﻿ Stress Management Issues

Copyright© Jeff Dunbar 2020.  All Rights Reserved

Stress Related Issues





There are numerous signs and symptoms of GAD for example:

● Feelings of living on the edge of your seat

● An Inability to rest

● An impending sense of fear or dread

● Problems Concentrating

● Being quick tempered with friends and family

● Finding minor issues irritating

● Feelings of dizziness

● Difficulties in becoming motivated

● Prickly sensations like pins and needles

● Palpitations

● Muscle Fatigue

● Dry or Sticky mouth

● Sweating excessively

● Shortness of Breath

● Stomach Cramps

● Migraines

● Sleep patterns becoming interrupted

In more significant cases it is possible for your feelings of worry to become so significant that it become a “panic” which can be very alarming. Many people who suffer from a panic issue develop a sense that the panic could become so bad that it might lead to unconsciousness or even heart failure.


“Mild” Anxiety





“Strong” Anxiety


Fears and Phobias





It is important to recognize that Fears and Phobias may be mild or severe and that no two people suffer fears and phobias in the same way.

The most common Fears and Phobias that people look to Hypnotherapy to help with are:

● Spiders

● Flying

● Public Speaking

● Dentists

● Needles

● Death or Dying

● Open Spaces

● Birds or other Animals

In fact, the list of Fears and Phobias is without end as people can actually have fears or phobias about ANYTHING. (There is even a Phobia of “Phobias” called “Phobophobia”).

Why are there so many Fears and Phobias?

That’s a good question! From our point of view we recognize that the object or experience that produces the phobic response is almost always a “substitute” for some other fear or worry that we “carry” around with us. In other words we are not actually frightened of the thing itself, but having something definitive for us to “label” as the thing that causes the fear helps us to make sense of the “hidden” fear within us.

For example, people who have a Fear of Flying are, in 98% of the cases, actually afraid of being “out of control”. It’s just a lot easier to call it “Fear of Flying” than to face the fact that you have a “control” issue in your life!



The possible causes of fears and phobias may be that:


2. You have some “trapped” or “unresolved” emotional trauma or experience in your past and this emotion seeks some way of being expressed, so your mind finds an outlet in a fear or phobia.


Hypnosis for Fears and Phobias

Clinical Hypnosis is probably what most people think of when they imagine going to a Hypnotherapist for help. The sessions normally involve using Hypnosis to help you to initially get into a very relaxed state.

Once in this “suggestible” state of Hypnosis we would then provide you with some carefully phrased positive suggestions and metaphors to help you to “re-frame” or think and feel differently about your fears and phobias. In most cases this has been the “standard” way of dealing with fears and phobias using Hypnosis for at least 100 years.

Analytical Hypnosis is designed to help you uncover (or recover) previously hidden or repressed experiences from your past that may be the original cause of the anxiety that you feel today and now label as your “phobia”.

By uncovering these hidden emotional experiences you will be able to make much more sense of your fears and phobias and it is our experience that following a successful course of analytical hypnotherapy that fears and phobias can be significantly reduced or even removed completely.


Often stress and worry symptoms can be part of an issue concerning a chronic or continued feeling of Depression.   We all go through spells of feeling down, but when you're depressed, you feel persistently sad for weeks or months rather than just a few days.

Some people still think that depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. This is NOT correct. Depression is a real illness with real symptoms, and it's not a sign of weakness or something you can 'snap out of' by 'pulling yourself together'. However, not everybody suffering Depression is affected in the same way and this has led to it being regarded as “just poor thinking”.


How do I know?


These can range from feelings of sadness and hopelessness to losing interest in the things you used to enjoy. You may feel tearful or experience Anxiety.

There can also be physical symptoms such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite or a loss of sex drive.

The severity of the symptoms varies from individual to individual. At its mildest, you may simply feel persistently low, while at its most severe, depression can make you feel suicidal and that life is no longer worth living.

It's important to seek help from your Doctor if you think you may be depressed.  Many people wait far too long before seeking help for depression, but it's best not to delay. The sooner you see a doctor, counsellor or therapist, the sooner you can be on your way to recovery.

Sometimes there may be a trigger for your depression. Life-changing events, such as bereavement, or losing your job or even having a baby, can bring it on and it must be remembered that some of the “depressive” feelings experienced following the loss of a close relative are perfectly normal.

People with a family history of depression are also more likely to experience depression themselves.

But you can also become depressed for no obvious reason.

The different Types of Depression:

Clinical Depression

A major depressive episode may have occurred when symptoms last for most of the day, nearly every day for at least two weeks. A symptom must either be 1) depressed mood or 2) a noticeable decrease in interest or pleasure in all or most activities.

At least four (or more) additional symptoms are normally present:

● significant weight loss / weight gain or decrease / increase in appetite

● difficulty sleeping or increase in sleeping

● excessive movement or slowing down associated with mental tension                    observed by others)

● fatigue or loss of energy

● feeling worthless or excessive guilt

● difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions

● repeatedly thinking about death or suicide, trying to attempt suicide or having a specific plan to commit suicide


Typically a nearly constant depressed mood for at least 2 years accompanied by at least two (or more) of the following:

● decrease or increase in eating

● difficulty sleeping or increase in sleeping

● low energy or fatigue

● low self-esteem

● difficulty concentrating or making decisions

● feeling hopeless

Symptoms do not generally occur for more than about two months at a time. This form of depression is described as having persistent but less severe symptoms than a “Major Depression”.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder includes periods of mania and depression and was once known as “manic depression”. The “cycling” between these two states can be rapid or only mania may be present without any depressive episodes.

A manic episode consists of a persistent elevated or irritable mood that is extreme, which lasts for at least a week. At least three (four if only irritable mood) other features are also usually experienced:

● inflated self-esteem

● decreased need for sleep

● more talkative than normal

● experiencing racing thoughts or ideas

● easily distracted

● increase in goal-oriented activity (work, school, social life)

● excessive involvement in potentially risky pleasurable behaviour (e.g. over spending, careless sexual activity)

Symptoms can be severe enough to warrant hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others or may even include psychotic features (e.g. hallucinations, delusions).

If you have experienced any of these more “severe” symptoms, I urge you, in the first instance, to discuss the matter with your Doctor.