MANAGING STRESS

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MANAGING STRESS

• Joan Meade
• November 2006

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What is Stress

• Stress is inevitable
• Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies
  experience as we adjust to our continually
  changing environment
• it has physical and emotional effects on us and
  can create positive or negative feelings
• Positive stress, eustress, can help compel us to
  action it can result in a new awareness and an
  exciting new perspective
• With positive stress we adapt and adjust, feel
  competent, challenged, and satisfied with our
  ability to cope.

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What is Stress (contd.)

• Negative stress, distress, wears us out
• It results in feelings of distrust, rejection,
  anger, and depression
• It can lead to health problems
• With new circumstances we experience stress as we
  readjust our lives
• In adjusting to different circumstances, stress
  will help or hinder us depending on how we react
  to it.

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Diagnose Stress

• Modified Petrie Stress Recognition Test
• Stress Index
• Stress Events
• Are you stressed?

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Effects of Stress

• Positive stress adds anticipation and excitement
  to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount
  of stress
• Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and
  even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and
  enrichment to our lives
• Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn
  how to manage it and how to use it to help us
• Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may
  leave us feeling bored or dejected
• Excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in
  knots"
• What we need to do is find the optimal level of
  stress which will individually motivate but not
  overwhelm each of us

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Effects of Stress

• Tightened muscles
• Increased heart rate and blood pressure
• Rapid breathing
• Shut down digestion
• Reactions such as anger, irritability, anxiety,
  frustration, worry
• Physical problems such as
• headaches, neck pain, backaches, dizziness, heart
  palpitations, abdominal pain, upset stomach,
  insomnia,
• rashes, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart
  disease, and stroke

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Why These Effects?

• Prepares you for automatic response
• Fright we feel nervous, weak at the knees,
  shake, collapse
• Flight we run away, escape, take evasive action
• Fight we get extra strength, attack, fight back
• But, cumulative stress can have a serious effect
  on health

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What to do about Stress?

• Identify where stress is coming from
• Avoid some situations
• Reduce, eliminate, control stressors
• Change the way you think about stress
• Adopt a realistic attitude
• Undo stress by relaxing

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How to Relax

• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Interact with a relaxation stereogram

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• While seated quietly comfortably (you may wish
  to listen to soothing music)
• Close your eyes
• Inhale exhale
• Bend your right hand back at the wrist, hold,
  relax
• Bend your left hand back at the wrist, hold,
  relax

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Tighten both hands into fists, hold, relax
• Bend both arms at the elbows and raise hand
  towards shoulders, tighten, hold, relax
• Raise eyebrows as far as you can, hold, relax
• Squeeze eyelids tightly shut, hold, relax
• Bite down , clamp your teeth shut, hold, relax

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• Bend your head forward, touch chin to chest,
  hold, relax
• Raise shoulders as high as possible, hold, drop
  them relax
• Take a deep breath, hold it, pull arms back
  trying to touch shoulder blades together, hold,
  relax
• Arch back away from chair as far as possible,
  hold, relax

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

• With feet flat on floor, press down as hard as
  possible, hold, relax
• Raise right leg out in front of you, hold, relax
• Raise left leg out in front of you, hold relax
• Bend toes up as if pointing to the ceiling, hold,
  relax
• Imagine that you are at one of your favourite,
  peaceful, pleasant places
• Continue to relax

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Stress Management Stereogram
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Burn Out

• Total depletion of physical and mental resources
• The result of too much stress coupled with trying
  to reach unattainable goals

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Signs of Burn Out

• Inability to relax
• Close identification with activities so that when
  they fall apart so do you
• Positions you worked hard to attain seem
  meaningless
• You work more and enjoy it less
• You need a crutch such as alcohol, smoking,
  tranquillizers
• Constantly irritable and looking unwell
• Describe self as workaholic and concentrate on
  work related goals to the exclusion of other
  interests

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What to do about Burnout

• Break your patterns
• Get away from it all periodically
• Reassess your goals Are they worth it?
• Think about your work Can you do as good a job
  without getting so intense?
• Reduce stress

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Reduce Workplace Stress

• Employers can
• Allow employees to talk freely and consult with
  each other
• Reduce personal conflicts
• Give employees adequate control over how they
  work
• Ensure adequate staffing
• Have open communication between management
  employees

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Reduce Workplace Stress

• Support employees efforts
• Provide competitive leave benefits
• Maintain benefits
• Reduce red tape
• Recognize reward accomplishments
  contributions
• Ensure job fit

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Reduce Workplace Stress

• Employees can
• Build rewarding, pleasant, cooperative
  relationship with colleagues
• Dont bite off more than you can chew
• Build effective, supportive relationship with
  boss
• Negotiate realistic deadlines
• Study the future

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Reduce Workplace Stress

• Find time every day for detachment relaxation
• Take a walk round the office now then to
  refresh self
• Find ways to reduce noise in the office
• Delegate to reduce unnecessary work
• Limit interruptions
• Dont put off dealing with problems
• Make a worry list