International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

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International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. Edited by G. D. Burrows, R. O. Stanley, P. B. Bloom
Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBNs: 0-471-97009-3 Hardback); 0-470-84640-2 Electronic)
Hypnosis in the Management
of Stress and Anxiety
Disorders
ROBB O. STANLEY, TREVOR R. NORMAN and
GRAHAM D. BURROWS
University of Melbourne, Australia
Stress is a ubiquitous phenomenon, with which we are all familiar and yet the term
is used in popular and clinical contexts without precision. `Stress' is the process
whereby this distress occurs, rather than the psychological and/or physiological
distress response itself. The distress response resulting from the `stress' process is a
variable reaction that involves highly individual combinations of psychological or
physiological distress.
Not all `stress' is negative. As an acute response to the environment and for
some people even the repeated acute response) stress may be a motivating force to
action, and may act as a useful stimulant to problem-solving and productivity. The
concept of `eustress' has also been introduced to describe the difference between
this positive motivating pressure by which some thrive, and the `distress' which we
are commonly referring to in the clinical situation. While it may be agreed that
events such as natural disasters are stressful for almost everyone, the majority of
situations become part of a stress process only because of their signi®cance to the
individual. What may be simply problematic and challenging for one may be
threatening and highly stressful for the next. `Stress' then is neither a diagnosis nor
an adequate description of psychological distress.
The stress process results in subjective distress and/or unpleasant physiological
arousal, when the real or perceived demands being made on the person by the
situation exceed, or are perceived by that individual as exceeding, their ability to
cope. These perceptions of an imbalance between demand and coping result in the
psychological or affective state of current or impending threat as well as a
disturbance in physiological arousal that if persistent may damage the homeostatic
functioning of bodily and psychological processes alike. The pattern of response to
the stress process is variable and dependent on both genetic factors and learned
response patterns. The personal relevance and availability of coping mechanisms
International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. Edited by G. D. Burrows, R. O. Stanley and P. B. Bloom
# 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd