Managing Your Stress

1. Managing Your Stress

2. What Is Stress? • The mental and physical response to the changes and challenges in our lives • Can be real or imagined • Stressor—event or condition that causes the body to adjust to a situation • Can be physical, social, or psychological • Strain—wear and tear on the body and mind • Coping—managing conditions to lessen the effects of excess stress

3. What Is Stress? • Eustress—positive stress • Opportunity for personal growth and satisfaction • Example: getting married • Distress—negative stress • Can have negative effect on one’s health • Example: financial problems

4. The Body’s Response to Stress • The Fight-or-Flight Response • Surprised by sudden stressor • Sudden burst of energy (i.e., being chased by a dog) • Adrenal glands jump into action • Glands secrete adrenaline and other hormones into bloodstream • Causes increased heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow to muscles • Sudden physiological changes allow for quick response to stressor; fight it or escape from it • Basic human survival mechanism

5. The General Adaptation Syndrome

6. Stress and Your Health • 40 percent of deaths and 70 percent of disease in the United States are related to stress • Ailments related to chronic stress include the following: • Heart disease; diabetes; cancer; headaches; ulcers; low back pain; depression; the common cold; increases in rates of suicide, homicide, and domestic violence

7. The Body’s Acute Stress Response

8. Stress and Your Health • Stress and Cardiovascular Disease • Increases with chronic, unresolved stress • Prolonged elevation of heart rate and blood pressure • Increased blood pressure damages vessel lining. • Damaged lining allows fatty substances (plaque) to more readily adhere to vessel tissue. • As plaque builds up, arteries harden and narrow. • Results in compromised blood flow

9. Stress and Your Health • Stress and Impaired Immunity • Reduction in the ability of killer T cells to aid immune response • Individuals become more susceptible to illnesses. • Stress and the Mind • Perhaps the single greatest contributor to mental disability and emotional dysfunction in industrialized nations

10. Stress and Your Health • Stress and Digestive Problems • Stress can be a trigger that causes you to be nauseated, vomit, and have stomach cramps and other pain in the gut • Stress can make you more susceptible to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), probably because stress stimulates colon spasms via the nervous system. • Use techniques that promote relaxation by reducing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

11. Common Physical Symptoms of Stress

12. What Stresses You? • Psychosocial Stressors • Factors in our daily lives that cause stress: • Adjustment to change—can be good or bad • Relationships—fight-or-flight reactions • Hassles—petty annoyances and frustrations • Academic and career pressures—feeling forced to meet higher expectations, financial problems • Frustrations andconflicts—disparities between goals and behavior • Overload—too much going on, lack of support • Stressful living environments—where you live and the surrounding environment

13. What Stresses You? • Environmental Stress • Based on physical surroundings • Noise • Natural disasters • Pollution • Stress and “-isms” • Racism, ageism, sexism, low socioeconomic status, or other “-isms” • Different viewpoints and backgrounds

14. What Stresses You? • Internal Stressors • Appraisal • Interpretation and evaluation of information • Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy • Feeling of self-worth • Belief in own abilities or confidence in skills • Personality Types • A, B, C, D • Psychological hardiness • Control, commitment, and an embrace of challenge

15. Stress and the College Student • Symptoms of stress overload • Sense of anxiety • Sleeping difficulties • Short temper • Headaches or dizziness • Recurring colds or minor illnesses • Inability to concentrate

16. Stress and the College Student

17. Stress and the College Student • Different stressors between genders • Women • Dieting, school overload, gaining weight • Men • Being underweight, not having enough sex, lack of friends, drug and alcohol use • What stressors have you experienced?

18. ABC News Video: Stress at Work and Home Discussion Questions • For those in class who work full or part time, share an extremely stressful work event and how it was resolved. How did you feel at that time? • In potentially stressful situations at home, how do you prevent issues from escalating to an uncontrollable level? • Name a few ways to reduce stress at school. Have you had success in any of these? What support systems need to be in place? | Stress at Work and Home

19. Managing Your Stress • Taking Mental Action • Assess your stressors • Recognize a stressor and evaluate it • Stress inoculation— consciously anticipating and preparing for specific stressors in advance • Change the way you think • Cognitive restructuring— become aware of the negative talk, then stop it, and finally replace negative with positive talk • Developing a Support Network • Consider the nature and extent of your friendships and support network

20. Managing Your Stress • Managing Emotional Responses • Examine your self-talk and your emotional responses to interactions with others. • Learn to Laugh, Be Joyful, and Cry • Smiling, laughing, singing, dancing and crying have positive physiological effects. • Fight the Anger Urge • The five main sources of anger are the following: • Threats to safety and well-being • Power • Perfectionism and pride • Self-sufficiency and autonomy • Self-esteem and status

21. Managing Your Stress • Fight the anger urge using the following strategies to keep anger at bay • Indentify your anger style. • Learn to recognize patterns. • Plan ahead. • Develop a support system. • Develop realistic expectations of yourself and others. • Turn complaints into requests. • Leave past anger in the past.

22. Managing Your Stress • Taking Physical Action • Exercise—increases mood elevating hormones, energy levels • Relax—involve mind and body (taking a bath, listening to quiet music, practicing deep breathing, or stretching) • Eat right—avoid food substances that produce stress-like responses (caffeine, sugar) • Get enough sleep—refresh your vital energy, cope with multiple stressors more effectively, be more productive, and increase the immune response

23. Managing Your Stress • Managing Your Time • Take on only one thing at a time. • Clean off your desk. • Prioritize tasks by creating a “to do” list. • Don’t be afraid to say “no.” • Find a clean, comfortable place to work, and avoid interruptions. • Reward yourself for work completed. • Use time to your advantage. • Break overwhelming tasks into small pieces, and allocate a certain amount of time to each. • Time is precious—don’t take it for granted. • How have you managed your time?

24. Managing Your Stress • Managing Your Money • Consider Downshifting • Downshifting or voluntary simplicity—taking a step back and simplify your life • Determine your ultimate goal. • Make both short-term and long-term plans for simplifying your life. • Complete a financial inventory. • Plan for health care costs. • Select the right career for you. • Consider options for saving money.

25. ABC News Video: The Multitasking Myth Discussion Questions • Why isn’t multitasking as good as one might think? Do you agree that it’s a problem? • How do you multitask in your own life? Does it have an effect on the quality of the tasks you are doing simultaneously? • Translate the three steps outlined to be more productive to your own daily life. Could you follow them? | The Multitasking Myth

26. Managing Your Stress • Relaxation Techniques for Stress Management • Yoga • Qigong • Tai chi • Deep breathing • Mindfulness and mediation • Visualization • Progressive muscle relaxation • Massage therapy • Biofeedback • Hypnosis

27. Diaphragmatic Breathing

28. Progressive Muscle Relaxation