Many people use the words “stress” and “anxiety” interchangeably, but they are in fact two separate conditions. Stress is a reaction to a stimulus, either external or internal. You may experience stress when you are frustrated with something (like waiting in line behind a slow person) or when you are worried that you will not meet expectations (such as missing a deadline).
Anxiety, on the other hand, is a sense of dread, or nervousness and fear. It can be caused by negative thoughts and expectations, or as a response to stress. You may feel anxious virtually all of the time and not understand why, or your feelings may be a response to something you are nervous about, such as an upcoming test.
Abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain can cause generalized anxiety. Some studies show that anxiety can be brought on genetically. Anxiety can also be induced environmentally, as when a child whose father or mother is often anxious learns to be an anxious person by observing the parent. But very often the root cause of anxiety is simply the thoughts in a person’s mind!
Anxiety and stress are subjective conditions. Different people may feel stressed about different situations, and different people may react to their anxiousness in extremely different ways. Symptoms of anxiety can range from the mild, such as sweaty hands and tense muscles, to the severe, such as vomiting, anxiety attacks, and irregular heartbeat.
Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety from time to time. All of us have felt the dry mouth and vague sense of dread before an exam or public speaking engagement. But when does it become harmful to your health? Research has revealed that prolonged anxiety can make us vulnerable to sleep disorders, depression, relationship problems, and high blood pressure
For sufferers of long-term untreated anxiety, there may be detrimental health consequences that have yet to be fully examined. Many studies have found a link between chronic anxiety and a variety of serious health conditions including cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, arthritis, and thyroid disease. Chronically anxious people may even be more likely to suffer a fatal cardiac attack.
If you experience what seems like a disproportionately high amount of anxiety relative to the circumstances, or if you feel anxious nearly every day, you may actually have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are chronic conditions characterized by an inability to function normally because of frequent anxiety. Anxiety disorders are serious conditions that should be treated to reduce the risk of long-term effects.
Anxiety treatment has long been the subject of much debate in the medical field. Some medical professionals believe that medication is the best method to handle chronic anxiety. However, anti-anxiety medications often produce serious side effects that are just as bad or even worse than the initial condition.
There are plenty of natural ways to handle negative emotional reactions. Exercise is an often overlooked option, but it is extremely effective. Exercise causes your body to release endorphins, which are natural pain-killing and mood-boosting chemicals. With regular exercise, you may start to feel a dramatic decrease in negative emotional responses to situations that would previously have made you extremely anxious.
The most effective way to manage worry and tension is to control it from within. Stress management and stress relief techniques are very useful in managing day to day stress. These techniques can teach you to calm yourself and relieve your tension. You make a conscious effort to slow your breathing, release the tension, and remain in a peaceful state of mind. Meditation is an increasingly popular form of tension management in which you focus on mindful relaxation and deep, calm breathing.
However, if you are seeking a proactive way to relieve yourself of anxiety, hypnotherapy is by far the best treatment option. When an individual undergoes hypnotherapy, their reactions and emotional responses to events are changed at the core. This permits them to cope with anxiety-inducing triggers without the typical fear and nervousness.
Hypnosis is often performed by a licensed hypnotherapist in a series of regular sessions. More commonly today, hypnotherapy takes the form of self hypnosis programs which can be purchased in the form of DVDs, CDs, or MP3s for individual home use. No special skills are necessary to practice self hypnosis. All that you need is a device to play the hypnotherapy program and a quiet space where you can relax and listen.
Another very successful type of anxiety treatment is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. NLP is a type of therapy that helps you condition your body and mind to naturally react to situations in a more positive manner. You can consciously decide to be calm rather than anxious, and consequently, you always maintain control over your own emotions.
In summary, you can see that it is important to manage our negative emotional responses in order to remain healthy. Understanding how to cope with fear and nervousness may even extend your life. To treat chronic anxiety, the best course of action is to participate in hypnotherapy to change your attitudes and reactions at the core. Then, practice stress management techniques as needed to stay calm in everyday situations.
Alan B. Densky is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He offers a complete line of anxiety reduction NLP CDs, and advanced anxiety elimination CDs through his Neuro-VISION self hypnosis website. You can visit his self hypnosis blog, and download a free MP3.