Lets see, we have rising fuel prices which are sending out shockwaves throughout the rest of the global economy. There have floods of biblical proportions in the Midwest and record foreclosures brought about by the predatory behavior of the lending industry. And talented yet troubled British R&B singer Amy Winehouse has somehow given herself emphysema at the ripe old age of 24. These are all forms of stress, right?

Well, actually no. To be precise the news stories listed above are actually stressors, not stress. What is the difference?

A stressor is a stimulus that has the potential to create a stress reaction in a person or group of people. However, two people can encounter the same form of adversity and have totally different responses to it. And therein lies a very important thing to remember when it comes to managing your stress levels, you do have some degree of choice in the matter.

How about we create a hypothetical example to explore this idea. Your next door neighbor Greg sees rising fuel prices as proof of a dark global conspiracy that will ruin our way of life and his in particular. As you might expect he seethes with anger at the very thought of this perceived injustice and he has not been sleeping well as of late. His stomach has been giving him considerable grief too. Further fueling his stress, he is a loyal listener of a talk radio station that encourages listeners like him to call in and vent their opinions on matters like this.

Your other neighbor Mary  is not thrilled with paying more during her weekly trip to the gas station either. However, the way she looks at it, this situation may be a blessing in disguise since it will encourage more people to seek out more fuel efficient alternatives and to practice conservation. That and she figures we are all in it together and things will probably work out OK.

Greg and Mary are being charged the same price at the pump, yet Greg is paying a far higher price when you think about it. His mental and physical stress are creating discomfort in the short term and if left unchecked,  some potentially serious health problems in the long term. All because of a difference in perception.

Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying that “we are only as happy as we make up our minds to be.”  Its not a matter of Mary being right and Greg being wrong since both viewpoints could be argued successfully. However, it makes little sense to hold onto perceptions that create stress while doing nothing to correct the stressor.

With all these stressors flying around, someone might be tempted to tell us to “take a deep breath.” And as a matter of the fact that person is probably me! We’ve all heard how proper breathing can help us to control our stress levels. To this end I have released a new report Relaxation Breathing Explained, a concise guide on how to master this basic stress control skill. It is in digital PDF format and available for instant download and comfortably priced at just $1.97- or about a half gallon of gas.  To learn more visit the Store Page at this site.

After avoiding the dentist for the best part of a decade, Leslie Mason was in pain and knew he needed urgent treatment. Two rotten teeth and four roots had to be removed but he could not afford to pay £400 for the work and was also dreading the discomfort he would have to endure.

He mentioned the dilemma to his friend John Ridlington, a qualified hypnotist, who revealed he had been discussing the potential of hypnosis to a dentist he knew. A quick check confirmed Mr Mason could act as a guinea pig to test the theory and have the treatment free.

He underwent a two-hour procedure without anaesthetic, remaining conscious but in a trance-like state, and reported feeling nothing more than a 'little sting'. He is believed to be the first person in the country to have major dental surgery using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic.

'It was incredible,' said Mr Mason, 54, a DIY store worker from Colchester, Essex. 'There is no worse pain than that inflicted by dentists but I didn't feel any. The dentist had to dig away at the rotten roots that were right up into my jaw. 'There isn't anything I wouldn't have done under hypnosis now.'

Mr Mason, a father of seven, had previously used hypnosis to quit a 40-a-day smoking habit. He added: 'Not everyone is as susceptible as me to hypnosis but it's an area that should be exploited further. There are so many benefits.'

 Mr Mason's last visit to a dentist before the recent check-up had been in 1998. During the operation on May 20 he had two upper right molars removed along with their roots, plus two roots from teeth which had been pulled in the 1980s.

Mr Ridlington spent 45 minutes getting him into a relaxed state of mind beforehand by making him visualise his favourite subject  -  historic battle reenactments  -  to distract his mind from the pain. Mr Mason also had to imagine a dial numbered one to ten, one representing no pain and ten pure agony. Whenever he felt a twinge, he mentally turned the dial back to one.

Mr Ridlington, 59, from Dunmow, Essex, said: 'We all have the ability to control pain with our brains. 'They control everything about our bodies and our subconscious is the most powerful part  -  it controls our breathing and the blood pumping through our veins. 'Hypnosis taps into the subconscious mind. It's all about mind over matter.'

The operation was performed by Dr Bhavin Bhatt, who runs the Smile and Wellbeing dental practice in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. He said: 'The hypnosis was 100 per cent effective. We're now exploring the possibility of offering tooth transplants under hypnosis.

Studies have shown that using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic can reduce recovery time after surgery. It also removes the chance of possible side-effects from anaesthesia. But the technique's long association with stage acts has kept it at the margins of mainstream medicine.

Hypnoanaesthesia, where the patient enters a deep trance state and is told he will feel no pain, has been used to help burn victims manage their agony and ease fears over surgery and childbirth.

The British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis said that even heart operations had been carried out under hypnosis. In April, hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei had an 83-minute operation without anaesthetic on his arm to treat osteoarthritis.

Afterwards, he revealed he had been aware of his surgeon making a four-inch incision into his wrist and chiselling the bone to remove a tendon. He added: 'I heard everything he was saying to his assistants and anaesthetist but there was no gossip. It was a shame  -  I was hoping to hear something juicy.'