Now more than ever, scientific studies are confirming the primary responsibility of stress in causing and aggravating several physical and emotional disorders. An article in a 1983 issue of Time Magazine labeled stress "The Epidemic of the Eighties." It also declared that stress is our prominent health issue. And there is no doubt whatsoever that today's world has become a lot more complex and stressful in the last 25 years since that article was published.

Many surveys show that almost everybody perceives themselves as being subject to a lot of stress. Researchers in the field estimate that 75 - 90 percent of the visits to PCPs (Primary Care Physicians) somehow have to do with stress.

Most people claim that their job is the main reason of their stress. Stress levels have also increased in children as well as the elderly population for reasons including: Peer pressures that often push people to everything from smoking to alcoholism and drug abuse; the dissolution of family and religious values and ties; increased crime rates; threats to personal security; as well as social isolation and loneliness.

Stress contributes to problems such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, hypertension, strokes and heart attacks. This is because of the ever growing sympathetic nervous system activity along with the release of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress has been associated with lower immune system resistance. Stress can be responsible for anxiety, depression, and its varied impacts on one's organs.

The following definition for "stress" can be found in the American Heritage Dictionary: "To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain"

The following is the definition of "tension" from the same dictionary: "Mental, emotional, or nervous strain"

It defines "anxiety" as follows: "A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties"

And the following is the definition of "depression": "The condition of feeling sad or despondent"

The following is the definition of "clinical depression": "A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death."

What we can be sure of is that our thoughts are the first cause of our experience of stress, anxiety and depression. Put differently, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences strongly influence our feelings. So if we can manage to alter our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, then we can be relieved of our feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression and change them for a more positive state of being.

Since the beginning of time, people have looked for methods that would allow them to eliminate stress. The pharmaceutical industry seems to have a drug for everything. And to that end the industry has produced a large line of sedatives from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to use drugs for relief, please be sure to be aware of the side-effects by reading the fine print, which usually are, among others, addiction and dependency. Indeed these types of drugs attempt to treat the symptoms, but not the cause. So as soon as one stops taking them, the symptoms can return.

A finer way of eliminating tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on its actual cause, which as I said above, is usually our thought processes. There is some good news. Hypnosis is all about relaxation. The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective method of treating stress and stress related symptoms. And unlike anxiolytics, there are categorically no undesirable side effects.

When you are in hypnosis, you are in the Alpha level of consciousness. It is the daydream like temporary psychological mindset which we feel as we are about to fall asleep at night. And we feel it once more as we wake up in the morning. There are a lot of different ways that will help us guide ourselves into this relaxed mood, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD's.

Once in a hypnotic state, we are able to communicate with our unconscious mind, which is the seat of our emotions. And one can more easily accept new ideas and points of view that can help us to eliminate anxiety, or even avoid it completely.

NLP, which is a recently developed form of hypnosis, has various excellent methods for eliminating stress. Perhaps the most effective technique is called the "swish" pattern - or the "flash" pattern. When you use this method, your unconscious will automatically use bad, stress producing mental images, to generate relaxing mental images. Otherwise stated, what commonly makes you feel stress will automatically make you feel more relaxed!

TO SUM THINGS UP Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be triggered by our thoughts. So if we change our attitude and the way we perceive our situation and what we've experienced, we can eliminate these feelings at the root. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that we can use to help us change our attitude and point of view to swiftly eliminate the source of these negative feelings.

Alan B. Densky is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He offers a complete line of stress management hypnotherapy CDs, and advanced stress reduction CDs through his Neuro-VISION hypnotism website. You can visit his self hypnosis blog, and download a free MP3.