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Stress and Anxiety in the Current Economic Situation
6th December 2008
We are all familiar with the term "stress" and in the current economic situation, more people than ever are experiencing higher levels of stress. A recent report compiled by the Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing (July 2006 - October 2008) is one of the first to highlight a strong link between debt and mental illness and calls on banks, credit card and utility companies to be aware that indebted customers may be suffering from mental health problems. Around 50% of people in debt in Britain have a mental illness, compared with 16% of the wider population.

A little stress over a short period of time can be motivating, inspiring and create high levels of productivity in an individual. However, if stress is allowed to reach high levels over a long period of time, then this will result in an impaired mental capacity, a depressed immune system leading to ill health and psychological and emotional problems. Anyone who has experienced stress, will be familiar with symptoms such as anxiety, panicky feelings, changes in bodily temperature, headaches, forgetfulness, tiredness, loneliness despair and depression - to name but a few.

Despite the term "stress" having been around since 1936 when it was first coined by the Hungarian biologist Hans Selye, there is still a taboo surrounding the concept of stress and people often suffer in silence hoping that the symptoms will simply go away.

Interestingly, because English was not Selye's first language, the word he chose ie "stress" he later admitted hadn't been the word he meant to use, but rather the translation should have been closer to "strain".

This is more than of linguistic interest, because the word "stress" refers to the external pressures having an effect on the individual whereas, "strain" refers to the internal ability to respond, which is closer to what Selye intended. In other words external forces are not the cause of stress, but it is the way we respond to those external forces that is important.

This distinction is important also because it affects our attitute towards stress. Clearly, there is some comfort in believing that the problem lies outside of us, be it a situation at work, a relationship, the economic situation, even a reaction to a particular thing - commonly referred to as a phobia. If we believe the cause of our symptoms is due to external pressures, then it removes any sense of personal responsibiliy and awareness that there is something wrong internally.

This in turn affects the way stress is treated which, largely, focuses on trying to deflect or minimise the impact of the external pressure. Doctors prescribe drugs to reduce the symptoms; therapies, such as CBT and NLP advise changing the way you behave towards or think about your problem. However, these are all short-term solutions and while they can bring some relief, there is every likelihood that the symptoms will reappear.

This is because whenever an individual feels threatened then the "stress" response will be triggered. This response, also known as the "fight or flight" response, produces huge amounts of the chemicals adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol which produce the symptoms that we associate with the term "stress". It stands to reason, that while an individual can achieve a temporary relief with drugs or avoidance of the situation, the next time they encounter this "threat", the same symptoms will reappear.

However, if we accept that the cause of the symptoms is internal and lies in our own negative response rather than the external pressure, then it would be far wiser to find the cause of the negative response, and insodoing remove the symptoms permanently.

Hypnoanalysis, as practised by Elaine, is a unique therapy which seeks to find the source of the negative response to external pressures and once found, the individual can expect to be permanently free of all symptoms.

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Elaine Barker-Miles	Tel: 01954 210744
	Tel: 01954 210297