Medical Effects

About 80% of illness is at least partially caused by stress. Doubtless there is often some psychological contribution, but the physical causes are well known.

Stress causes the nervous system to send a message to the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol readies the body for action, that is, fight or flight. This is invaluable in threatening situations, but chronic stress and too much cortisol, causes damage. Heart disease, immune disorders, osteoporosis, inflammation, and more are caused or aggravated by chronic stress.

The steroid, cortisone, the pharmaceutical equivalent of the cortisol your body makes, is useful in pain relief and managing some diseases, but too much can cause damage.

The stress response to a real threat is not something we want to change. If you over-react, that is you panicking in dangerous situations, you can use immediate self-hypnosis to calm yourself down enough to think clearly, but not so much as to destroy the useful state of alert.

Chronic stress, the result of modern life, can be managed with self-hypnosis for relaxation and stress relief. It's unlikely you will eliminate all chronic stress, but you can manage your response to the stressors so that they won't make you sick or interfere with your enjoyment of life.