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| Welcome | How it feels | What We Treat | Stress | Anxiety | Pain | Cancer |
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Stress – The Invisible Killer Stress and stress related illnesses are responsible for more absenteeism than any other cause, costing businesses billions of pounds every year. Estimates from the 2005/2006 survey of Self-reported Work-related Illnesses (SWI05/06) indicate that self-reported work related stress, depression or anxiety account for an estimated 10.5 million reported lost working days per year in Britain. A new survey by the Samaritans (January 2007) suggests more than a fifth of people in Yorkshire feel suicidal when they are stressed, higher than any other region in the UK. The same study suggested around a third of people in our region choose to drink to relieve stress and that a fifth of us feel stressed every single day. More than half of the people in Yorkshire are more stressed than they were five years ago. High percentages find stress disrupts sleep and makes them irritable. Many say their sex lives suffer and they have more arguments with their partners So what causes stress? The main reasons are excesses and change. This can be unpleasant things such as work pressures, targets to be met, forms to fill in, doing two people’s jobs, uncertainty, redundancy, nagging partner, family pressures, divorce or bereavement as well as enjoyable things such as holidays, promotion or the arrival of a new baby. The SWI05/06 indicated that around 420000 individuals in Britain believed in 04/05 that they were experiencing work-related stress at a level that was making them ill. But most people don’t even recognise the above situations as stress producing. To understand the effects stress has on the mind and body imagine that each stress producing event is equivalent to a ten pound weight on your head and even when the event is over, a residual one pound weight often remains. Eventually, after many stressful events, you are left with ten pounds weighing heavily upon you. This feels the same as a stressful event but there isn’t one, so you become more and more anxious. This causes imbalance in the way you think, feel, react and behave and causes your whole mind and body to become inefficient. Most people do not even notice this stress and tension building up inside – it’s rather like pumping up a car tyre but ignoring the pressure gauge. Sooner or later the tyre will burst. Often the first time it is noticed is when one wakes up, panic stricken, in the middle of the night with violent chest pains, palpitations, throbbing head and neck pains, a feeling like your colon is being wrung out like a cloth. So you rush to A&E or call out an emergency doctor and soon find out its ‘only stress’. It is well known that we are more prone to catching colds and infections when we are stressed but problems we never considered to be related to stress can manifest themselves. Symptoms like unidentified pain, occasional blurred vision, impotency, agitation, skin problems, malaise, headaches, anxiety and lack of drive, motivation and enthusiasm. This is because our immune system is overloaded with problems caused by tension and stress and can’t cope. It is thought that a compromised immune system may make us more susceptible to many diseases, some of which may cause premature death, including cancer, heart attacks and strokes. So what can be done to release this accumulation of tension and stress and boost the immune system? Imagine the whole mind and body rather like a factory. The conscious mind is like the owner, in the office. He knows how he wants his work force to behave, but is having trouble communicating with them. The workers represent your subconscious mind. Most treatments such as counselling can only work on the conscious mind so, after counselling, the owner is not stressed, but the workers are! An experienced hypnotherapist like Dr Vernon Sykes is able to access the subconscious mind (the workers) and release tension and stress. He will sort things out physically, mentally and emotionally, boost the immune system and get things on an even keel. Many companies are beginning to realise the financial burden stress is causing and taking advantage of schemes where the firm funds or subsidises therapy for their employees immediately stress is noticed and/or organising group therapy at the firms premises for all those in vulnerable positions, thus avoiding the condition arising and loss of working hours. Self mind and body management (a sophisticated, dynamic form of self hypnosis) is taught as part of the course, to be used daily in order to release stress and maintain well being. Hypnotherapy is useful for treating many other problems such as fears and phobias, panic attacks, anxiety, weight problems, impotence, insomnia, migraine, smoking, PMT, pain, IBS, depression, asthma, arthritis, ME and confidence issues. Dr Vernon Sykes is a psychotherapist and a Senior Clinician for the National Council of Hypnotherapy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Health, and a member of the International Stress Management Association, and formerly at Leeds General Infirmary. His rooms are at 3, Troy Road, Morley. For more information on Hypnotherapy please call 0113 253 3494 or visit www.sykeshypnoclinic.com.
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