Stress, Anxiety, & Depression, and How to Heal with Hypnotherapy!
Do you suffer from stress, anxiety, or depression?
Clinical Hypnotherapy can help.
What is stress, and how may it lead to depression, other mental health problems such as anxiety and panic attacks, and physical health problems too, and how can hypnotherapy help?
First, here's a bit of background information on your body & mind...
The Nervous System
When you're stressed the parasympathetic nervous system (part of the autonomic, non-voluntary, nervous systems) is switched off or dulled down together in favour of the sympathetic, fight-or-flight, nervous system, which slows down or halts the action of the reproductive and digestive systems. This happens because, when we perceive a threat, the body needs to focus on responding to the perceived threat with a fight-or-flight response – whether it's a long or short term stress.
Short term adrenaline is released as an appropriate response by the body. The problem is that a lot of us hold on to that perceived threat for a lot longer and continue on to a chronically stressed state. This weakens the immune system and, ultimately, can lead to mental & physical illness.
In short, we get used to a certain level of stress and the adrenaline 'hit' it gives us and find it very difficult to slow down – perhaps by introducing exercise, therapy, and relaxing things like reading and meditation into our lives.
The key to effective stress management is to look at the situation long term and deal with both the physical and mental aspects via a multidisciplinary approach. Hypnotherapy can help by rebalancing the fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system and vegetative state parasympathetic nervous system mentioned above. Clinical Hypnotherapy can work with both body and mind. This leads to a better state of mind and a healthier body. In just one session you can 'reboot' the body and mind to a calmer, more contented, happier state.
More advice and information can then be given for you to maintain this more peaceful equilibrium, continuing this balance at home, in work, in your relationships, and in all areas of your life.
Get in touch to find out more;
rebecca@harleystreettherapyclinic.com
So, what is stress?
Read on & find out more...
What is stress?
Stress is the feeling of being under too much pressure. This may be mental or emotional pressure. Pressure turns into stress when a person feels unable to cope with what is in their life, either in one area or multiple areas of their life. All of us have different ways of reacting to and coping with stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may be motivating to someone else.
All areas of our lives can cause stress, particularly work, relationships and money problems. Stress can affect how you feel, think, behave and how your body works. Common signs of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating.
You may feel anxious, irritable or low in terms of self-esteem, and you may have racing thoughts, worry constantly or go over things in your head. You may notice that you lose your temper more easily, drink more, or act unreasonably.
You may also experience headaches, muscle tension or pain in parts of your body, or dizziness. Stress causes a surge of hormones in your body which are released to enable you to deal with pressures or threats – the so-called "fight or flight" response.
If you're constantly under stress, instead of these hormones leaving your body in due course, they will remain in your body, leading to the symptoms of stress.
What are the symptoms of stress?
Emotional symptoms of stress may include some of the following:
Becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody
Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, worthless, and depressed
Avoiding others
Constant worrying
Racing thoughts
Forgetfulness and disorganisation
Inability to focus
Poor judgment
Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side.
Physical symptoms of stress may include some of the following:
Low energy
Headaches