{"id":2029,"date":"2017-10-24T15:28:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T15:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hypnotc.com\/?p=2029"},"modified":"2022-09-14T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T13:07:11","slug":"stress-awareness-hypnotherapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hypnotc.com\/stress-awareness-hypnotherapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress awareness and hypnotherapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you stressed? How do you know if you are (or if you are not)? Do other people know before you? Sometimes it can be useful to take a moment or two and just check how you are feeling. What better time, perhaps, than International Stress Awareness Day on 1st<\/sup> November<\/strong>. Now, some stress can be helpful; it can be motivating, it gets us out of bed in the morning, gives that presentation extra sparkle or energy. At some point, \u2018positive\u2019 or helpful stress, can tip over into \u2018negative\u2019 or unhelpful stress. One definition for this type of stress is \u2018where the demands placed upon us, exceed our ability to cope\u2019. This tipping point from helpful to unhelpful will occur at a different point for each of us.\u00a0 Some people thrive on \u2018high pressure\u2019 lifestyles, for others, it is exhausting and limiting. Our experience when we are \u2018stressed\u2019 will be different for each of us as well. It is likely to be a combination of mind and body effects, and some will be noticed earlier than others.<\/p>\n

What is your \u2018early warning\u2019 that you are getting overloaded? Sadly, some of the psychological signs of stress can actually contribute to our overload, as they have an impact upon our ability to get things done. An inability to concentrate or make simple decisions, or being easily distracted from our focus and feeling less able to be intuitive or creative can make whatever our jobs or chores are, even more difficult, particularly where there is poor sleep quality too. There can also be unhelpful negative thinking and excessive worry, for some this can develop into anxiety, depression or both.<\/p>\n

Alongside the psychological signs, are perhaps the more visible emotional indications of stress. When you are stressed, do you get angry, irritable, tearful or defensive (outward indications)? Or perhaps it is more internal, with a reduction in confidence, self-esteem, self-control or your ability to cope with criticism. As if the mental aspects of stress weren\u2019t enough, you may also become aware of some physical symptoms. Muscle tension is one of the most common ones. You might not even notice how tense your shoulders have become\u2026<\/p>\n

\"stress<\/p>\n

A quick exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sit upright in a chair, or stand with your feet at hips\u2019 width apart and balanced (not leaning against anything). Notice your shoulders. Take a deep breath in and, as you do so, bring your shoulders up to your ears. Then, rapidly drop your shoulders as you slowly breath out. Notice the difference in your shoulders now… (repeat, if you like)<\/p>\n

As well as muscle tension and the potential aches and pains, or tiredness, your body may communicate that stress in other ways, as each body system deals with the pressure in its own way. Some people experience skin irritations, for others, it is digestive disturbances or high blood pressure. The immune system may also reflect the stress, so a heightened allergic response or more frequent colds or infections, or slow healing.<\/p>\n

Whether mind or body precursors, at some point, inward experiences of stress can lead to external signs. Do you withdraw when stressed or anxious? Reduce your social or relaxation time? Do your relationships with loved ones and friends suffer? Your personality can become a different reflection of you; whether uncharacteristically nervous or anxious (where normally confident), or aggressive (where usually controlled), distracted (instead of focused), etc.\u00a0 You may even develop coping or self-soothing strategies, that whilst initially may seem helpful, can be damaging short or long-term, such as smoking, caffeine, alcohol or even recreational drugs.<\/p>\n

Even if the primary cause of your stress isn\u2019t work related, the psychological effects of stress can impact on your work, especially with regards to time management and decision making. Despite working longer and longer hours, you may be doing so less efficiently, or to a lower standard; simply not even noticing errors that would be blatantly obvious if you were not overloaded.<\/p>\n

If you are stressed, it can be difficult to be objective, so a questionnaire can be a useful way of getting some clues as to what your present experience is. Using a stress questionnaire can be helpful, as it may ask questions about topics that you may not have yet considered (or are deliberately avoiding thinking about!). There are a vast number of stress questionnaires, such as the one by the International Stress Management Association:<\/p>\n

\"isma<\/p>\n

http:\/\/isma.org.uk\/pdf\/free\/Stress-Questionnaire.pdf
\n[CLICK TO OPEN \/ DOWNLOAD]<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, perhaps some of this has started to resonate with you, and you might be thinking; \u201cah, perhaps I am a little stressed\u201d\u2026 that’s a step in the right direction, however \u2018knowing\u2019 is just awareness that there is (or could be) a problem, what really matters is \u2018doing\u2019. The first step is to look at your life and consider what each component of it brings to you. The life assessment scale (below) can help give you an indication of where you are at.<\/p>\n

Life Assessment Scale<\/strong><\/p>\n

For each box, add in your score of how pressured you are in your day-to-day life. Insert a score from -10<\/strong><\/span> (completely pressured) to +10<\/strong><\/span> (completely comfortable \/ at ease) for each box (with 0<\/strong><\/span> for neutral). The maximum score (either +<\/span> <\/strong>\/ –<\/span><\/strong>) is 120… This can give you some useful insight on where you might like to start to focus your attentions.<\/p>\n

\"stress<\/p>\n

With an awareness of your ‘primary areas’ for focus, the first step, for many, can be to acknowledge your needs. It is great that you are there for others, yet if you don\u2019t take care of you first, then you won\u2019t be able to help others. This is the ideal moment, to put yourself first!<\/p>\n

When you are stressed, many people are tempted to cut corners in their own self-care; whether it is eating junk food to save time, or cutting down on exercise because they are too busy working or simply too tired. Yet, when you are stressed, your body needs even better care to be taken of it, so that it can support you through demanding times. Now is the time to look at your diet and lifestyle and notice what you can to better support the demands on your body. For some, this is eating healthily (and at appropriate times!), for others, it is ensuring that there is consistently sufficient time allocated for sleeping, or simply relaxation time. There are a vast number of resources available on the internet to teach time management skills. A Google search of \u2018time management tips\u2019 came back with over 28 million results!<\/p>\n

Getting a balance in your life will enhance your resilience and enable you to cope better with natural demands placed upon you. When you allow yourself to start to mentally and physically unwind, you will be able to start to prioritise your commitments and the demands placed upon you.\u00a0 This is the time when you can start to use \u2018no\u2019 instead of automatically saying \u2018yes\u2019 to every demand, reviewing your commitments and sharing or delegating tasks, chores and activities where possible.<\/p>\n

When we are stressed, one of the most common things we do is ignore or put off the (perceived) harder tasks and do the easy ones.\u00a0 However, by delaying the urgent or important tasks, they can become even more crucial and lead to additional pressure.\u00a0 If you ignore doing the laundry because it is too much effort, at some point there will be a family underwear crisis! Yet, some of the insignificant tasks that were completed because they were easy, can be postponed, or even eliminated… Here’s a great metaphor for time management:<\/p>\n