Stress Management

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Chapter 10
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Stress Management

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Key Terms
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Stress The mental, emotional, and physiological
  response of the body to any situation that is
  new, threatening, frightening, or exciting
• Stressor Stress-causing event

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Key Terms
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Eustress Positive stress health and performance
  continue to improve even as stress increases

• Distress Negative stress unpleasant or harmful
  stress under which health and performance begin
  to deteriorate

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Key Terms
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Homeostasis A natural state of equilibrium The
  body attempts to maintain this equilibrium by
  constantly reacting to external forces that
  attempt to disrupt this fine balance

• General adaptation syndrome (GAS) A theoretical
  model that explains the bodys adaptation to
  sustained stress includes three stages alarm
  reaction, resistance, and exhaustion/recovery

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Stress
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Learning to live and get ahead today is nearly
  impossible without stress
• Few people seem to understand stress or know how
  to cope effectively
• A certain amount of stress (eustress) is
  necessary for optimum health, performance, and
  well-being

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Stress Response
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Stress prepares the organism to react to the
  stressor (fight or flight mechanism)
• Some people thrive under stress, others are
  unable to handle it
• The individuals reaction to a stress-causing
  agent determines whether that stress is positive
  (eustress) or negative (distress)
• When stress levels reach mental, emotional, and
  physiological limits, stress becomes distress and
  the person no longer functions effectively

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Relationship between Stress and Health and
Performance
10.1
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General Adaptation Syndrome
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Alarm reaction The bodys immediate response to
  a stressor
• Resistance The body calls upon its limited
  reserves to build up resistance to the
  stressorfor a short while it copes effectively
• Exhaustion/recovery The body loses its ability
  to copeit functions at a diminished capacity
  until it recovers if stress persists, illness
  may follow

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General Adaptation Syndrome The bodys response
to stress can end in exhaustion, illness, or
recovery
10.2
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Stress and Illness
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Chronic distress raises the risk for many health
  disorders, including
• Coronary heart disease
• Hypertension
• Eating disorders
• Ulcers
• Diabetes
• Asthma

• Depression
• Migraine headaches
• Sleep disorders
• Chronic fatigue
• Possibly cancer

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• Stress and Your Health

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Common Symptoms of Stress
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Headaches
• Muscular aches (mainly in neck, shoulders, and
  back)
• Grinding teeth
• Nervous tic, finger tapping, toe tapping
• Increased sweating

• Increase in or loss of appetite
• Insomnia
• Nightmares
• Fatigue
• Dry mouth
• Stuttering

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Common Symptoms of Stress
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• High blood pressure
• Tightness or pain in the chest
• Impotence
• Hives
• Dizziness
• Depression

• Irritation
• Anger
• Hostility
• Fear, panic, anxiety
• Stomach pain, flutters
• Nausea

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Common Symptoms of Stress
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Cold, clammy hands
• Poor concentration
• Pacing
• Restlessness

• Rapid heart rate
• Low-grade infection
• Loss of sex drive
• Rash or acne

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Critical Thinking
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Can you identify sources of eustress and distress
  in your personal life during this past year?
• Explain your emotional and physical response to
  each stressor and how the two differ.

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Stressors inthe Lives of College Students
10.3
students
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Key Terms
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Type A Behavior pattern characteristic of a
  hard-driving, overambitious, aggressive, at times
  hostile, and overly competitive person
• Type B Behavior pattern characteristic of a
  calm, casual, relaxed, and easy-going individual

• Type C Behavior pattern of individuals who are
  just as highly stressed as the Type A but do not
  seem to be at higher risk for disease than the
  Type B

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Changing Type A Personality
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Write a contract with yourself
• Work on only one or two habits at a time
• Eat more slowly and only when you are relaxed and
  sitting down
• If you smoke, quit

• Cut caffeine intake it increases tendency to
  become irritated
• Take regular breaks throughout the day
• Work on fighting your impatience
• Work on controlling hostility keep a log

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Changing Type A Personality
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Look for patterns of what sets you off
• Plan activities just for fun
• Choose a role model
• Simplify which activities can you eliminate?
• Set your alarm clock half an hour earlier

• Do something truly relaxing each day
• Pay attention to what your own body clock is
  saying
• Learn to treasure unplanned surprises
• Savor your relationships

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Stress Vulnerability
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• A number of factors affect the way in which
  people handle stress (see Lab 10B in your
  textbook)
• How people deal with these factors can increase
  or decrease vulnerability to stress
• These factors are related to health, social
  support, self-worth, and nurturance (sense of
  being needed)
• Many of these factors describe situations and
  behaviors that are within a persons control
• To make yourself less vulnerable to stress,
  improve the factors that make you more vulnerable
  to stress

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Time Management
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• People who do not manage time properly experience
  chronic stress, fatigue, despair, discouragement,
  and illness
• Steps to time management
• Find time killers
• Set long-range and short-range goals
• Prioritize your immediate goals
• Use a daily planner
• Conduct nightly audits

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Time Management Skills
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Delegate
• Say no
• Protect against boredom
• Plan for disruptions
• Get it done

• Eliminate distractions
• Set aside overtimes
• Plan time for you
• Reward yourself

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Fight or flight Physiological response to stress
  that prepares the individual to take action by
  stimulating the vital defense systems

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Physiological Response to StressFight-or-Flight
Mechanism
10.4
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Managing Stress
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Physical activity
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Breathing exercises
• Visual imagery
• Autogenic training
• Meditation
• Yoga

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Physical Activity
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Reduces muscular tension
• Metabolizes the increased catecholamines
  (hormones), which were triggered by the
  fight-or-flight mechanism and brought about by
  the physiological changes
• Although exercise does not get rid of the
  stressor, it helps a person cope and prevents
  stress from becoming a chronic problem

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Progressive muscle relaxation A stress
  management technique that involves progressive
  contraction and relaxation of muscle groups
  throughout the body

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Breathing exercises A stress management
  technique wherein the individual concentrates on
  breathing away the tension and inhaling fresh
  air to the entire body

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Imagery Mental visualization of calming images
  and scenes to induce body relaxation in times of
  stress or as an aid in the treatment of certain
  medical conditions such as cancer, hypertension,
  asthma, chronic pain, and obesity

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Autogenic training Stress management technique
  using a form of self-suggestion, wherein an
  individual is able to place him/herself in an
  autohypnotic state by repeating and concentrating
  on feelings of heaviness and warmth in the
  extremities

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Meditation A stress management technique used to
  gain control over ones attention by clearing the
  mind and blocking out the stressor(s) responsible
  for the increased tension

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Key Term
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• Yoga A school of thought in the Hindu religion
  that seeks to help the individual attain a higher
  level of spirituality and peace of mind

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Critical Thinking
Adapting to Stress
Sources of Stress
Behavior Patterns
Vulnerability to Stress
Time Management
Coping with Stress

• List the three most common stressors that you
  face as a college student.
• What techniques have you used to manage these
  situations, and in what way have they helped you
  cope?

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End of Chapter