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More than ever before scientific investigations are confirming the essential role of stress in triggering or aggravating various physical and emotional afflictions. An article from a 1983 Time Magazine described stress as "The Epidemic of the Eighties." The journalist also declared that stress is our prominent health issue. Indeed there is very little doubt that our world has become more and more complex and stressful over the last two decades since that article was published.

Many surveys indicate that almost everybody perceives themselves as being subject to a great deal of stress. Researchers in this domain estimate that between 75 and 90 percent of the visits to PCPs (Primary Care Physicians) are related to stress.

Most people claim their stress is primarily due to their job. And stress levels have also increased in children and the elderly population because of several reasons including: Peer pressures that often lead to everything from smoking to drug and alcohol abuse; the wearing away of religion and family values; growing crime rates; threats to personal safety; as well as social isolation and loneliness.

Stress can be responsible for conditions such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, hypertension, strokes and heart attacks. This is because of the ever growing sympathetic nervous system activity along with a flood of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress is often associated with impaired immune system resistance. Stress can cause anxiety, depression, and its numerous effects on one'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 is the definition of "tension" from the same dictionary: "Mental, emotional, or nervous strain"

The following is the definition of "anxiety": "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"

The following definition is given for "clinical depression": "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."

One thing is for sure, our mind is the chief reason for our experience of stress, anxiety and depression. We could also say that, what we think about, and our attitudes and the way we view our experiences dictate our feelings. That way, if we can find a way to change our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, then we can release our stress, anxiety, and depression and attain a more positive state of being.

People have always looked for methods that would allow them to release stress. With the pharmaceutical industry there seems to be a pill for everything. For that the industry has designed a large array of tranquilizers from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to use these pills for relief, please be sure to be aware of the side-effects by reading the fine print, which most of the time include addiction and dependency. Indeed these kinds of drugs try to treat the symptoms, instead of the cause. So when one stops taking them, the symptoms can come back.

A more appropriate method to get rid of tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on the root cause, which as I said previously, is most often our thought processes. There is some good news. Hypnosis is all about relaxing. The AMA recognized hypnosis in 1958 as an effective method of treating stress or stress related symptoms. But unlike pills, there are completely no bad side effects.

Hypnosis is the Alpha level of consciousness. It's the daydream like temporary psychological state which we pass through as we're about to fall asleep in the evening. And we pass through it once again when we wake up in the morning. There are a lot of different ways to guide ourselves into this relaxed mood, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD's.

Once in a hypnotic state, we are able to communicate with our unconscious mind, which is the center of our emotions. And it becomes easier to accept new ideas and points of view which will help us to reduce anxiety, or even prevent it from occurring in the first place.

NLP, which is a new type of hypnotherapy, has several great methods for eliminating stress. Perhaps the most effective technique is called the "swish" pattern - or the "flash" pattern. When you use this method, your unconscious will automatically use negative, stress producing mental pictures, as triggers for relaxing mental pictures. In other words, what usually makes you feel stress will automatically make you feel more relaxed!

TO SUM UP Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be activated by our thoughts. So if we change our attitude and the way we feel about our situation and what we have been through, we can reduce these feelings at the source. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that allow us to change our attitude and point of view to rapidly reduce the source of our negative feelings.