A Brief on Stress Management
Have you ever wondered whether Stress management might be the answer to your problems? We are all aware that stress can be a killer. What most people don’t realise is that there are effectively two types of stress – negative and positive.
Negative stress occurs primarily when a person feels on some level, that they are not totally in control of their situation and they experience various sensations of discomfort – in mind, body or emotions as a result. The person may or may not be consciously aware of this lack of control.
These states of discomfort are due in part to a state of hyper-adrenalisation – the adrenal glands pump out adrenaline to combat a perceived threat. In the past, the adrenaline response served humans very well since this was what enabled us to survive – the so-called “fight or flight syndrome”.
Nowadays, however, we are not actually being confronted by enormous sabre toothed tigers and so our hyper-adrenalisation is a response which is out of proportion to the stimulus. In addition, we don’t utilise the adrenaline by fighting or fleeing – and this is what leads to these negative sensations of stress.
One other important characteristic of negative stress is that it does not seem to have a finite ending. The situation seems to go on and on unrelentlessly.
Positive stress is also a state of hyper-adrenalisation but it is characterised as being a short-lived state that we perceive has a finite end. Let’s say that you had an ambition to do a parachute jump. Parachuting is a good example of positive stress in that we chose to do it. We know that it has a finite end and we are probably quite excited about the prospect of the jump.
Studies have shown that people who subject themselves to positive stress experience are more healthy on all levels and are also less likely to suffer from negative stress than other people who don’t experience these.
Conversely those who are subject to the unrelenting effects of negative stress are more likely to fall ill on all levels – mental, emotional and physical.
Stress Management, which often incorporates hypnotherapy, is a form of psychotherapy which helps people to find solutions to problems which they may face in the work place or in social occasions.
The stress management therapist will help that person to find out the best strategy for dealing with those life experiences and issues that cause the most negative stress. A strategy will be devised and the therapist will assist the person to implement it in a positive manner.
The therapist often uses hypnotherapeutic techniques and many of these techniques are also taught to the person who is seeking help. This is called auto-hypnosis. Many people are concerned when they find out that stress management uses hypnosis and altered states of mind to achieve a therapeutic end result.
Hypnosis is a much-misunderstood form of therapy and there are many myths surrounding this highly valuable form of treatment. Most of us have only seen the stage or television hypnotist who seems to be able to get people to do things against their will, it is as if he exerts some kind of control over them.
In fact, this is not the case at all as we shall see. It is important to remember that the stage hypnotist very carefully primes his ‘victims’ before they are allowed on stage. He is very selective and only chooses people who exhibit a strong desire to go up on stage and be hypnotised.
Don’t forget that these people all are aware that stage hypnotism acts are usually outrageous and that they will be required to perform some unusual act or other.
By ivycares.net, shanghai massage specialist.
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