According the Randstad Workmonitor report for the second quarter of 2015, 32% of Singapore employees can’t switch off from work even after office hours and during off days and holidays. This says a lot about the work related stress that office professionals are experiencing at the present.
Regus reported in a survey last year that 67% of office workers suffer from stress related illnesses. Also, 34% are not getting enough sleep due to work related anxieties.
Dr. Lim Boon Leng who is a psychiatrist at Gleneagales Medical Center raised a pressing concern about stress in an interview last year. According to him, we should not take burnout from work lightly. If not taken into precaution, burnout resulting from stress can result into depressive and anxiety disorders. Moreover, such disorders are accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts.
On a separate article, The Strait Times Singapore published that at the start of 2015, 50% of senior managers and business owners feel that they are under more pressure and experience greater stress than in the past couple of years.
The situation on work related stress in Singapore is reaching a critical level and more and more doctors are getting alarmed.
What is Stress?
With the pressing situation that we are experiencing, let’s get to know what stress is and how it affects the body.
Every change or demand that we encounter requires our body to respond or react. Some situations require our body to adjust as a means of response. Stress is the physical, mental and emotional responses to different demands that we face.
Effects of Stress on our Health
Let us understand how the body reacts based on experiences. Whenever we feel stressed, our body releases chemicals into the blood as a coping mechanism which gives us more energy and strength. This type of stress is in reaction to physical challenges which is good because it keeps us ready and alert to avert danger. Hence, positive stress.
Emotional, Mental and Physical Stress
If stress is a reaction to emotional and mental stimuli like office work or family problems and the stimuli is continuous, the body reacts continuously as well and hence, the stress is continuous. Without a chance to relax or get relief from the chemical reactions brought about by stress, the body gets worn-out and tension starts to build
From Stress to Distress
Distress is a condition when the body suffers from continuous stress. This negative stress reaction may lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, elevated blood pressure, indigestion problems, chest pains, and sleep disorders. High levels of stress according to certain studies can even worsen certain symptoms of some diseases.
Symptoms of Stress
Physical
In order to adjust to demanding situations, our body releases “fight” and “flight” chemicals to produce the needed strength and energy.
Noradrenaline and Adrenaline work on increases your heart rate and blood pressure as well as level of sweats secretion to make you more active, aware and cautious. This is a survival mode type of chemical which is why it reduces stomach activity and blood flow to the skin.
Cortisol, on the other hand, releases sugar and fat for more energy but lowers down the immune system in the process.
Both processes either make you able to fight or run away. These bodily reactions are best for physically demanding situations.
Not all causes of stress are physical challenges, though. Imagine you are working in your office and your boss is expecting a full detailed annual report, or you are stuck in traffic with 3 days’ worth of tasks that you need to finish before the day ends. In both situations, your mind and body are stressed out the extra boost of energy will not help at all.
What’s worse in both situations is that the effects of chemical changes in the body do not help as well. Indigestion problems, high blood pressure, and extreme perspiration will not help but only make it more difficult for you to cope with the situation.
Imagine this happens on a daily basis. Imagine what it can do to your heart, digestive system and skin.
Emotional
Facing demanding situations cause you to experience various feelings. Fear, anger, frustration, anxiety, depression, sadness, jealousy, and a whole lot more of negative feelings and thoughts do not just affect you but feed on each other to add more stress. Emotions are caused by chemical changes in the body.
This means that the more you delve deeper into negative emotions, the more chemical reactions occur which not just affect your behavior, but alter you bodily processes as well.
Behavioral
With varying emotional and physical reactions to stress, it is not far off that stress can change your behavior as well. With the hype that your body is feeling sleep deprivation is not uncommon. A person who lacks sleep has a tendency to become indecisive, withdrawn, defensive and aloof. Other people become physically and verbally aggressive due to the crankiness caused by lack of sleep.
Coping with Stress
As our body is naturally designed to experience stress, we have developed different coping mechanisms to relieve ourselves off it. Some people workout, while some find leisurely things to do. Others though cope the wrong way by using substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.
In order to cope with stress the right way, we need to do things that return the body to a relaxed state. The use of substances only change the body chemistry, which in turn may just mask the stress that we feel and worse may cause even more stress.
Working out and doing leisurely things are good ways of dealing with stress. Taking a vacation is even better. But the way Singapore’s workers are wired, it seems a long shot to be able to do more of these things.
Doctors in Singapore have reported, 90% of patients are dealing with mental health issues caused by work-related stress.
With the alarming situation, people need better options to cope with stress.
The answer is undoubtedly Hypnotherapy.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is simply the use of hypnosis to manage our mind better so we can copy with pressure of life more effectively. It is our natural ability that is not been tapped into and now through hypnosis you can.
Hypnotherapy and Stress
Stress brings you to a state of negativity. In the worst case, your body may burnt out, and your emotional state may drop to an all-time low.
Fortunately with hypnotherapy you can manage much better by:
- Releasing your negative emotions
- Drawing out the negative beliefs that you have developed
- Replacing negative beliefs with powerful positive beliefs
- Clearing your thoughts and improve your creativity
- Gaining inner peace
- Facilitating emotional, mental and physical self-healing
Why not live a stress-free life?
As you know modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. In small doses, stress can motivate you and help you perform under pressure. But when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price.
Stress is inevitable but how you respond to stress is everything.
Why not choose to live a Healthy Stress-Free Life?
Here at Mindlife Hypnotherapy, we can help you to tap on your natural ability to manage our mind better so we can copy with pressure (stresses) of life more effectively; improving your health and well-being.
Your journey to a Healthy Stress-Free Life can begin any time now with the guidance of our Professional Consulting Hypnotist. Just give us a call at +65 9785 6255 to book an appointment with us.