This article looks into the causes of stress and gives free tips to help you control and reduce your worries. I have, as I am sure many people do, stressed for most of my life for many different reasons. Even though I still worry about many things, I have now learned how to handle many of these situations and will write about how I go about doing this, in this article.

I do not work within the stress management industry and am in fact a web promotion expert from the UK. I also work on other projects to do with selling external doors and working with a business cost reduction specialist who offers cheap telephone calls.

I am the kind of person who likes to have a simple and settled life. When something comes along which is quite a big event or a bit out of the ordinary, this is when I start to stress. I am not the kind of person who likes change, therefore things like moving house is something which will cause me a lot of stress. I have actually moved house four times in the last six years, not very clever for someone like me. I am now happy where I live and plan to stay at this abode for a long time.

I am also self-employed. There are many things I love about being self-employed, the fact that I am my own boss, I can choose my own hours, I have no-one to answer or to report to and the all round freedom it gives me. I often stress however that business will go through a bad period and that I do not have the security of a regular income. How will I pay the mortgage? How will I pay my car loan? How will I feed and clothe my children? These are all the things that at times can keep me awake at night.

I now have started to build up a back-up fund in a bank account. When business is doing well, I put as much money as I can into this account, which I can then use in the leaner times. This gives me a peace of mind and therefore I do not have to worry so much. Business will go through good and bad periods and this way I can easily cope when it does go slow.

I used to also worry about how I would pay my tax bill at the end of the year, however I have also started to put money away each month similar to the above example, to pay for it.

I now try and think about all of my worries in a logical manner and instead of losing sleep over them I try to find solutions.

I also feel stressed and I am not sure why it is, the day after I have a night out drinking alcohol. In the morning and nowadays since I am getting older, throughout the day, I often feel lethargic and my mind starts to play tricks on me. It makes me feel negative about the future and makes me worry about a whole host of issues. It now takes me around forty-eight hours to recover from a boozy night out and affects my family and work life. I have now decided that I will go out far less and that when I do, I will limit the amount I drink.

These are other things that can cause me to stress:

When I have basically been working too hard!

When I have had a lack of sleep

During and after an illness

After an argument with my girlfriend

When I am invited to a social occasion which I do not want to go to, such as a wedding

A visit from my girlfriends family for say a weekend

Going on holiday

I am aware that this may seem a little crazy to some of the people that read this article but this is the way life used to be for me. Yes going on holiday does cause me to worry. I have to say that I am a terrible flyer. I am not ready to die and certainly do not want to be invloved in any kind of disaster. Then there is the hotel; what if it is manky? What if it is not clean? I also worry that somebody in my family may become ill during the holiday. What would I do if this happened? In reality I am sure that I would cope but it is just going into the unknown that scares me.

One thing which I am now careful to ensure of, is that I get enough sleep. I must say I love going to bed and I love sleeping. My bed is where I feel safe and comfortable. I used to fall into a trap of working too hard and would then stay up late, possibly watching the television. I would set my alarm to wake me up early and I would then start the whole process over again.

From reading a book about stress management, I discovered that sleep was one of the best forms of stress-relief. It had to be worth a try and try I most certainly did. I am happy to report that it does work. I now stay in bed an hour later in the mornings and where possible, I am in bed by 10pm at night.

I am also now attempting to take life in my stride. What happens will happen and I will deal with each challenge on its own merit. I try to deal with potential problems in a positive way and realise that if life was very smooth and easy, that it would probably be quite boring.

I now appreciate what I have in life and instead of looking at the future full of dread, I look forward to what life will bring. I know that at times life will be hard and am determined to get through these periods as quick as I can.

Nowadays when I do feel down and miserable, I tend to spend as much time as possible with my children, as they make me happy and can soon put a smile back onto my face.

 

Consider these three different scenarios.

A sales rep is having a difficult time during the recession. His recent records show poor sales. He is about to meet an important, big new client who could be his saviour. Success will decide whether he still has a job or not.

 

A man is desperately and madly in love with this attractive and popular woman. To him there is no future without her but she is popular an other men are attracted to her. The table is set for two, the ring is in his hand and the red roses lie near by. She is due any minute and he will go down on his knees and and he does not know what her answer will be.

 

Late at night a woman is walking home. The streets are poorly lit. Suddenly she hears footsteps ahead of her. She can see a group of people wearing hoodies coming towards her. She now hears footsteps behind her. Turning around, she sees some young people walking towards her.

 

In all three situations a person becomes very alert and focussed even though potential danger is only in one of these scenarios. This is the fight and fright reaction.

 

This is a reaction in humans and animals that developed a long time ago to protect us from life threatening dangers. In this reaction, the brain triggers the release of the hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisone.These hormones cause a remarkable change in the body.

 

The heart rate speeds up, the breathing become faster and deeper, the mouth becomes dry, the pupils dilate, skin becomes cold and clammy and hairs on the back of the neck stand up.

 

You may even want to vomit, open your bowels or urinate. This is the brain trying to make you lighter and move faster during ‘flight’.

 

These changes are preparing the body for action. You are in a state of heightened awareness. All your senses are sharpened. Your sense of smell, sight and hearing are all sharpened. Your body is primed and ready to go.

 

Your rapidly beating heart pumps more blood to the brain and the muscles. By breathing faster and deeper, more oxygen is transported by the blood to the muscles and brain. In addition blood is shunted away temporarily from other vital organs such as the gut, the kidneys and the immune system to make more blood available to supply the muscles.

 

The fight and fright reaction is primeval, developed in early humans to survive amongst dangerous reptiles and mammals. Unfortunately the brain cannot differentiate between real and percieved dangers or threats. The reaction is the same.

In all three scenarios above, the fight or fright reaction is triggered.

 

Panic attacks are severe episodes of the fight or fright reaction and, during an attack, to the individual the threat or danger is very real. Rational thoughts go out the window and there is nothing to fight and no where to run to.

 

In stress, the fight or flight reaction is triggered even thought there is no threat to our lives and can harm the body. Persistent stress caqn cause disease.

 

Knowing the effects of the fight or fright reaction on stress will help you make some sense about the symptoms of stress you experience with stress.

 

 

There is no doubt that hypnosis is a very effective stress treatment of stress. Stress develops when an individual feel he does not have the required resources to cope with a task he is confronted with. Hypnosis works by changing belief, preception and capability so the subject no longer feels he is unable to cope.

Dr. Lipton said that up to 90% of diseases are directly due to stress. Vital organs are straved of nutrients and oxygen by persistent stress. This is fine on occasions but when it becomes persistent, diseases are likely.

It is not the situation you confront that is the cause of stress but by the way you perceive this situation and whether you feel you have the coping mechanisms to deal with it. hypnotherapyis a very effective treatment for stress because it changes your perception, expectation and belief.

Following hypnosis treatment, extremely stressful tasks are transformed into tasks you can easily do because, you now know that you have the resources to handle what you are faced with little effort on your part.

Hypnosis takes you down to a deep relaxed state and to brainwave level theta. At theta brainwave level, the filters that block unwanted messages to enter the Subconscious Mind,ease their tight grip and the hypnotist is then able to embed positive changes in belief, attitude and expectation.

The power and safety of hypnosis as a stress and anxiety is undeniable. Another recommended stress treatment is meditation. Meditation, however, is difficult in a stressed person because it is not easy to relax and carry out the disciplines. It is better to have hypnosis as an immediate treatment and use meditation for the long term stress control and overall life enhancement.

Anyone who has experienced stress will tell you stress is an unpleasant thing. The fun goes out of your life and your libido goes away. Anger, rage, anxiety and depression are symptoms you can develop. During stress you become less creative and makes unnecessary mistakes.

Worse of all, by triggering the fight or flight reaction, it shuts off important nutrients to some organs of the body and stimulating the heart. Researchers believe this is the reason it is the underlying cause for 90% of diseases. Annually millions of days are lost in industry through stress and the cost to healthy services is enormous.

Hypnosis can change your attitude to stress and provides not just short term stress control but coping skills for the long term.

In a hypnotic session, powerful post hypnotic suggestions are given not just on how to cope with your current situation but generally on all aspects of your life. He is likely to say, “You are calm and relaxed. You will have no fear when confronting any situation and know that if it can be done, you are very capable and competent to do it.” Effective post hypnotic suggestion enables you to approach your next task with the attitude, “What is fast and best way of doing this?” rather than, “This task is beyond me.”

So have hypnotherapy rather than drugs, counselling, CBT or psychotherapy for safe and better control of all your stress problems. Remember hypnosis is nothing more than a state of heightened awareness and your brain becomes alert and receptive. It does not analyse or filters like the left brain. The Subconscious Mind simply accepts positive suggestions by the hypnotist while you remain in a calm relaxed altered sleep.