Stress & Hypnotherapy

David J Taylor

The Mosby’s Medical and Nursing Dictionary (2^nd Edition) defines stress as; “any emotional, physical, social, economic or other factor that requires a response or change”. It goes on further to refer to “General Adaption Syndrome” which is defined as; “the defence response of the body, or psyche, to injury, or prolonged stress. It consists of an initial stage of shock or alarm reaction followed by a phase of increasing resistance or adaption, using various defence mechanisms of the body or mind, and culminating in either a state of adjustment and healing, or exhaustion and disintegration”.

Stress is the energy exerted by one thing or another. It is those energies and tensions that move through our central and autonomic nervous systems that allow us to function as living human beings.

Stress can be defined as being either essential or positive type stress, or undesirable or negative type stress. Positive type stress is those energies and tensions that allow us to achieve our goals, succeed in our pursuits, experience health and vitality, happiness and a sense of well being.

Negative type stress is the undesirable excess energies and tensions that, if are experienced for prolonged periods of time, can result in physical and psychological ill health, even to the point of debilitation and death.

The human nervous system comprises of the central nervous system, which controls all of our voluntary actions, or conscious actions, and the autonomic nervous system which controls certain types of involuntary actions or subconscious actions. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts; the parasympathetic nervous system, and the sympathetic nervous system.

When a stimulus is mediated via the parasympathetic nervous system, a person can experience feelings of wellbeing, relaxation, harmony and stabilizing emotions. The role of the parasympathetic nervous system is to bring the body back to it’s normal relaxed harmony between stresses. It helps to promote healing and repair the body. When a stimulus is mediated via the sympathetic nervous system, this causes a person to experience stress. The stimulation of negative emotions such as fear, anger, resentment, hatred over prolonged periods and if repressed, can lead to psychosomatic illness and stress related diseases. The normal role of the sympathetic nervous system is to set the body into the “Fight or Flight” state, as a normal reaction to an outside threat or danger. However, it is when these actions of Fight or Flight are not acted out physically, and the negative emotions continue to be stimulated and repressed, that a person can suffer stress related illness.

As mentioned previously, stress can be either positive or negative. Positive stress or desirable stress is necessary for living, good health, success and achievement. For-instance, daily or regular exercise is necessary in order to continue to maintain good health. Laughter and fun activities, group activities, personal growth and development, career or work challenges, sport, hobbies and interests, family and friends are all forms of positive type stress. These forms of stress are necessary to a person’s psychological, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. When the imagination is fed with positive ideas and our thought processes are geared to think positively, our performance is affected also, in a positive way. So the effects of positive stress are beneficial to our entire health and wellbeing, and propel us forward to achieve and succeed in fulfilling our desires and goals.

Negative stress is mismanaged stress and, in the same way as positive stress can produce a positive spiral moving us towards success and attainment, negative stress can produce a downwards spiral leading to more unhealthy stress levels, and negative thinking, physical and psychological ill health and debilitation. Often a person’s belief is that the world is a dangerous and stressful place to be and therefore it has become his/her self fulfilling prophesy. “As a man thinketh, so is he”. The belief and expectation together are a powerful combination when used positively or negatively. Effects of negative stress are not confined to the person suffering the stress, but also the families and friends associated with the person are affected. Families can disintegrate, friends no longer feel that they can help, or they may find that the person is just not pleasant to be around anymore.

Stress can indeed be classed as one of the leading causes of disease and ill health that exists today. Heart attacks, strokes, cancer and many of the major types of life threatening diseases can in many cases be traced back to high levels of negative type stress i.e. prolonged repression of anger, resentment, fear, hatred, and prolonged periods of anxiety.

Hypnotherapy has a long documented history in the successful treatment of people suffering from negative type stress. There are no drugs or chemicals involved, and the mind and body can benefit greatly from hypnotherapeutic intervention. Hypnosis is a natural altered state of consciousness that if accessed and directed correctly, produces positive changes, psychologically, physiologically, emotionally and which results in personal empowerment, greater general health and sense of wellbeing. A suitably qualified Hypnotherapist can teach a person self hypnosis which will equip him/her with a powerful tool to further assist in creating on-going positive changes in his/her life. He/she can learn to program their subconscious mind with positive thoughts and ideas that can move them forward towards their goals and aspirations. When a person feels confident in being able to respond and work through any event or circumstance that may arise in their life, negative type stress can be reduced and a more positive mindset can become the norm.

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