In this article we are going to look at a very real and very prevalent health condition that can be extremely injurious to a person's health but, is easy to change using hypnosis.

After a brief explanation of this serious and pervasive medical condition, we are then going to look at a case history and how hypnosis was used to successfully help my client.  Please note that the case history is "tongue-in-cheek" and some may find the material offensive but, it is highly instructive (in a humorous way) about very real and effective hypnosis techniques.

GAS or General Adaptation Syndrome is a very common medical problem that can have very serious repercussions if left unattended.

It was psychologist Hans Selye who discovered that prolonged and excessive stress can lead to infection, illness, disease and death. He then named this condition General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

In general, there are three stages of GAS. They are Alarm, Resistance and Exhaustion. Let's talk a bit about each stage.

Stage One: Alarm

Alarm is essentially the initiation of the "fight of flight" response which prepares the body for life-threatening situations.

Normal body activities such as the digestive and immune functions are blunted or nearly shut down in order to supply resources to more immediate muscular and emotional needs.

Stage Two: Resistance

Now, if we're under a constant state of alarm, we are in essence living in constant state of stress. At this point we start becoming used to these stress levels.

The funny thing about this stage is that initially our body and immune system are becoming more resistance to stress and disease.

However, this stage requires abnormally high levels of emotional and physical resources. If things do not change for the better then the next stage of the GAS process is inevitable.

Stage Three: Exhaustion

Eventually reality kicks in and our bodies are unable to maintain high levels of stress resistance. Parts of the body literally start to break down and we become very unwell.

To conclude this first section, please understand that Hans Selye and others experts are convinced that out-of-control stress negatively influences a person's entire organism. Furthermore, these authorities believe that if left untreated, run away stress can result in disease and eventual death.

The point here is that as a hypnotist, your contribution as a stress management consultant is far more important than most people realize. Unmanaged stress is not just an 'inconvenience'. It is a health threatening condition with serious consequences.

By the way, remember to take some of your own medicine once in a while and listen to stress reduction hypnosis CDs. It is much easier to convince a client of the benefits of successful stress management when you are 100% congruent because of satisfying experience.

Now, let's look at a case history that shows how to help a client suffering from severe GAS.

First of all, in order to help a client with G.A.S., they must learn how to F.A.R.T. and B.U.R.P. so they can ultimately P.O.O.P.

Now, before a person can B.U.R.P. (Begin Utilizing Response Procedures) or P.O.O.P. (Pursue Optimal Outcomes Persistently), they have to F.A.R.T. That is, they have to first Formulate Appropriate Response Techniques.

This can be reduced to a simple statement. When a person starts to suffer from stress, they must S.T.O.P. and B.E.A.N.O.

That is, they must Start To Observe Purposefully so that they can then Become Excited And Noticeably Optimistic. If they are unable to S.T.O.P and B.E.A.N.O., then they will have to F.A.R.T., B.U.R.P. and most likely, P.O.O.P.

Let's look at a case history involving my client Bob. Bob has suffered for quite some time from severe stress effects.

When he first came to our office, we realized that he was emotionally plugged up. In other words, his feelings were so bottled up that he absolutely could not P.O.O.P.

The reason became apparent when it was discovered that he had never before learned how to properly F.A.R.T. and B.U.R.P. in response to stress.

I knew this was not a case where the client could simply B.E.A.N.O. because that would not address the cause of his inability to P.O.O.P.

What he needed was an E.N.E.M.A. (Entirely New Explicit Meaning Association).

As the reader may have guessed, this was a very sensitive situation because it involved reframing a learned response that was created in response to a family of origin dynamic.

Apparently there was some S.O.B. (Subtle Obfuscating Behavior) responsible for the onset of the client's difficulty.

Defeating this without running into family loyalty conflicts and their accompanying resistance effects is quite a job that requires deft handling and discernment.

However, since the client was extremely motivated to get past his problem and move on we advanced a rather bold tactic.

We decided to initiate a reverse E.N.E.M.A. The client became quite excited at the idea. This was because we explained to him that we would go back in time and teach him as a young child how to P.O.O.P.

In summary, the client has been relieved of his GAS because after undergoing a reverse E.N.E.M.A. he was able to B.E.L.C.H. (Begin Expurgating Lousy Childhood History) which enabled him to successfully F.A.R.T., B.U.R.P. and P.O.O.P.

The point to this second section is that sometimes to heal, we just need to stop hanging onto old 'stuff' from our past because doing so makes us much more prone to insidious medical disorders such as General Adaptation Syndrome.

One must wonder that if GAS can cause such serious consequences then, what common diseases are actually the result of prolonged, unhealed stress?

Finally, as you can probably tell, this article was meant to be tongue-in-cheek but the point is very serious. Helping a client reduce stress is not just a "mental massage" that feels good in the short term. It is an essential element of a good and happy life.

And, don't forget that the family members of your client are also benefiting from your valuable and skilled assistance because they have longer to enjoy a healthier and happier mom, dad or other important person.

In closing I'd like to share a quote that can point a person toward a significantly more relaxed state of mind and being:

C. Devin Hastings