1. Stressed?

2. Stress… Think about it
Try to identify some stressors (events or situations that cause stress) you have faced or are currently facing
Describe how you feel and act when under stress
Consider the following
Behavioral changes
Changes of thinking
Physical changes
Emotional changes

3. What causes Stress
Stress: the response of your body and mind to being challenged or threatened.
You experience stress when situations, events, or people make demands on your body and mind.
Eustress: = Positive Stress
Positive when it helps you escape a dangerous situation, promotes personal growth, and helps you accomplish your goals.
Distress: = Negative Stress
Negative when it decreases personal growth and accomplishes your goals.
Stressor: an event or situation that causes stress.
Major life changes Ex: Graduation, Divorce
Catastrophes Ex: Hurricane Katrina, 911
Everyday problems Ex: loosing keys, forgetting HW
Environmental problems Ex: noise/weather

4. Stress on your body
Alarm stage- prepares the body for action. Body releases adrenaline, which causes your heart to beat faster, breathing speeds up, and your muscles become tense.
Fight or Flight response: initial reaction of the body to stress during the alarm stage.
Resistance Stage: During this stage, your body adapts to the continued presence of the stressor. Your body uses up a lot of energy during this stage causing you to become more tired and irritable, and less able to handle any added stress.
Exhaustion stage: Your body can no longer keep up with the demands placed on it. Exhaustion occurs only if a stressor continues for a long time-usually weeks, months, or even years.
Ex: extreme stress that is beyond one’s control such as death

6. Warning signs of stress
Behavioral changes:
Signs: sleep problems, overeating, under eating, talking fast, withdrawing from relationships.
Changes in thinking:
Signs: unable to concentrate, negative thinking, excessive worrying, self-criticism, critical of others.
Physical Changes:
Signs: tense muscles, headache, upset stomach, shortness of breath, increased sweating, pounding heart.
Emotional Changes:
Signs: angry, irritable, impatient, nervous, increased crying

7. Coping with stress
It is important to distinguish between stressors that you can control and those you cannot.
Cannot control:
Natural disasters: Hurricane Katrina
Major life changes: Death of loved one
Physical environment: Where you live with and who you live with
Can Control:
Everyday problems: improving grades

8. Techniques for stress control
Time Management: Setting priorities, breaking down large tasks into smaller ones, making a realistic schedule, and saying no to requests that are not priorities.
Time wasters: playing video games, watching tv, talking on the phone
Mental Rehearsal: You practice an event without actually doing the event. The event takes place in your mind as you imagine yourself performing at your best.
Solo at a concert, speech, athletic performance

9. How would you cope? Bullying Sports Pressure Test Anxiety Rejection
Moving
Starting High School
Peer Pressure
Describe the situation and then discuss tips to handle the stress.

10. Reduce tension
Physical activity: by doing something physically active, you provide your body with a healthy outlet for built-up energy and it gives your mind a chance to relax.
Do something you enjoy and incorporate it into your daily routine. Ex: taking a walk, playing the drums, etc.
Relaxation: the goal of relaxation techniques is to give your mind and body a rest. When you are relaxed, you may be awake and alert, but you are not responding actively to stressors.
Examples: read a book, take a nap, listen to music, play a guitar, stretch, hot bath or shower.
Biofeedback: people learn to control one or more body functions by monitoring their body’s responses.
Example: people with asthma may be able to reduce their need for medication by learning to control their heart rates.

11. Change your thinking
Avoiding negative thinking: Negative thinking only increases a person’s stress level and it becomes almost impossible to succeed.
Monitor your internal conversations closely. Substitute positive thoughts for negative thoughts. Example: Instead of thinking “I’ll never be able to do this” think “ I have done things like this before”
Act as a coach while you think about an upcoming stressful event. Example: as you do a mental rehearsal, give yourself positive messages such as “you can do it”
Humor: Allows you to deal quickly with a stressor and keep it in the proper perspective. Can be an effective way to ease tension and provide relief from stress.

12. Build Resilience
The ability to recover or “bounce back” from extreme or prolonged stress
Take care of yourself: Eat well, exercise, get plenty of sleep
Build a support system: Strong relationships with family, friends, and others
Take action: set short-term goals
Help somebody: volunteer or help a friend
Confide in yourself: write in a journal
Go easy on yourself: Cut yourself some slack
Put things in perspective: look beyond a difficult situation to a time when things will be better.
Find a problem-free zone: A place where you are free from stress.
Stick to your routines: During a major life change, keep to a daily routine

13. Support
Sharing your problems can help you see them more clearly. Just describing your concerns to someone else often helps you to understand the problem better:
Parent or other adult relative
Teacher, coach, religious leader
School counselor or nurse
Sibling or friend
Counselor or specialist

14. Stress and Illness Severe or prolonged stress can affect your health.
Stress can trigger certain illnesses, reduce the body’s ability to fight and illness, and make some diseases harder to control.
Examples:
Stomachaches:
Disrupts movement of food
Increase gas, diarrhea, cramps
Increase acid which leads to ulcers
Asthma attacks: air passages narrow= coughing, wheezing, and gasping for air.
Headaches: (migraines) blood vessels in head narrow=Decrease in oxygen to brain=blood vessels must open wide=throbbing

15. Stress and Illness Heart Disease
Frequent or prolonged stress can cause damage to muscle fibers in the heart and damage the lining of the blood vessels= increase in blood pressure.
Decrease stress = decrease in blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

16. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD: Physical and mental illness resulting from severe trauma.
Examples: Combat in war, living through a natural disaster, rape, physical assault, life-threatening illness
About 4% of the U.S. population is estimated to have PTSD.
Diagnosis: Flashbacks, recurrent thoughts and dreams, outbursts of anger, easily startled, little interests in daily activities, feeling cut off from others, sense of having a limited future.