Expressing Emotions and Dealing with Stress Every girl wants a dream guy. Be that dream, in fact exceed that dream. Cassidy Ralph Pd. 4

Emotions Emotion-reaction to a situation that involves your mind, body, and/or behavior Primary emotions Happiness Response to pleasant events in life Sadness Response to disappointing events Anger Feeling frustrated or helpless Fear Threat to your safety or security

Learning Log Persuasive speech Think of an activity that makes you happy Write a speech that would convince someone else, who is unfamiliar with that activity, to want to try that activity just by listening to your arguments Make it sound appealing

Learned Emotions Learned emotions Love Most positive emotion Expressed through Caring words Touch Thoughtful actions

Learned Emotions Learned emotions cont. Guilt Know you have done something wrong Helpful if it stops you from making a mistake Shame Focuses on person rather than action Harmful because it lowers self-esteem Less likely to correct the bad situation

Learning Log “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.” Benjamin Franklin What does this statement mean? List in detail 2 experiences that compliment this statement

Coping Strategies can be helpful, harmful, and some harmful if overused Ways to cope Confront head on Release your built up energy Take a break Talk through your feelings Ways not to cope Drugs Alcohol Withdrawing from friends and family

Defense mechanisms Mechanism Machine-used to make things easier Protect a person from having to deal with difficult emotions Put off dealing with the problem and the emotion it causes Helpful if not overused Overdependence leads to true emotions not being expressed

Learning Log Come up with positive ways to handle each of these defense mechanisms

Dealing with Stress How you react to a stressor depends on how you access the situation Is this situation a threat to my well-being? Do I have the necessary resources to meet the challenge? If the answer is NO More distress If answer is YES More eustress

Stress and Personality Your personality influences your assessment of the situation Optimism Tendency to focus on positive aspects of situation Pessimism Tendency to focus on negative aspects of situation

Stress and Personality Perfectionism Accepts nothing less than excellence Sets goals that are almost impossible to attain Try hard, not satisfied cycle Accept that you cannot be perfect Take pride in the things you do well Don’t focus on your mistakes

Resilience Toleration Some people can handle more than others Resilience Ability to “bounce back” from extreme or prolonged stress

Resilience Key factors Have good support system Know strengths and weaknesses Realistic plans and goals Good communication and problem solving skills Recognize and control feelings Change is normal part of life Put things into perspective