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Although many people use the terms "stress" and "anxiety" interchangeably, they are in fact two distinct conditions. Stress is a response to a stimulus, which can be internal or external. You may experience stress because you are frustrated with something (like waiting in line behind a slow person) or when you worry that you won't meet expectations (such as missing a deadline).

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a feeling of fear and nervousness or even dread. It can be brought on by negative thoughts and expectations, or as a response to stress. You may experience feelings of anxiety all of the time and not understand why, or your worry may be a response to something you are nervous about, like an upcoming business trip.

Abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain may cause generalized anxiety. Some research indicates that anxiety can be brought on by genetics. In addition, anxiety can be induced environmentally, as when the child of a parent who is often anxious becomes an anxious person by observing the parent. But very often the core cause of anxiety is simply the thoughts in a person's mind!

Anxiety and stress are subjective conditions. Different people may experience stress during different situations, and different people may respond to their anxiousness in extremely different ways. Symptoms of anxiety can range from the mild, such as tense muscles and sweaty hands, to the severe, such as irregular heartbeat, vomiting, and anxiety attacks.

Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety once in awhile. All of us have experienced the dry mouth and "butterflies in the stomach" before an exam or public speaking engagement. But when does it become harmful to your health? Research indicates that prolonged anxiety can make us vulnerable to sleep disorders, depression, relationship problems, and high blood pressure

For sufferers of chronic untreated anxiety, there can be detrimental health consequences that have yet to be fully explored. Many studies have found a link between chronic anxiety and a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, respiratory illness, thyroid disease, arthritis, and cancer. Chronically anxious people may even be more likely to suffer a fatal cardiac attack.

If you suffer from what seems like an overwhelmingly high amount of anxiety relative to the circumstances, or if you feel anxious nearly every day, you may actually have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are chronic conditions characterized by an inability to function normally because of frequent anxiety. Anxiety disorders are serious conditions that should be treated to lower the risk of long-term negative health effects.

Anxiety treatment has long been the subject of much discussion in the medical community. Some medical professionals feel that medication is the best method to treat chronic anxiety. Unfortunately, anti-anxiety medications often have harmful side effects that are just as bad as or even worse than the initial condition.

There are many safe and effective ways to handle negative emotional responses. Exercise is one that is often overlooked by anxious people, but it is highly effective in managing stress and anxiety. Exercise causes your body to release endorphins, which are natural mood-boosting and pain-killing chemicals. With regular aerobic exercise, you may start to feel a decrease in negative emotional responses to situations that would have previously made you very anxious.

The best way to manage worry and tension is to control it from within. Stress management and stress relief techniques are extremely valuable tools in handling day to day stress. These techniques can teach you to calm yourself and let the tension leave your body. You make a conscious effort to slow your breathing rate, release the tension, and maintain a peaceful state of mind. Meditation is an excellent form of tension relief in which you focus on thoughtful relaxation and deep, calm breathing.

However, if you seek a proactive solution to free yourself of anxiety, hypnotherapy is the most effective treatment option. When a person undergoes hypnosis, their emotional responses and reactions to events are changed at the core. This gives them the opportunity to handle typical anxiety-inducing triggers without the usual feelings of fear and nervousness.

Hypnosis is typically performed by a licensed hypnotherapist in a series of regular treatments. More commonly today, hypnotherapy takes the form of self hypnosis programs which are available in the form of CDs, DVDs, or MP3s for individual home usage. No special skills are necessary to practice self hypnosis. All that you need is a way to play the hypnotherapy program and a quiet place where you can listen and relax.

Another very successful type of anxiety treatment is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. NLP is a form of therapy that can help you retrain your body and mind to naturally respond to situations in a more positive way. You can consciously decide to stay calm instead of feeling anxious, which means that you always have control over your own feelings.

It is evident that it is important to control our negative emotional responses in order to remain healthy. Mastering techniques to cope with fear and nervousness can even extend your life. To treat chronic anxiety, the best treatment option to follow is to use hypnosis to change your reactions and attitudes from within. Then, it becomes easy to use stress management techniques as necessary to keep calm in everyday situations.

Alan B. Densky is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He offers a complete line of anxiety management NLP CDs, and advanced anxiety reduction CDs through his Neuro-VISION hypnosis website. You can visit his video hypnosis blog, and download a free MP3.