Dr Jennifer Martinick Reviews: Stress Management (Shared)

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STRESS
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Management
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Take the Stress Test

• Do any of these
• apply to you?

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Work Load

• Always too much work never able to relax
• High Pressure periods deadlines, test come all
  at once
• One or two difficult courses take all my time no
  time left for anything else
• Efforts often seem for nothing Dont get
  satisfying
• results

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• 5. Seems like I have a lot more work than
  roommate, friends
• 6. I have to work harder than roommate and
  friends to get the same results
• 7. My job takes up too much time I cant afford
  to cut back
• 8. My stress is complicated by commitments I
  cant get out of

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If you said yes to many work stressors

• you might consider one of the following
• Consult with a counselor about time management
  and/or priority setting
• Seek out a tutor or other study skills help
• Talk to the career center about work style

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People

1. Tension with family, friends or romantic partner
2. Incompatibility with roommates habits, schedule,
   lifestyle
3. Change in relationship love lost/gained new
   romantic partner
4. Death of a close friend or family member

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• 5. Parents divorce, separation or conflicts.
  Adjustment to parents new partner.
• 6. Interpersonal conflict trouble expressing
  needs or standing up for rights
• 7. Reluctant to ask for help
• 8. Trouble saying no

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If you said yes to many people stressors

• you might consider one of the following
• Talk to a friend, RA or counselor about the
  problem
• Go to a program on assertiveness training and/or
  conflict
• Take an interpersonal communication class

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Mind

• Worry about what people think?
• More time spent thinking about what can go wrong
  than what can go right
• More time spent thinking about what DID go wrong
  than where you can go from here
• No time to think, always having to do

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• 5. Motivation problems, difficulty getting
  started
• 6. Tendency to get too worked up when under
  pressure or in a crisis
• 7. Tendency to get down, dwell on how bad things
  are
• 8. Often feel guilty

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If you said yes to many mind stressors

• you are experiencing a lot of internally
  generated stress.
• Information or counseling on self talk,
  irrational beliefs and reinterpretation might be
  a good place to start.

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Body

• Insufficient sleep
• Frequent colds, sickness
• Negative effects from caffeine, nicotine,
  alcohol, etc.
• Uncomfortable chair, poor posture, excessive time
  hunched over book or computer.

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• 5. Eye Strain (wrong glasses, poor lighting,
  computer screen overload)
• 6. Inadequate nutrition, missed meals, reliance
  on junk food
• 7. Lack of exercise
• 8. Aversive environment

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If you said yes to many body stressors

• then try the following
• Exercise regularly
• Choose healthy foods
• Change your environment (lighting, space, etc.)
• Reduce or eliminate caffeine, nicotine and
  alcohol intake
• Get enough sleep

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So What can you do to alleviate excessive stress?
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Become Aware of Your Stressors and Emotional and
Physical Reactions

• - Notice when you are stressed, dont ignore it
• Find out what stresses you out and what they
  might be telling you
• Learn how it affects your body (sweats, stomach
  ache, etc)

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Recognize what you can change

• Can you change your stressors by avoiding or
  eliminating them?
• Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over
  time instead of immediately)
• Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a
  break, leave)
• Can you devote the
• time necessary to make
• a change?

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Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions

• Are you expecting to please everyone?
• Are you overreacting and viewing things as
  absolutely critical and urgent?
• Work at adopting moderate views, see stress as
  something you can cope with, not something that
  overpowers you
• Do not labor on the negative and/or the what ifs

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Learn to moderate your physical reactions to
stress

• Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate
  and respiration back to normal
• Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension.
• Medications, when prescribed by a physician can
  help in the short term.

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Build your physical reserves.

• Exercise for cardiovascular fitness 3 4 times a
  week
• Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals
• Maintain your ideal weight
• Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine and other
  stimulants
• Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away.
• Get enough sleep. Be consistent with your sleep
  schedule.

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Maintain your emotional reserves

• Develop mutually supportive friendships/relationsh
  ips.
• Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to
  you, rather than goals other have for you that
  you do not share.
• Expect some frustrations, failures and sorrows.
• Always be kind and gentle with yourself be a
  friend to yourself.

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Eliminating Stress From Your Environment

• A poorly organized living space can be a major
  source of stress.
• If your environment is well organized and
  pleasant, then it can help to reduce stress and
  increase productivity.
• Some people under stress need a calm environment,
  others may enjoy the raised levels of arousal
  associated with the 'buzz' of a busy space.

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Air Quality

• To improve air quality
• Ban smoking
• Open windows
• Use an ioniser
• Have plants in the room.

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Lighting

• Bad lighting can cause eye strain and increase
  fatigue, as can light that is too bright, or
  light that shines directly into your eyes.
  Fluorescent lighting can also be tiring. What you
  may not appreciate is that the quality of light
  may also be important.
• Try experimenting with working by a window or
  using full spectrum bulbs in your desk lamp. You
  will probably find that this improves the quality
  of your working environment.

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Decoration and Tidiness

• A chaotic and cluttered living or work space adds
  to stress.
• Dont be dogmatic, but keep the area you are
  working in free of clutter.
• Have calming and happy decorations.

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Noise

• Large amounts of background noise during the
  day can cause irritability, tension and headaches
  in addition to loss of concentration.
• Solutions
• use of quiet rooms when concentration is needed
• Use earplugs
• Try a pleasantly assertive approach. Ask that
  music is turned down or that the person use
  headphones

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Personal Space

• It is important for people to feel that they
  have sufficient personal space at work and at
  home.
• Where no personal space is available, then you
  can establish some feeling of ownership by
  bringing personal objects such as small plants or
  photographs of loved-ones.
• Block off a space using furniture, sheet or
  divider when you
• need some space.

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Meditation Techniques

• The essence of meditation is to quiet your
  thoughts by focusing completely on just one
  thing.
• Unlike hypnosis, which is more of a passive
  experience, meditation is an active process which
  seeks to exclude outside thoughts by
  concentrating all mental faculties on the subject
  of meditation.
• Keep your body relaxed. It should be in a
  position that you can comfortably sustain for a
  period of time (20 - 30 minutes is ideal).

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Breathing

• Focus your attention on your breathing.
• Concentrate on breaths in and out. Count your
  breaths using the numbers 0 to 9.
• Visualize images of the numbers changing with
  each breath.
• Alternatively, visualize health and relaxation
  flowing into your body when you inhale, and
  stress or pain flowing out when you exhale.

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Focusing on an object

• Completely focus attention on examination of an
  object.
• Look at it in immense detail for the entire
  meditation. Examine the shape, color differences,
  texture, temperature and movement of the object.
• Objects often used are flowers, or flowing
  designs. However you can use other objects
  equally effectively (e.g. alarm clocks, desk
  lamps, or even coffee mugs!)

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Focus on a sound

• Some people like to focus on sounds. The classic
  example is the Sanskrit word 'Om', meaning
  'perfection'.

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Imagery

• Create a mental image of a pleasant and
  relaxing place in your mind. Involve all your
  senses in the imagery see the place, hear the
  sounds, smell the aromas, feel the temperature
  and the movement of the wind. Enjoy the location
  in your mind.