Understanding the Mind-Body Connection: Managing Stress and Emotions

1. Think… • When was the last time that you were really stressed and your emotions affected you physically? • How do you deal with stress? (name some things)

2. What You’ll Learn 1. Explain the mind-body connection. 2. Outline guidelines for expressing emotions in healthful ways. 3. Discuss hidden anger, anger cues, and anger-management skills. 4. Explain the bodily changes caused by stress during each of the three stages of the general adaptation syndrome.

3. What You’ll Learn 5. Explain ways that prolonged stress can affect health. 6. Identify life changes that are most stressful for teens. 7. List and discuss stress-management skills.

4. Key Terms • emotion • mind-body connection • psychosomatic disease • hidden anger • hostility • serotonin • anger-management skills • stress • general adaptation syndrome (GAS) • stress-management skills

5. The Mind-Body Connection What you think and feel can affect what happens to your body, and what happens in your body can affect how you think and feel.

6. Mind-body connection cont’d Suppose you are worried about a test tomorrow. The emotion of worry might trigger certain bodily responses, such as an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. If this continues, you might have difficulty getting a good night’s sleep. You might get tired the next day because your emotional state triggered changes in your body.

7. What to Know About the Mind-Body Connection • The mind-body connection is the relationship between a person’s thoughts, emotions, and bodily responses. • A psychosomatic disease is a physical illness or disorder that is caused or aggravated by emotional responses.

8. Asthma • Asthma is a chronic condition in which breathing becomes difficult. • A teen with asthma might be fearful of speaking in front of the class. • When the teacher asks him to give a report, he might have difficulty breathing. • His emotional state aggravated his disorder.

9. Expressing Emotions in Healthful Ways 1.Identify the emotion. 2.Identify the source of the emotion. 3. Decide whether or not you need to respond right away. 4.Choose a responsible and healthful response. 5.Protect your health.

10. Angry Feelings • An anger trigger is a thought or event that causes a person to become angry. • An anger cue is a body change that occurs when a person is angry.

11. What to Know About Hidden Anger and Hostility • Hidden anger is anger that is not recognized and is expressed in inappropriate ways. • Hostility is a chronic state of anger. • places the body at greater risk of developing severe illness. • Serotonin is a chemical that is involved in controlling states of consciousness and mood.

12. What to Know About Hidden Anger and Hostility • Teens with hidden anger may express their anger in harmful ways. • Projection is blaming others for actions or events for which they are not responsible. • Displacement is the releasing of anger on someone or something other than the cause of the anger.

13. What to Know About Hidden Anger and Hostility Symptoms of Anger • rapid breathing • increased heart rate • rise in blood pressure • increased sweating from sweat glands in the face • sweaty palms • dryness of the mouth • increased alertness • decreased sensitivity to pain • increased muscle strength as a result of increased availability of blood sugar to the muscles • tensed eyebrows • pursed lips • reddening of the face

14. Anger-Management Skills • Anger-management skills are healthful ways to control and express anger.

15. How to Use Anger-Management Skills • Keep an anger self-inventory.  • Use self-statements to control anger. • Use I-messages instead of you-messages. • Write a letter. • Write in a journal. • Breathe deeply. • Reduce the effects of anger with physical activity. • uses up extra blood sugar that is released into your bloodstream when you are angry. • Use other safe physical actions to blow off steam. • Keep a sense of humor • Rehearse situation. • Talk with parent/guardian.

16. Stress • Stress is the response of the body to the demands of daily living. • A source or cause of stress is a stressor. • Eustress is a healthful response to a stressor. • Distress is a harmful response to a stressor.

17. Stress Stress is linked to many of the ten leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and injuries.

18. The General Adaptation Syndrome • The general adaptation syndrome, or GAS is a series of body changes that result from stress. • The GAS occurs in three stages: • the alarm stage • the resistance stage • the exhaustion stage

19. The General Adaptation Syndrome • The alarm stage • The alarm stage is the first stage of the GAS in which the body gets ready for quick action. • During this stage, adrenaline—a hormone that prepares the body to react during times of stress or in an emergency—is secreted into the bloodstream. • The alarm stage sometimes is called the fight-or-flight response.

20. Fight or Flight

21. The General Adaptation Syndrome • The resistance stage • The resistance stage is the second stage of the GAS in which the body attempts to regain internal balance. • The body is no longer in an emergency state and adrenaline is no longer secreted.

22. The General Adaptation Syndrome • The exhaustion stage • As a result of not being able to handle stress, some people’s bodies are in the alarm stage for long periods of time. • The exhaustion stage is the third stage of the GAS in which wear and tear on the body increase the risk of injury, illness, and premature death.

23. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and mental and emotional health • Prolonged stress • makes it difficult for you to think clearly and concentrate. • increases the risk of depression and psychosomatic diseases

24. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and family and social health  • Stressful homes and relationships increase the likelihood that you will become ill. • Stress and growth and development    • Teens who cannot adjust to bodily changes during puberty may choose harmful ways of coping. i.e. eating disorders

25. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and nutrition • Eat moderately and regularly when you are stressed to help replenish vitamins in your body. • Moderate consumption of caffeine, salty foods, and sweets because they may promote stress.

26. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and personal health and physical activity  • Too much exercise can affect your immune system • Stress and alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

27. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and communicable and chronic diseases • Periods of stress might cause the body’s immune system to be suppressed, resulting in lowered resistance to disease. • Stress and consumer and community health  • Boredom is a stressor that may lead people to harmful behaviors.

28. How Stress Affects Health Status • Stress and environmental health • Pollutants—harmful substances in the environment—and noise activate the GAS. • Stress and injury prevention and personal safety • Stress is a major contributing factor in almost all kinds of accidents. • might not be able to concentrate.

29. Stress-Management Skills • Stress-management skills are techniques used to prevent and deal with stressors and to protect one’s health from the harmful effects produced by the stress response.

30. How to Prevent and Deal withStressful Situations • Keep a time-management plan.  • Keep a Budget. • Talk with parents, a guardian, a mentor, or other responsible adults.  • Make sure you have a support network of friends.  Use responsible decision-making skills.

31. How to Prevent and Deal withStressful Situations cont’d… • Participate in physical activity. • uses up the extra adrenaline and sugar released during times of stress. • Write in a journal. • Use breathing techniques. • Eat a healthful diet. • your body uses up an extra supply of vitamins C and D. • Reduce your intake of caffeine and decrease your intake of sugar. • Get plenty of rest and sleep.

32. Study Guide 1. Match the following terms and definitions. ___ emotion ___ eustress ___ hostility ___ displacement ___ stress A. a chronic state of anger B. the releasing of anger on someone or something other than the cause of the anger C. a specific feeling, such as anger, happiness, or anxiety D. the response of the body to the demands of daily living E. a healthful response to a stressor C E A B D

33. Study Guide 2. In which stage of the GAS do the following events occur? ___________ pupils constrict ___________ adrenaline is secreted ___________ blood pressure decreases ___________ wear and tear on the body increase risk of illness ___________ heart rate and blood pressure increase resistance alarm resistance exhaustion alarm

34. Study Guide 3. What are five ways to prevent and deal with stressful situations? Five ways to prevent and deal with stressful situations include: 1. Use responsible decision-making skills. 2. Keep a time-management plan. 3. Keep a budget. 4. Talk with parents, a guardian, a mentor, or other responsible adults. 5. Make sure you have a support network of friends.