Although many people tend to use the words stress and anxiety interchangeably, they are actually two distinct conditions. Stress is a response to a stimulus, which can be external or internal. You may feel stress when you feel frustrated with something (like waiting in line behind a slow person) or when you worry that you won’t meet expectations (such as missing a deadline at work).

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a sense of fear and nervousness or even dread. It can be caused by negative expectations and thoughts, or as a reaction to stress. You may feel anxious virtually all of the time and not know why, or your feelings may be a response to something you are nervous about, such as an upcoming business trip.

Abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain can cause generalized anxiety. Some studies show that anxiety can be brought on by genetics. In addition, anxiety can be induced environmentally, as when the child of a parent who is often anxious becomes an anxious person by observing the parent. But frequently, the root cause of anxiety is simply the thoughts that a person is thinking!

Anxiety and stress are subjective conditions. Different people may feel stressed about different situations, and different people may respond to their anxiousness in extremely different ways. Symptoms of anxiety can range from the mild, such as tense muscles and sweaty hands, to the severe, such as irregular heartbeat, vomiting, and anxiety attacks.

Everyone feels some amount of anxiety from time to time. We have all experienced the dry mouth and vague sense of dread before an exam or public speaking engagement. But when does it become damaging to your health? Research has shown that prolonged anxiety can make us vulnerable to sleep disorders, depression, relationship problems, and high blood pressure

For sufferers of long-term untreated anxiety, there can be negative health consequences that have yet to be fully identified. Many studies have found a link between chronic anxiety and a variety of serious health conditions including cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, arthritis, and thyroid disease. Chronically anxious people may even be more likely to suffer a fatal cardiac attack.

If you experience what seems like an inappropriately high amount of anxiety relative to the situation, or if you feel anxious nearly every day, you may actually have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are chronic conditions characterized by one’s inability to function normally because of frequent anxiety. Anxiety disorders are serious conditions that should be treated to lower the risk of long-term negative health effects.

Anxiety treatment has long been the subject of much debate in the medical field. Some medical professionals believe that medication is the best way to handle chronic anxiety. However, anti-anxiety medications often produce side effects that are just as bad or even worse than the initial condition.

There are plenty of natural, non-invasive ways to control negative emotional responses. Exercise is one that is often overlooked by anxious people, but it is highly effective. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which are natural mood-boosting and pain-killing chemicals. With regular exercise, you may begin to experience a dramatic decrease in negative emotional responses to situations that would previously have made you extremely anxious.

The best way to manage worry and tension is to control it from within. Stress management and stress relief techniques are very useful in handling day-to-day stress. These techniques can teach you to calm yourself and relieve your tension. You make a conscious effort to slow your rate of breathing, release the worry, and remain in a calm state of mind. Meditation is a fantastic form of tension control in which you practice mindful relaxation and deep, calming breathing.

However, if you want a proactive solution to free yourself of anxiety, hypnotherapy is the best treatment option. When an individual undergoes hypnotherapy, their emotional responses and reactions to events are changed at the core. This gives them the opportunity to cope with anxiety-inducing triggers without the typical feelings of fear and nervousness.

Hypnosis is often performed by a licensed hypnotherapist in a series of regular treatments. More commonly today, hypnosis can be learned from self hypnosis programs which can be purchased in the form of MP3s, CDs, or DVDs for personal home use. No special skills are needed to practice self hypnosis. All you need is a way to play the hypnosis program and a quiet place where you can listen and relax.

Another successful method of anxiety treatment is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. NLP is a type of therapy that helps you condition your body and mind to naturally respond to situations in a more positive way. You can consciously decide to stay calm rather than anxious, meaning that you always have control over your own emotions.

In summary, you can see that it is very important to control our negative emotional responses in order to remain healthy. Mastering techniques to cope with nervousness and fear may even add years onto your life. To treat chronic anxiety, the best treatment option to follow is to participate in hypnotherapy to change your reactions and attitudes from within. Then, it becomes easy to use stress management techniques as necessary to remain calm in everyday situations.