More than ever, scientific research is attesting the primary role of stress in triggering or aggravating different psychological and physical afflictions. A headline from a 1983 Time Magazine labeled stress "The Epidemic of the Eighties." The journalist also said that stress is our prominent health issue. Indeed one has to acknowledge that our world has become a lot more complicated and stressful in the last twenty-five years since that article was published. Numerous surveys indicate that most adults feel that they are subject to a lot of stress. Authorities in the field estimate that around 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related issues. Most adults say their stress is for the most part due to their job. Stress levels have also increased in children as well as the senior population for reasons including: Peer pressures that often push people to everything from smoking to alcoholism and drug abuse; the wearing away of religion and family values; increased crime rates; threats to personal safety; but also social isolation and loneliness. Stress can cause and aggravate problems such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. This is due to the augmented sympathetic nervous system activity as well as a flood of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress is corollary of lower immune system resistance. Stress can cause anxiety, depression, and its varied impacts on one's organs. "Stress" is defined as follows by the American Heritage Dictionary: "To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain" The same dictionary defines "tension" as follows: "Mental, emotional, or nervous strain" The word "anxiety" is defined 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 definition is given for "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. To put it into different words, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences dictate what we feel. So if we can learn to change our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, then we can get rid of our stress, anxiety, and depression and attain a more positive state of being. Since the beginning of time, people have tried methods for eliminating stress. The pharmaceutical industry seems to have a drug for everything. And to that end the industry has produced a large line of anxiolytics from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to use these pills for relief, please be sure to pay attention to the fine print and learn about the side effects, which commonly include addiction and dependency. Indeed these kinds of drugs aim at curing the symptoms, rather than the cause. So as soon as one stops taking them, the symptoms can return. A smarter way of eliminating tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to try to cure the root cause, which as I wrote before, is most often our thought processes. There is good news. The basis of hypnosis is relaxation. The AMA recognized hypnosis in 1958 as an effective way to cure stress and stress related symptoms. However unlike pills, there are categorically no negative side effects. Hypnosis is the Alpha level of consciousness. It's the daydream like temporary psychological mindset which we pass through as we are just about to fall asleep at night. And we pass through it again when we wake up again. There are many different ways that will help us guide ourselves into this condition of tranquility, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD's. Once we enter the hypnotic state, we are able to interact with our unconscious mind, which is the center of our emotions. And one can more easily accept new ideas and points of view which will help us to reduce anxiety, or even avoid it completely. Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP, which is a recent type of hypnosis, offers numerous really good methods for getting rid of stress. Maybe the most effective technique is called the "swish" pattern - or the "flash" pattern. After using this technique, your unconscious will automatically use bad, stress triggering mental images, to generate relaxation producing mental images. Otherwise stated, what generally makes you feel stress will now make you feel more relaxed! TO SUM UP Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be caused by our thoughts. So by changing our attitude and the way we perceive our situation and our experiences, we can reduce these feelings at the source. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that we can use to help us change our attitude and point of view to swiftly reduce the source of these negative feelings.