Stress

1
Stress

• How Can You Make It Better?

2
Stress and College

• People often assume that college is a fun,
  carefree time and that it is low-stress.
• According to a study done by a Rhode Island
  psychologist, Jim Campbell, PhD, college is one
  of the most high-risk environments for stress
  related illnesses and suicide.

3
Stress and College

• What are those stress related illnesses that are
  most common in college students?
• Drug abuse
• Alcohol Abuse
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Personality Disorders

4
Stress and College

• Defining Stress
• Good Stress Keeps us alert and motivates us to
  face challenges, drives us to solve problems.
• Bad Stress Occurs when our minds and bodies
  overreact emotionally, intellectually or
  physically to changes or demands.

5
Stress and College

• So why do we stress out so much during college?
• Time Management is the biggest problem
• Not prioritizing daily tasks.
• Not setting long and short term goals.
• Not taking time to relax.
• So many students work while going to school, this
  adds another dimension of responsibility and
  stress.
• Unrealistic goals and beliefs (REBT therapy).

6
Stress and College

• Its all about BALANCE!
• There should be a balanced amount of time in your
  schedule for academics, work, and social time.

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Stress and College

• BALANCE is hard to achieve, especially when you
  are a freshman and are handling these
  responsibilities on your own for the first time.
• Age does not matter here A college workload can
  be overwhelming to an 18 year old right out of
  high school or a 50 year old retiree looking to
  start a new career.

8
Stress and College

• How do you prioritize daily tasks?
• If its school What is due first? What will
  effect your grade the most, if turned in late or
  left undone? Do you have study time built into
  your daily schedule? Can you afford to miss it or
  skimp on it to do something else?

9
Stress and College

• If its personal or social There are things you
  have to do - like pick up your kids, go to work.
  Then there are things that are optional Meet a
  friend for lunch, Watch T.V., Go to a social
  event.

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Stress and College

• The key to BALANCE is to look at those things you
  have to do, and those things in your day that are
  optional.
• You must carve out extra time from the optional
  tasks.
• Learn to say NO friends and family may not
  always understand, but they are not the ones
  living your life. One day, it will make sense to
  them!

11
Stress and College

• Managing long and short term tasks
• Get a notebook, clipboard, legal pad, etc
• Draw a line down the middle of the paper.
• Put a date in the left hand column each new day.
• Left hand side is short term, daily TO DOs.
• Right hand side is long term goals, TO DOs.
• Keep a running list use a highlighter to mark
• through those tasks you have completed.
• Keep your notebook with you at all times

12
Stress and College

• Strategies for managing stress (yes, weve all
  heard of them, but many of us dont practice
  them!)
• Learn to manage your time (keep your TO DO list
  and follow it!)
• Exercise (yes, I hate it too but it works!)
• Each day, find at least 20 minutes of alone time
  to relax (meditate, breathing exercises,
  progressive muscle relaxation, soft music, etc)

13
Stress Management

• Strategies Continued
• Dont sweat the small stuff, ask yourself, is
  this getting in the way of any of my goals? If it
  is, how much is it going to affect them? (REBT
  therapy) Its probably not worth getting upset
  about.
• Humor and positive thinking are so important!
• Talk to a person you trust, friend, parent,
  counselor, significant other. It always helps to
  say it out loud. Sometimes it sounds really minor
  when you actually say it to another person.
• Dispute Irrational Beliefs. (REBT therapy)

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Stress and REBT Therapy

• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy
• First developed by Albert Ellis
• A very practical and self activating approach to
  dealing with stress and most any other situation
  in life.

15
Stress and REBT

• Ellis ABC model
• A1 Activating Event what happened?
• Friend passed me on the street without
  acknowledging me.
• A2 Inferences about what happened
• Hes ignoring me. He doesnt like me.

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Stress and REBT

• ABC Model Continued
• B Beliefs about A
• I must have done something to make him mad. Im
  unacceptable as a friend so I must be a
  worthless person.

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Stress and REBT

• ABC model continued
• C Reaction
• Emotions depressed
• Behaviors avoiding that friend or people in
  general

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Stress and REBT

• Note that A alone does not cause C, rather A
  triggers off B and B then causes C often becoming
  the A of another episode. Its a continuous chain
  reaction.
• For example, the person in the example we used
  could notice their avoidance of other people (a
  major source of stress) and interpret this as
  weak, and begin self-downing.

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Stress and REBT

• NOTICE most beliefs are outside conscious
  awareness. They are habitual or automatic, often
  consisting of underlying rules about how the
  world and life should be. These are often
  products of our upbringing.
• Ellis refers to these as core beliefs, often,
  irrational beliefs.

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Stress and REBT

• What are irrational beliefs?
• They block a person from achieving their goals,
  creates extreme emotions that persist and leads
  to stress and immobilization.
• They distort reality, it is a misinterpretation,
  not supported by any evidence.
• They contain illogical ways of evaluating
  oneself, others, and the world demandingness,
  awfulising, discomfort-intolerance and
  people-rating.
• They are more commonly known as self-defeating.

21
Stress and REBT

• Helping yourself to change
• Understand that emotions and behaviors are caused
  by beliefs and thinking (your beliefs and
  thinking.)
• Uncover the relevant beliefs. Rewrite the belief
  to be rational and true.
• Incorporate the new, more realistic belief into
  your daily life. (HUGE STRESS RELIEVER!!!!)
• Emphasis is on rethinking, action, and the fact
  that you are in control of yourself. You can
  effect change in your life, and hopefully
  de-stress and have a healthier outlook.

22
Conclusion

• What is stress?
• What is the difference between good stress and
  bad stress?
• Is it possible to reduce your stress in a healthy
  way?

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Quotes To Consider

• The greatest weapon against stress is our
  ability to choose one thought over another.
• William James
• Sometimes when people are under stress, they
  hate to think, and its the time when they most
  need to think.
• Bill Clinton
• Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst
  those in touch with it.
• Lily Tomlin
• When stress is at its highest, just know it can
  only go down.
• Tom Rataj