can guide ourselves into this state of tranquility, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD's.

Once in the hypnotic state, we can communicate with our unconscious mind, which is the seat of our emotions. And it becomes easier to accept new ideas and points of view that can help us to dissipate anxiety, or even prevent it from occurring in the first place.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), which is a modern form of hypnosis, offers several excellent techniques for eliminating stress. Perhaps the most effective technique is called the "swish" pattern, or the "flash" pattern. After using this technique, your unconscious will automatically use negative, stress producing mental images, as triggers for relaxation producing mental images. In other words, your stressors will automatically trigger relaxation!

TO SUMMARIZE
Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be triggered by our thoughts. So by changing our attitude and point of view towards our situation and our experiences, we can eliminate these feelings at the source. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that we can use to help us change our attitude and point of view to quickly eliminate the root cause of these negative feelings.

Alan B. Densky, CH works in the field stress management. He has helped over 10,000 clients in his hypnosis practice, and offers a number of hypnotherapy programs for stress and anxiety related symptoms. Visit his Self Hypnosis Blog to watch free educational videos. And visit his Neuro-VISION Self Hypnosis site for hypnosis articles, newsletters and MP3's.