STRESS, DISEASE,
AND THE POWER OF THE MIND
Trevor Eddolls looks at its impact on the body and the control we possess
W
e all know what stress is and we, at least,
sometimes claim to su?er from it. But what
is stress really, and how does it impact
on the body? Where does illness ?t in? And how can
hypnotherapy help?
WHAT IS STRESS?
So what is stress? Wikipedia suggests that stress is
the failure of an organism to respond appropriately
to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or
imagined. [i]
It’s worth noting that according to transactional theory,
[ii] anything has the potential to be a stressor and cause
an individual to experience stress. It all depends on how
that person interprets the stressor and the meaning they
give to it. And, it can surprise some people to realise
that not all events stress all people equally. Like me, you
probably ?nd that ?ts very nicely with what you’ve been
telling clients: “Although we cannot necessarily control
the events in our lives, we can control our response to
those events. The events themselves don’t cause us to
become depressed, stressed, angry, etc. It is for this very
reason that learning to change our thinking habits can
have such an incredible e?ect on our lives.”
We also know that using the right pre-frontal cortex
to negatively introspect on past events and to negatively
predict future events can add to the amount of stress
that we feel.
The most common physical symptom of stress is
headache caused by people tensing their neck, forehead,
and shoulder muscles. Longer-term stress can lead
to digestive problems, insomnia, fatigue, high blood
pressure, nervousness and excessive sweating, heart
disease, strokes and even hair loss. Emotional responses
to stress include anxiety, anger, depression, irritability,
frustration, over-reaction to everyday problems,
memory loss and a lack of concentration. Psychological
responses include withdrawal from society, phobias,
compulsive behaviours, eating disorders and night
terrors [iii].
It’s important to recognise that not all stress is necessarily
bad. For example, Selye [iv] (1975) published an article
entitled “Confus ???????????????????????????)?????????????()!??????????Q??????((