More than ever before scientific surveys are proving the fundamental role of stress in causing and aggravating different psychological and somatic disorders. A headline from a 1983 Time Magazine described stress as "The Epidemic of the Eighties." It also mentioned that stress is our critical health issue. Indeed it is indisputable that the world has become even more complex and stressful over the last twenty-five years since that article was written.

Several surveys indicate that almost everybody perceives themselves as being under a lot of stress. Authorities in the field estimate that around 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related issues.

Most adults report their stress is for the most part due to their job. The levels of stress have also grown in children as well as the senior population because of several reasons including: Peer pressures that often lead to everything from smoking to alcoholism and drug abuse; the dissolution of family and religious values and ties; growing crime rates; fear for personal security; as well as social isolation and loneliness.

Stress contributes to conditions such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. This is due to the augmented sympathetic nervous system activity and the release of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress is often associated with weakened immune system resistance. Stress can cause anxiety, depression, and its numerous impacts on the body's organs.

The following definition for "stress" can be found in the American Heritage Dictionary:

"To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain"

The following definition is given for "tension":

"Mental, emotional, or nervous strain"

It defines "anxiety" as follows:

"A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties"

And the following definition is given for "depression":

"The condition of feeling sad or despondent"

"Clinical depression" is defined 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."

What we can be sure of is that our thoughts are the primary source of our experience of stress, anxiety and depression. We could also say that, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences strongly influence what we feel. So if we can manage to modify our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, then we can release our feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression and change them for a more positive state of being.

Since the beginning of time, people have tried methods that would allow them to get rid of stress. The pharmaceutical industry seems to have a drug for everything. And to that end the industry has created a wide array of anxiolytics from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to use drugs for relief, please be sure to read the fine print and learn about the side effects, which most of the time include addiction and dependency. Indeed these types of drugs try to treat the symptoms, but not the cause. So if one stops taking them, the symptoms can come back.

A more intelligent method to get rid of tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on its actual cause, which as I said previously, is usually our thought processes. There is the good news. Hypnosis is all about relaxing. The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective method of treating stress and stress related symptoms. However unlike pills, there are totally no bad side effects.

Hypnosis is the Alpha level of consciousness. It is the daydream like temporary psychological frame of mind that we experience as we're about to fall asleep in the evening. And we experience it once more as we awaken in the morning. There are many different ways that will help us guide ourselves into this relaxed mood, from step-by-step relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD's.

Once in the hypnotic state, we can interact with our unconscious mind, which is the center of our emotions. And it becomes easier to acknowledge new ideas and points of view that can help us to get rid of anxiety, or even avoid it in the first place.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP, which is a new kind of hypnosis, has many great methods for dissipating stress. Maybe the most effective technique is called the "swish" pattern - or the "flash" pattern. When you use the "flash" pattern, your unconscious will automatically use bad, stress producing mental images, to generate relaxation producing mental images. In other words, what usually makes you feel stress will automatically make you feel more relaxed!

TO SUM THINGS UP

Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be caused by our thoughts. So by changing our attitude and the way we feel about our situation and what we have experienced, we can get rid of these feelings at the root. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that make it possible to change our attitude and point of view to rapidly get rid of the root cause of our negative feelings.