Stress Management Team ARC

Introduction Do not stress over this presentation! Ask questions at any time. Take a few deep breaths and relax. This is time for YOU!

Topics of Stress Reasons for Stress Coping with Stress Things to Avoid Things you can do Cognitive Strategies And the Research shows…

2007 A.P.A. Poll The American Psychological Association “Stress in America” poll found that 1/3 of people in the United States report experiencing extreme levels of negative stress.

Reasons for Stress Too much responsibility Associating with stressful people Entering into a stressful environment Engaging into stressful topics Overextending your schedule Failing to communicate your feelings Failing to take care of yourself.

YOU come first Take some time to consider YOU. Take positive steps for a happier YOU. Writ e Play with a Pet Garde n Call a friend Compromis e Enjoy Music Eat Rig ht Express Yourself Exercise

Coping with Stress the wrong way Some poor strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they cause more damage in the long run. Some examples are: * Smoking * Drinking too much * Overeating or under-eating * Too much TV or Computer time

More poor coping strategies Withdrawing from friends and family Doing less activities Using pills or drugs to relax Sleeping too much Procrastinating Keeping busy to avoid facing problems Acting out stress or frustration on others

Things You Can Do to Reduce Stress There are many things you can do to reduce stress in your life. YOU have Control. Explore Cognitive Strategies

Cognitive Restructuring Cognitive Restructuring = Thinking more useful thoughts. Basic Idea: People’s Emotions and behaviors can be greatly affected by what they think.

Example You put your child to bed and you go to relax and read. Ten minutes later your child comes out of the room. Reaction 1: “That little brat. I never get time for myself.” Emotion : Angry, Annoyed, Resentful Action : Scold child

Reaction 2 “I get one more opportunity to kiss my child and tell her I love her.” Emotion : Happy, Grateful, Calm Action : Bonding interaction with child

Learn How to Say “No” Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, try not to accept added responsibilities if your plate is already full. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.

Avoid People Who Stress You Out If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.

Take Control of Your Environment If the evening news makes you anxious, Turn the TV off (Take a long walk instead)! If traffic’s got you tense, try a longer more scenic route. If you are too tired to make dinner, Order take-out!

Avoid Hot-Topic Buttons If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.

Pare Down Your To-Do List Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between what can wait and what is urgent. Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

Express Your Feelings Instead of Bottling Them Up If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.

Be Willing to Compromise When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you’ll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.

Be More Assertive Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you’ve got an early morning meeting and your chatty friend calls the night before, say up front that you only have a few minutes to talk.

Manage Your Time Better Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.

Reframe Problems Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.

Look at the Big Picture Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.

Adjust Your Standards Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”

Focus on the Positive When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.

Don’t Try to Control the Uncontrollable Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.

Look for the Upside As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.

Share Your Feelings Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.

Learn to Forgive Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.

Healthy Ways to Relax & Recharge Go for a walk Spend time in nature Call a good friend Sweat out tension with a good workout Write in your journal Take a long bath Light scented candles

Healthy Ways to Relax & Recharge Play with a pet Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea Work in your garden Get a massage Curl up with a good book Listen to music Watch a comedy

Increase Your Resistance to Stress Your can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health

Exercise Regularly Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress.

Eat a Healthy Diet Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.

Reduce Caffeine and Sugar The temporary "highs" caffeine and sugar provide often end with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.

Avoid Alcohol, Cigarettes and Drugs Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Don’t avoid or mask the issue at hand; deal with problems head on and with a clear mind.

Get Enough Sleep Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally

Research Shows….. When you get an adrenaline jolt — a worry that passes through your mind or something that makes you a little upset — adrenaline, cortisol, lactate and assorted chemicals are released into your blood stream, including extra fatty acids. Exercise forces your body to burn all these stress by- products. So rather than taking several hours or all day for this gunk to slowly get filtered out of your blood, exercise burns it all off in twenty minutes, leaving you feeling refreshed and relaxed. It also burns off the extra fatty acids cortisol has released into your blood stream, removing the health risk associated with triglycerides.

Study Shows Sleep is Good o In a study at Stanford University, healthy but sedentary adults who had trouble sleeping (taking longer than twenty-five minutes to fall asleep, for example, and sleeping an average of only six hours per night) were put on an exercise program for three months. o By the end of the study, the exercisers were sleeping about forty-five minutes longer and falling asleep fifteen minutes faster, on average. o The ones who didn't exercise hadn't improved.

What About Those Brain Cells? It was once believed that the brain did not generate any new brain cells. But that has now been proven a false assumption. New brain cells form throughout the life span. Trying to determine if anything can stimulate the brain to produce more brain cells, neurologists at the Salk Institute found that mice who exercised regularly on a spinning wheel had far more new brain cells after six weeks than the mice who hadn't been exercising.

Alpha Brain Waves Psychologist Robert Dustman, one of the top researchers into the effect of aging on the brain, found that when people exercise, it keeps their brain producing more alpha brain waves. The alpha rhythm is associated with the ability to stay calm under pressure.

Only 20 to 40 Minutes Research has proven that twenty to forty minutes of aerobic exercise reliably reduces anxiety and improves mood, not just while you're doing it, but for hours afterwards.

Workout Before Work University of Bristol researchers found that employees who enjoyed a workout before going to work - or exercised during lunchbreaks - were better equipped to handle whatever the day threw at them.

Mood Improvement It also found that people's general mood improved on days of exercise but they became less calm on non-exercise days.

Mental AND Physical Benefits The research, published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management, is the first of it's kind to prove that exercise during work hours has mental, as well as physical benefits.

Work Performance Workers performed significantly better on exercise days and across all three areas we measured, known as mental-interpersonal, output and time demands. The study group was made up of 200 university staff and employees working for a pensions company and an IT firm.

The Key Findings Were… Seventy two percent reported improvements in time management on exercise days compared to non-exercise days. Seventy nine percent said mental and interpersonal performance was better on days they exercised. Seventy four percent said they managed their workload better

Homeostasis Stress can disrupt the delicate homeostasis of our physical and mental well-being (Stress, 2006). In a stressful situation the body prepares for the fight or flight response by releasing stress hormones, such as cortisone and adrenaline (Stress, 2006). If the stress is prolonged or chronic, those chemicals can stay in the blood stream. Prolonged stress can lead to headaches, decreased immune system, fatigue, heart ailments, depression and many other physical and mental problems.

Endorphins It has long been thought that exercise can be a way to relieve stress. When one engages in physical activity there is certain chemical response the brain gives out. Endorphins are polypeptides that bind to the neuron-receptors in the brain and gives relief from stress (Carruthers, 2006). When they are released, endorphins can make one feel more positive and relaxed.

Stress / Cancer Correlation Scientists have suggested that the effects of stress on the immune system affect the growth and spread of some tumors. Recent research with animal models suggest that the body’s neuroendocrine response can directly alter important processes in cells that help protect against the formation of cancer such as DNA repair and regulation of cell growth.

Summary Stress is a defense mechanism built into our bodies. We produce adaptive hormones by glands inherited from our ancestors and which we pass to our own offspring. Balance is “key”. Some stress in beneficial – It motivates us and it protects us at times. When we allow stress to overwhelm us, stress becomes our enemy, causing physical and emotional ailments.

Some Closing Thoughts Words of wisdom from the Dalai Lama.  “I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind.”  “By bringing about a certain inner discipline we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living.”

 “One begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness.”  “Happiness is determined more by one’s state of mind than by external events.”

 “Right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness.”

Resources National Cancer Institute Melinda Smith, MA Ellen Jaffe-Gill, MA Robert Segal, MA Hans Selye, MD Joseph Strayhorn, PhD Howard Cutler, MD Dalai Lama