1. Chapter 3
Stress

2. Stress
Is 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.
2 types of Stress
Eustress-positive stress
Distress- negative stress

3. Causes An event or situation that causes stress is called a stressor.
Four general types of stressors are major life changes, catastrophes, everyday problems, and environmental problems.
What are some examples of major life changes?

4. How Stress affects the body
Anytime your body feels threatened, your body’s response isn’t under your control.
The body’s response to stress occurs in 3 stages- alarm stage, resistance stage, and the exhaustion stage.

5. The alarm Stage
During the alarm stage, your body releases a substance called adrenaline into your blood.
It causes immediate changes in your body.
Your heart beats faster, breathing speeds up, and your muscles tense.
These changes prepare you for the body’s initial reaction which is fight-or-flight response.

6. Resistance stage
If you are unable to successfully respond to a stressor during the alarm stage, your body moves into resistance stage.
During this stage, your body adapts to the continued presence, and you may no longer think you are stressed because the alarm stage disappears.
However, the work that your body does during the resistance stage uses a lot of energy such as becoming tired, irritable, and less able to handle anymore stress.

7. Exhaustion stage
In this stage your body can no longer keep up with the demands placed on it.
Exhaustion stage occurs only if the stressor continues for a long time.
People may reach this stress level when they experience extreme stress that is beyond their control….Ex.Death

8. Warning Signs of Stress
The warning signs of stress include changes in how your body functions and changes in emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
Headache
Upset stomach
Angry
Unable to concentrate
Sleep problems

9. Stress & Illness
Stress can trigger certain illnesses, reduce the body’s ability to fight an illness, and make some diseases harder to control.
57% of female teens and 36% of male teens report having a least one headache each week.

10. Stress & individuals
How you react to a stressor depends on how you assess the situation.
You should always ask your self 2 important questions.
Is this situation a threat to my well-being?
DO I have the necessary resources to meet the challenge?
Time, energy, skills, and experience are resources.
Situations that cause the most distress are those in which you answer NO to question 2.

11. Stress & personality
Your personality have a lot to do with how you respond to stressors.
Optimism- is the tendency to focus on the positive aspects of a situation.
Pessimism- is the tendency to focus on the negative and expect the worst.
Perfectionist- is a person who accepts nothing less than excellence.
Which one are you?

12. Take control of stress
Two techniques that can help you keep stress under control are time management & mental rehearsal.
There are three strategies that can help you relieve stress tension….
Physical activity
Relaxation
Biofeedback
Change you thinking: Avoid negative thinking, & try finding humor in a situation.

13. Resilience & Support
You need to build resilience to help you deal with extreme or prolonged stress.
Such as… Pg.75
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.
Name some people?