With the ever increasing costs of mortgages, food and of course the cost of energy (which is slightly better than last year), it all certainly contributes to raising our levels of anxiety and stress!
I had a problem with my electricity bill last year for a few months during the energy crisis. It was the final straw when I received an email from my provider saying that my direct debit was increasing from £239 per month to £702 per month! Yes, what a shock! I immediately rang them – but then faced the stress of trying to get in contact with them by phone, they didn’t answer for 40 minutes on my first call and then I had to hang up because my client had arrived. My second attempt was a call back – took them over an hour and then I had to wait for 10 mins or so for someone to answer. After going through security, I was then told that I had used £1,000 electricity per month and because I had used it, I had to pay for it. I tried to explain that I live in a small house and am out at work all day. The guy was very matter of fact and told me to ring back the next day when I was at home by my meter so they could do more checks. I spent the rest of the afternoon stressing and googling ‘high costs of electricity’ and it seemed that it could have been my fridge freezer that was the culprit – but £1,000 per month …?? *** !! I was anxious and stressed but I also knew that the only way to get through this was to face up to the possibility that I was £3,000 in debit. After several more phone calls and being told that the debt collectors were on their way …….. they realized that they had made an error at their end …… and I was actually £800 in credit! And so, there was a happy ending but what a battle to get there.
So it could have been worse news and imagine if I hadn’t done anything about it, my anxiety & stress would have kept on increasing and increasing, never mind not sleeping properly with the worry. And the situation would have definitely worsened.
The moral of this story is don’t put things off that are causing you anxiety & stress. The more you are anxious and stressed, the less you will sleep and then the more anxious and stressed you become.
I used a lot of calming and relaxation techniques during this time to help me to cope with the situation. I also listened to a hypnotherapy relaxation track each night which helped me to relax and to sleep better. Once I began to sleep better, the whole situation became more bearable and easier for me to rationalize the situation and know that I was right and couldn’t have used so much gas and electricity.
If you have a difficult situation, my advice is put it to the top of your ‘To Do’ list and try to deal with it. Once it has been dealt with, you will feel a whole lot lighter. If you are struggling at the moment, why not give hypnotherapy a try? Call me on 07904 500307 or email me on info@jofisherhypnotherapy.org to book a FREE initial consultation