Stress Management

Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources that the individual is able to mobilise.

People feel little stress when they have the time, experience and resources to handle a situation. They feel great stress when they do not see themselves as being able to handle the demands put upon them. It is not an inevitable consequence of an event: It depends a great deal on individuals’ perceptions of a situation and their real ability to cope with it.

The stress response inside us is therefore part instinct and part to do with the way we think.

Particularly in normal working life, much of our stress is subtle and occurs without obvious threat to survival. Most comes from things like work overload, conflicting priorities, inconsistent values, over-challenging deadlines, conflict with co-workers, unpleasant environments and so on. Not only do these reduce our performance as we divert mental effort into handling them, but they can also cause a great deal of unhappiness.

Dangers of stress

Stress becomes dangerous when we are unable to return to our relaxed state after short periods of detrimental stress. We can even become accustomed to high levels of stress without being aware of it, which can cause damage to your body.

Long-term stress related illness is increasingly costing the average UK company 16% of it's payroll, per annum.

The behavioural effects of an over-stressed lifestyle are easy to explain. For instance, when under pressure, some people are more likely to drink heavily or smoke, as a way of getting immediate chemical relief from stress. Others may have so much work to do that they do not exercise or eat properly. They may cut down on sleep, or may worry so much that they sleep badly. They may get so carried away with work and meeting daily pressures that they do not take time to see the doctor or dentist when they need to. All of these are likely to have a negative effect on health.

Stress comes in many forms and can affect anybody, at any time and in any situation. From executives to school children, all can be affected by stress and this can surface to various degrees in the form of one or more of the following:

Anxiety, Mood Swings, Depression, Headaches, Alcohol Abuse, Tension, Smoking, Lethargy, Aggression, Insomnia, Confusion, IBS, Lack of Concentration, Digestive Problems, Memory Loss, Eating Disorders, Sexual Problems Heart Problems, Ulcers, Some Cancers, Strokes, Mental Breakdown, Physical Breakdown.

Hypnotherapy & NLP

Hypnotherapy and NLP can help address the underlying causes. Help you gain perspective when you need it most. It will retrain your brain to spot when you are becoming stressed and give you tools to deal with it, identifying alternative strategies for handling your stress. It will give you improved relaxation and allow you to take control using self-hypnosis techniques.