This blog from our HWBI Ninja, Rob Sanderson considers what we can do to spot stress and practical things we can do to acknowledge it and minimise the negative impact on our health and wellbeing.

What?!! I hear you ask, why would anyone want to do that? Firstly, I don’t condone boiling frogs, please don’t try this! I love frogs and even built a pond for them at the bottom of the garden, so, to be clear, it’s not something I have tried or intend to.

So how do you boil a frog?

It shouldn’t be at all possible. Frogs are sensitive to temperature. Regardless of this, in 1872, scientist, Heinzmann experimented and concluded if you increase the heat of the water very gradually, the poor frog doesn’t notice until it’s too late.

What has this got to do with health and well-being?

Firstly, I wanted to be sure I had your attention (you are still reading, right?) and secondly because it’s an excellent metaphor for the point of this post:

Just like our ill-fated frog, millions of people are [metaphorically] boiling themselves alive with stress and anxiety. The rise in this pressure is so gradual they don’t realise until it suddenly gets too much.

As a psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist, the most common conditions I help people with, are stress and anxiety, related. While many people recognise stress or anxiety, a surprising amount do not. Symptomatically, it’s evident when people are experiencing stress and anxiety, yet they don’t realise it. People explain, “I don’t suffer from stress, I just want to stop biting my nails,” or “I don’t have stress, I drink too much,” “eat too much,” “can’t sleep,” “have headaches,” “anger issues,” etc. sure signs of stress. Surprisingly, some clients have been so unaware of their extreme stress levels until it manifested itself physically when they were rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack. I call this stealth anxiety.

How can I spot the warning signs?

Some of the physical signs of stress and anxiety include poor sleep, frequent need to use the loo, stomachache, sudden weight gain or loss, breathlessness, headaches, palpitations, sweats, tiredness and fatigue. The effects on mental health can include, panic attacks, lack of concentration, anger, feeling uneasy, depression and low mood.

It’s not too late, act now to turn the heat down or jump out!

Being positive is a natural defence against stress, anxiety and depression. As a Solution-Focused therapist, people are encouraged to look for the solution rather than focusing on the problem. Being solution-focused is powerful against stress and anxiety because finding solutions reduce stress. One way of doing this is by practising what we call the 3 p’s, which are to think positively, be active in a positive way, and to interact positively. When we do this, we create patterns in the brain that are proven to help fight stress, anxiety and depression.

On a positive note, here’s a happy ending!

In 2002, Victor H. Hutchison, a zoologist reveals, that more recent experiments show as the water is heated, the frog tries to escape, and eventually jumps out.

If you are worried about stress, anxiety or depression, you can talk to your GP or arrange an appointment with a talking therapist. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me using the link below.

Rob Sanderson

Clinical Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapy

Help Hypnotherapy | Liverpool & Merseyside

https://www.helphypnotherapy.co.uk/

Photo by Darko Pribeg on Unsplash