S T R E S S

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S T R E S S
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S T R E S S

• Learning Objectives
• What is stress
• Identifying our stressors
• How our body and mind
• responds to stress
• What are our vulnerabilities
• How we can better manage
• our stress

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S T R E S S

• What is it?
• Stress is the bodys and minds response to a
  demand.
• This demand is called a stressor.

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Types of stressors

• Environmental Stressors
• Conditions or events in your physical
  environment.
• Examples Pollution, poverty, crowding, noise,
  natural disasters, messy
• work
• area.

• Biological Stressors
• Conditions that make it difficult for your body
  to take part in daily activities.
• Examples Illness, disability, injury.

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Types of stressors continued . . .

• Thinking Stressors
• Any type of mental challenge, concern or worry.
• Examples School, work, kids, bills,
  relationships.

• Behavioral Stressors
• Unhealthy behaviors or habits.
• Examples Not getting enough sleep, being late,
  using alcohol or tobacco, drugs, arguing.

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Types of stressors continued . . .

• Life Change Stressors
• Any major life change, positive or negative.
• Examples Getting married, divorced, death of
  loved one, going away to college.

• What are your
• stressors?

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Important Concept to Understand

• A stressor will cause a person to experience a
  stress response only if they perceive the demand
  to be a threat.

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Emotional and Behavioral Response to Stress

• The way you respond to a stressor depends on
  whether you consider the stressor to be positive
  or negative.
• Example Giving a presentation in
  front of the class.
• Eustress positive stress good stress that
  helps us
• - alert, focused, motivated, energized,
  confident
• Distress negative stress
• - nervous, forgetful, frightened, confused,
  unsure

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How the Body and Mind Reacts to Stress

• Your body reacts to stress in three phases
• Alarm Stage Fight or Flight Response the
  
• body
  physically responds to the
  demand
• Resistance Stage Body continues responding
• until
  the stress is resolved, or the
• body
  settles down to recuperate.
  
• Exhaustion Stage Stress persists, the body
  
• soon
  becomes exhausted.
• 
  Disease or disorders may occur.

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If the stress continues . . .

• Resistance stage - If the stress continues, your
  body becomes more resistant to disease and
  injury. You can cope with added stress, but for
  only a limited time.

• Exhaustion stage - You can no longer take
  anymore of the stressor, especially if several
  stressors occur at once. Body physically and
  mentally gives in.

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The Alarm Stage - The Fight or Flight Response

• Hearing, seeing, feeling or thinking danger
  (the demand), the hypothalamus sends a chemical
  message to the pituitary gland.
• The pituitary gland then sends a chemical message
  to the adrenal glands (on top of kidneys) to
  release adrenaline, cortisol, and dopamine.

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The Fight or Flight ResponseThe adrenaline in
the bloodstream causes the following actions to
occur immediately with in the body. Some or all
may occur.

• Body cells release energy faster (blood sugar
  rises)
• Stomach acid increases
• Hearing ability increases
• Blood clotting ability increases
• Blood vessels carry less blood to skin and
  digestive system
• Pupils dilate (to let more light in)

• Increase alertness
• (more blood to brain)
• Heart rate speeds
• up
• Blood pressure
• increases
• Breathing
• accelerates
• Sweating increases
• Mouth becomes dry
• Muscles tense
• Digestion slows

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Long-Term Stress Can Make You SickStress-Related
Diseases, Disorders and Conditions

• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• High Blood pressure
• Increase blood cholesterol
• Asthma
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Erectile dysfunction
• Infertility
• Diabetes

• Backaches
• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ)
• Chronic fatigue
• Constipation
• Gastric (stomach) ulcers
• Anxiety disorders
• Decreased libido
• Acne, eczema, psoriasis
• Lower Immunity
• Arthritis

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Vulnerabilities to StressVulnerabilities are
lifestyle behaviors that may increase the
likelihood of becoming stressed.

• Not having a network of friends or family.
• Not sharing openly about feelings or worries.
• Not setting aside time for fun activities.
• Not giving or receiving affection.
• Not managing time well.

• Not eating a balanced diet.
• Not getting 7-8 hours of sleep 4 nights per
  week.
• Not exercising (to a sweat) 3-5 x per week.
• Drinking caffeinated beverages.
• Smoking
• Drinking alcohol

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Managing Stress Taking Care of the Basics

• Eat a well-balanced diet, lots of fruits and
  vegetables. Stay away from cookies, soda, candy,
  coffee.
• Get 8-9 hours sleep each night. Put sleep before
  TV.

• Exercise to a sweat 20-30 minutes 3-5 times each
  week.
• Have people in your life you can talk to.

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Positive Behaviors to Manage Stress

• Learn to say no
• Delegate responsibilities
• Manage your time
• Dont take on too much
• Ask for help/assistance
• Acknowledges your weaknesses
• Take breaks from routine
• Breathe, breathe, breathe
• Reframe the stressor -
• understand that some things are
• out of your control
• Remind yourself of what you have,
• not what you dont have

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Closing thoughts to ponder. . .

• A lecturer, when explaining stress management
  to an audience, raised a glass of water and
  asked,
• How heavy is this glass of water? Answers
  called out ranged from a few ounces, to a couple
  of pounds. The lecturer replied,
• The absolute weight doesnt matter. It depends
  on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for
  a minute, thats not a problem. If I hold it for
  an hour, Ill have an ache in my right arm. If I
  hold it for a day, youll have to call an
  ambulance.
• In each case, its the same weight, but the
  longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

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• He continued,
• And thats the way it is with stress management.
  If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or
  later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
  we wont be able to carry on.
• As with the glass of water, you have to put it
  down for a while and rest before holding it
  again. When were refreshed, we can carry on
  with the burden.
• So, before you return home tonight, put the
  burden of work down. Dont carry it home. You
  can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens youre
  carrying now, let them down for a moment if you
  can.

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• So, my friend, why not take a while to just
  simply RELAX. Put down anything that may be a
  burden to you right now. Dont pick it up again
  until after youve rested a while.
• Life is short.
• Enjoy it!