Mental Health Issues Stress

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Mental Health Issues (Stress)
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Stress

• What is Stress?
• Stress is a combination of mental, physical
  and emotional responses caused by an increase in
  perceived pressures and problems. Pressure can be
  a positive force that helps us perform at our
  best, but people react to pressure in different
  ways.
• One of the main causes of stress among
  students is the feeling that they do not have the
  resources to meet the increasing demands made on
  them by contemporary society. Discussing these
  issues can relieve stress but teenagers and young
  adults tend to communicate with adults less as
  they move out of childhood.

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Stress

• What creates stress?
• There are many causes of stress for young people.
  These include family breakdown, moving home,
  starting a new school, bereavement, social
  isolation, bullying, exam pressures, illness, low
  self esteem, poor self image, academic failure,
  rejection by others and lack of emotional and
  social support.

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Stress

• What creates stress?
• Stress may manifest itself in a variety of ways.
  Here are some examples.
• Physical headaches, dry mouth, sweating, aches
  and pains, bowel problems, palpitations,
  indigestion, weight gain or loss, insomnia,
  fainting, skin irritation, rashes, frequent
  colds, breathing problems.
• Mental Distraction, worry, impaired judgment,
  muddled thinking, short temper, negative
  thoughts, rash decisions, nightmares, poor
  concentration, poor listening skills, lost in
  thought.

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Stress

• Emotional Anger, paranoia, apathy, depression,
  anxiety, tension, guilt, suspicion, lack of self
  confidence, feeling drained, fear, nervousness,
  lack of motivation.
• Behavioural Aggression, hyperactivity,
  unsociability, withdrawal, loss of interest in
  appearance, withdrawal from supportive
  relationships, changing patterns of attendance,
  self harm, changes in eating patterns, pulling
  out hair, grinding teeth, crying for no apparent
  reason.

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Stress

• What are the signs of stress in the classroom?
• Aggression attacking the stressor, self
  harming, attacking other people
• Regression reverting to behaviour that worked
  before, for example crying for effect.
• Withdrawal fantasising, inattention, deliberate
  forgetting, walking out of the room.
• Repression denial of the stressor or redefining
  the stressor unrealistically.
• Fixation persisting in a response regardless of
  its effectiveness.
• Depression illness, absenteeism, displacement
  and avoidance activities.

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Stress

• How can we help students cope with stress?
• Positive self esteem is important. Low self
  esteem not only inhibits learning and academic
  achievement, it is a risk for suicide, attempted
  suicide and bullying.

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Stress

• How do I help a student identify stressors at
  college?
• Work on time management, evaluate timetable
  demands, tell them to avoid comparing themselves
  with others.
• How do I help a student alter their reactions to
  stress?
• Ask how they feel when stressed. Do they
  recognise the signs? How have they coped with
  stressful situations in the past.

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Stress

• How do I help a student develop strategies to
  cope with stress?
• Help them balance educational and other demands.
  Look at lifestyle, emphasise adequate sleep, good
  diet, leisure activities, relaxation exercises.
  Know when to walk away and switch off. Use
  the weblinks or student resources provided. A
  de-stress area in the college can help. This is
  a place where students can be free of pressure of
  study. Music and magazines can help provide a
  chill out zone.Students under pressure can
  benefit from this especially when they reach
  burnout point.

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Stress

• Further information and support
• Channel 4 Health www.channel4.com/health/microsit
  es/0-9/health/stress/index.html
• Stressbusting www.stressbusting.co.uk
• The Mental Health Foundation www.mentalhealth.org
  .uk
• Mind www.mind.org.uk
• Young Minds www.youngminds.org.uk