1. Managing Stress: Coping with Life’s Challenges
Chapter 3
Managing Stress: Coping with Life’s Challenges

2. Objectives Define Stress.
Explain the three phases of the general adaptation syndrome, and describe what happens physiologically.
Examine the health risks that may occur with chronic stress.
Discuss psychosocial, environmental and self-imposed sources of stress.
Examine special stressors that affect college students and strategies for reducing risk.
Explore techniques for coping with unavoidable stress.
Examine the role of spirituality in enhancing the ability to deal with stress.

3. What Is Stress?
The mental and physical response of our bodies to the changes and challenges in our lives
Stressor – any physical, social, or psychological event or condition that causes the body to adjust to that situation
Eustress – positive stress that presents the opportunity for personal growth and satisfaction
Distress – negative stress that results in debilitative stress and strain

4. ABC News: Stress Management
Play
Video
| Stress Management

5. ABC News: Stress Management
Discussion Questions:
In what situations has school, family and friends, or work caused you to eat when you are not hungry?
How is “cortisol induced stress fat” different than the storage of fat caused by nonstress-related excessive eating? What are the health risks for both types of fat accumulation?
How does the perception of hopelessness, helplessness, and defeat influence cortisol levels in the body?
What does “chronic restrained eating” refer to in the video?

6. The Body’s Response To Stress
“Fight or Flight” Response
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) – characterized by Hans Seyle 1936; three distinct phases:
Alarm Phase
Resistance Phase
Exhaustion Phase

7. General Adaptation Syndrome
Figure 3.1

8. The General Adaptation Syndrome: Alarm Phase
Figure 3.2

9. Stress And Your Health
Highly stressed individuals are at greater risks for:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
Impaired immunity
Diabetes
Cancer
Headaches
Ulcers
Depression
Low back pain

10. Stress And The Mind
Stress may contribute to mental disability and emotional dysfunction
These effects may be manifested as:
Lost work productivity
Difficulties in relationships
Abuse of drugs and other substances
Displaced anger
Aggressive behavior

11. Sources Of Stress Psychosocial sources of stress: Change Hassles
Pressure
Inconsistent goals and behaviors
Conflict
Overload
Burnout
Other (overcrowding, discrimination, unemployment, poverty)

12. Psychosocial sources of stress:
Hassles are annoyances, irritations, and frustrations
Pressure occurs when we feel forced to speed up, intensify, or alter behavior
Disparity between goals and behavior
Conflict occurs when we are forced to face incompatible demands, opportunities or goals
Overload occurs when you suffer from excessive time pressure or expectations of yourself
Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive stress

13. Environmental Stress
Stress that results from events occurring in the physical environment
Floods
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Fires
Industrial disasters
Background distressors – noise, air and water pollution

14. Personality types and hardiness
Type A are hard driving, competitive, time driven, impatient and perfectionistic
Type B are relaxed and non-competitive
Type C are said to succeed with good health in stressful environments
Psychological hardiness is a personality trait characterized by control, commitment, and challenge
A sense of control, accepting responsibility for their behaviors and changing behaviors that are debilitating
A sense of commitment that helps w/ self-esteem and understanding their purpose in life
A sense of challenge, seeing changes in life as opportunities for personal growth

15. Stress And The College Student
Away from home
Pressure to make new friends
Large classes
Academic pressures
National College Health Assessments reported that stress was the number one factor affecting individual academic performance

16. The Student Stress Scale
Table 3.2

17. Managing Your Stress Building Skills to Reduce Stress
Assessing your stressors
Changing your responses
Learning to cope
Downshifting
Assess whether or not you can change the stressor or your response
Change your response by controlling your initial reaction. Stop and ask yourself, “What is to be gained from my response?”

18. Learn to cope with stress inoculation – prepare for stressful situations with practice ahead of time
Downshifting:
Determine ultimate goal
Make short term and long term plans
Complete financial inventory
Plan for health care costs
Select the right career
Consider options for saving money

19. Taking Mental Action
Change the way you think – act – don’t react – with cognitive restructuring: the modification of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that contribute to stress
Reframe a distressing event from a positive perspective
Worry constructively
Look at life as being fluid
Consider alternatives
Moderate your expectations
Weed out trivia
Don’t rush into action
Tolerate mistakes by yourself and others
Live simply

20. Managing Emotional Responses
Manage emotional responses by using self-talk to work through issues
Learn to laugh and cry
Avoid tendency toward hostility
Resist the anger urge
Anger usually results when we feel that we have lost control over a situation and/or are frustrated by a situation that we can do little about
Expressing anger in an assertive way is the healthiest thing to do in the long run.

21. Strategies for Anger Control
Calm yourself
Change your thoughts toward the situation
Improve your communication with the person who has made you angry
Don’t fight back
Use humor if possible
Recognize that certain situation may cause things to blow out of proportion
Seek help

22. Stress Management Changing the way you think Taking physical action
Exercise
Deep breathing
Relaxation
Eating right
Managing your time
Managing your finances

23. Time Management Take on only one thing at a time Clean off your desk
Find a clean, comfortable place to work
Prioritize your tasks
Don’t be afraid to say no
Avoid interruptions
Reward yourself for being efficient
Use time to your advantage
Break overwhelming tasks into small pieces
Remember that time is precious

24. Finance Management Develop a realistic budget
When bills come in, take care of them immediately
Consider electronic banking
Become knowledgeable about how to manage your money
Avoid tempting credit cards
Don’t get into debt and pay make a commitment to pay off debt before splurging on non-essentials

25. Alternative Stress Management Techniques
Visualization: the creation of mental images to promote relaxation
Hypnosis: a process that allows people to become unusually responsive to suggestion
Massage therapy: body based method that relaxes muscular tension and improves body’s immunity
Meditation: a relaxation technique that involves deep breathing and concentration
Biofeedback: a technique involving a machine to self monitor physical responses to stress

26. Developing Your Spiritual Side: Mindfulness
The Physical Dimension: use nature to disconnect from everyday environmental stress
The Emotional Dimension: practice blocking negative thoughts and focusing on positive emotions
The Social Dimension: listen actively, be sensitive and honest with others, express genuine concern
The Intellectual Dimension: take time to carefully assess events in your life, their causes and your involvement in them.