1. Stress Management

2. Recognizing Stress
Stress Management is the ability to handle stress in healthy ways.
The first step in handling or managing your stress is to recognize that you are stressed.

3. Common Signs That You Are Stressed
Physical
Mental and emotional
Headaches
Dry mouth
Teeth grinding
Shortness of breath
Pounding heart
Muscle aches
Fatigue
Insomnia
Frustration
Depression
Irritability
Worrying
Confusion
Forgetfulness
Poor concentration
Loneliness

4. So, What Can You Do?
1. Get rid of the stress causing you problems. 2. Wash your hands often (decrease getting sick). 3. Eat healthy foods and take a multivitamin. 4. Your diet should be low in fats and sugars. 5. Get regular exercise.

5. So, What Can You Do?
6. Get the right amount of sleep. 7. Cut down/eliminate caffeine intake. 8. Be assertive—protect your time, energy and efforts. 9. Talk with friends and family and use their help if needed. 10. Avoid too many major changes at once.

6. So, What Can You Do?
11. Find a retreat if necessary. 12. Learn to manage your time. 13. Try to calm down and deal with daily hassles. 14. Reduce noise in your life. 15. Keep clutter to a minimum.

7. Handling Distress
Reframing: changing the way you think about a stressor, and changing your emotional response to the stressor.
Asserting Yourself: Telling other people how you feel—speak up for yourself without hurting others.
Planning Ahead: Make time to do things you need to do—even if it’s something you don’t like doing.
Laughing: Make it a habit to find something to laugh about every single day.

8. Sharing Emotions
Emotions are the feelings produced as you respond to something in your life.
They are perfectly natural, but may be very powerful.
Sometimes talking about your problem can help you to solve it.
Find someone that you trust to talk to—friend, parent, counselor, teacher, etc…
Make sure it’s someone that cares about you and will take the time to listen.

9. Taking Time for Yourself
You should have about 30 minutes per day just to yourself.
It is hard to find this time because you have so many responsibilities in your life, but it can greatly decrease the stress in your life.

10. Learn to Relax
During the stress response your body loses energy and build up tension.
There are a few relaxation strategies to help you.
Breathing exercises: taking in oxygen to completely fill the lungs. Inhale slowly until your lungs can’t hold anymore and then exhale slowly.
Helps muscles and organs function properly
Helps brain stay alert and focused
Slows heart rate
Tension-releasing exercises: tense and release all of the muscles or muscle groups in your body one at a time. Notice how it feels when you are tensed and relaxed.

11. Time Management
Time management is making appropriate choices about how to use your time.
Make a schedule using a calendar, planner or notebook.
Prioritize your tasks and activities in order of importance, and do the most important things first.

12. Time Management Making a schedule: Know and set your limits:
Enter your priorities first.
Be realistic.
Prepare for problems.
Make time to relax.
Do it.
Know and set your limits:
Don’t take on more than you can handle.
Learn to say “no”

13. Time Management

14. The Jar of Life
5 Minutes

15. Find Something to Laugh About Everyday
3 Minutes

16. Meditation and Relaxing Music

17. Be Confident
The more confident you are, the better you will feel about yourself and the more positive your perception of a situation will be.
Remember similar challenges you have met successfully.

18. Positive Self-Talk Say or think positive things to yourself.
It will help you to feel better about situations.

19. Resiliency
Resiliency is the ability to recover from illness, hardship, and other stressors.
Resilient people continue to be optimistic when life gets tough.
You can get your strength and resiliency from assets.
An asset is a skill or resource that can help you reach a goal.

20. Eight Assets for Building Resiliency
Description
Example
Support
Having family, friends and others to help you
You talk to the school counselor about a problem
Empowerment
Feeling as if you are a valuable member of your community and family
You volunteer to start a drug-free campaign at school
Boundaries
Having a clear set of rules and consequences for school, family and relationships
You know that if someone bullies you at school a teacher will speak with them
Productive Use of Time
Choosing creative and productive activities
You join a school club instead of playing video games after school
Commitment to Learning
Understanding the value of school work
You spend time working on school assignments
Positive Values
Caring, integrity, honesty, self-responsibility, equality and justice
You support a friend in telling the truth even though doing so may get them in trouble
Social Skills
Communicating effectively, respecting others, and avoiding peer pressure
You talk out a disagreement instead of yelling and fighting
Positive Identity
Having high self-esteem, a sense of control, and feeling as if you have a purpose
You use positive self talk to prepare for a speech