Stress Management

When youve got an unexpected bill, a dead car battery or family trouble on your hands, are you like a cartoon
character with steam shooting out of your ears? Or a cool cat who manages your stress?

Stress can be defined as a state of physical and mental tension caused by certain external or internal factor in a person's life.

The art of stress management is to keep yourself at a level of stimulation that is healthy and enjoyable. Life without stimulus
would be incredibly dull and boring. Life with too much stimulus becomes unpleasant and tiring, and may ultimately damage
your health or well-being. Too much stress can seriously interfere with your ability to performeffectively. By analyzing the
likely causes of stress, you will be able to plan your responses to likely forms of stress. These might be actions to alleviate the
situation or may be stress management techniques that you will use.

Stress arises when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on them or with threats
to their well-being. R.S. Lazarus (1966).

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.

As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective.
As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health
problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the
death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new
relationship, we experience stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting todifferent circumstances, stress will help or hinder us
depending on how we react to it.

Stress results from an imbalance between demands and resources. R.S. Lazarus and S. Folkman (1984).Formula for finding
Stress: In simple words we can say that when the pressure is greater that the resources we face stress.

TYPES OF STRESS

So, what are the major types of stress? While there are many subcategories of stress that are being treated today, the major
types of stress can be broken down into four different categories: Eustress, Hyperstress, Hypostress, and Distress.

Eustress

Eustress is one of the helpful types of stress. What is the definition for eustress? It is the type of stress you experience right
before you have the need to exert physical force. Eustress prepares the muscles, heart, and mind for the strength needed for
whatever is about to occur. Eustress can also apply to creative endeavors. When a person needs to have some extraenergy or
creativity, eustress kicks in to bring them the inspiration they need. An athlete will experience the strength that comes form
eustress right before they play a big game or enter a big competition. Because of the eustress, they immediately receive the
strength that they need to perform. When the body enters the fight or flight response, it will experience eustress. The
eustress prepares the body to fight with or flee from an imposing danger. This type of stress will cause the blood to pump to the
major muscle groups, and will increase the heart rate and blood pressure to increase. If the event or danger passes, the body
will eventually return to its normal state.

Distress
Distress is one of the negative types of stress. This is one of the types of stress that the mind and body undergoes when the
normal routine is constantly adjusted and altered. The mind is not comfortable with this routine, and craves the familiarity of
a common routine. There are actually two types of distress: acute stress and chronic stress.

Acute Stress

Acute stress is the type of stress that comes immediately with a change of routine. It is an intense type of stress, but it passes
quickly. Acute stress is the body's way of getting a person to stand up and take inventory of what is going on, to make sure that
everything is OK.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress will occur if there is a constant change of routine for week after week. Chronic stress affects the body for a long
period of time. This is the type of stress experienced by someone who constantly faces moves or job changes

STRESS AREAS

Things that happen outside your body:

SITUATIONS/EVENTS DEMANDS OTHER EXTERNAL PROBLEMS

Relationship conflicts Deadlines Inconsiderate neighbors

Job changes Competition Unappreciative boss
Stock market fluctuations Tests/Examinations Traffic jams
Illness in a loved one Time pressures Construction problems
Divorce or separation Family/children problems Economic recession
Being sued Financial pressures Business problems
Losing a job Too many responsibilities Employee problems
Going to the doctor/dentist Public speaking Travel problems
Failures/mistakes Public performances Car problems
Retirement Caring for others House problems
Overcrowding Dieting Crime
Disasters Quitting smoking Vandalism
Death of a loved one Harassment
Prejudice/discrimination
Lack of resources
Lack of opportunities
Lack of education/training
Bureaucratic hassles
Social unrest
Unexpected crises/changes
Corporate takeovers

Things that happen inside your body:

THOUGHTS FEELINGS MOODS/EMOTIONS OTHER BODY RESPONSES

Trouble Feeling tired Acute anxiety Muscle

concentrating Feeling trapped (Fears/phobias) aches/tension
Compulsive Feeling irritable Chronic anxiety Teeth grinding
ruminating Feeling tense or Anger Jaw clenching
Being overly critical nervous Sadness Cold hands/cold
Thinking negatively Diminished libido Frustration feet
Awful zing Worry Rapid heart beat
Catastrophizing Guilt Headaches
Impatience Neck pains
Depression Back pains
Resentment Upset stomach
Hostility Diarrhea
Hopelessness High blood pressure
 Powerlessness Skin rashes
Resignation Increased appetite
Despair Decreased appetite
Boredom Sleeping problems
Apathy Sexual problems

HOW DO YOU RESPOND?

When you are under stress, do any of these behaviors apply to you?

I eat to calm down.

I speak and eat very fast.
I drink alcohol or smoke to calm down.
I rush around but do not get much done.
I work too much.
I delay doing the things I need to do.
I sleep too little, too much or both.
I slow down.
I try to do too many things at once.

Engaging in even one of these behaviors may mean that you are not dealing with stress as well as you could. Learn
some ways you can fight stress with healthy habits.

MANAGING STRESS BETTER.

Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as
there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require work toward change:
changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?

1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physicalreactions.

Notice your distress. Don't ignore it. Don't gloss over your
problems.Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events? Determine how
your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific ways?

2. Recognize what you can change.

Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely? Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a
period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)? Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical
premises)? Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change
(goalsetting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategiesmay be helpful here)?

3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.

The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger...physicaldanger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your st
ressors inexaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster? Are you expecting to please everyone?
Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every
situation? Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something
that overpowers you. Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects
and the "what if's."

4. 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. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart
rate, and blood pressure. Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical
reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term
solution.

5. Build your physical reserves.

 Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking,
swimming, cycling, or jogging).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 when you can. Get enough sleep. Be
as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

6. Maintain your emotional reserves.

Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships. Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to you, rather than
goals others 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.

Theres not an easy solution to deal with the problem of stress. Stress is encountered in almost every aspect of our lives. Like
successful weight management, in order to achieve stress reduction we must weave the solution into the fabric of our lives.
Through regular practice of stress reduction techniques, symptoms of stress decrease and become more manageable. For the
most part, stress is largely under your control. You may not be able to control the situation, however, your reaction in any given
situation is entirely under your control. One way to monitor and understand stress in your life is to record your feelings in a
diary. Once you gain better awareness of the things that cause you stress, you can then build an action plan to positively manage
it by creating some positive goals to help reduce the amount of stress in your daily life.

RELAXATION: STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

For the next few moments... stop doing... just sit. Become aware of your breath. Focus on the subtle ebb and flow as you
breathe in, and breath out, and breath in, and breath out, and breath in, and breath out...You have just experienced a relaxing,
albeit brief, time-out. When practiced throughout the day, this breathing exercise can reduce your stress level significantly!
There are a variety of stress management techniques that will help decrease the amount of anxiety you experience in your life.
My list is not all inclusive, but its a good start. I suggest you experiment with a wide variety of techniques to find the ones that
work best for you. Once you find some effective techniques, practice them regularly to weave them into the fabric of your daily
life.

1. Deep breathing

. The exercise like the one explained above can give you some immediate relief from a stressful situation. Focus on slowing your
heart rate down by breathing in deeply and slowly, then exhaling slowly and completely. Repeat theinhale/exhale cycle at least
five times and you should notice a decrease in your heart rate and anxiety level.

2. Quiet time.

Taking some quite time for yourself can often reduce stress. Find a place at home and at work where you can get away from
everyone and take a few minutes for yourself. You can practice any relaxation technique or simply spend the time thinking
through a problematic situation. Use the time to do whatever will help you to relax.

3. Relaxation media.

There is a variety of relaxation media on the market in the form of cassettes, CDs, videos and even computer software. These
products can provide you with multiple forms of stress management techniques, step-by-step instruction, soothing music and
more.

4. Visualization.

Mental visualization is a powerful technique. While it can beimplemented in almost any situation, visualization has gained
notoriety in its successful practice by competitive athletes. The basic technique of visualization is to put yourself in a relaxed
position, breathe deeply and rhythmically and close your eyes. Then, in detail, imagine in your minds eye a peaceful place or
any surroundings that are pleasant and calming to you. While imagining this place, focus on breathing deeply and releasing
tension from your entire body. Visualization can also be used to play out a situation from the beginning to its positive end. This
is one of the variations used by competitive athletes. In your minds eye, you imagine in detail, the chain of events and the
actions you will perform to attain a positive end result. During this process, focus on breathing deeply, releasing tension from
your body and approaching every action in a calm and confident manner.

5. Yoga.

The word yoga comes from Sanskrit language meaning union and is believed to be at least 6000 years old, originating in India.
Yoga combines dynamic physical exercise with a lifestyle philosophy. There are many forms of yoga but the goal is always the
same, perfect self-knowledge. More specifically, the ultimate goal of yoga philosophy is complete detachment from reality, as
we understand it, and complete self-knowledge. By separating our "self" from the environment we are able to come to terms
with our individual personality and start putting our mind and emotions in order. If you would like to experiment with yoga as a
stress management tool, check out some books at the library to learn more or rent a beginners yoga video tape. There are a lot
of good exercise videos available on yoga that would be worth experimenting with.

6. Meditation.

Meditation is meant to bring about awareness, nothing else. Its a time to connect to your inner source and let go of the
issues, responsibilities and situations that bind your life. The benefits of mediation are uniquely individual, but both
physiological and psychological balancing is common. To get you started, here is an explanation of how to practice classic
and simple meditation:

The Mantra:

A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated to yourself out loud or silently. The purpose of the mantra is to discard
your normal thoughts and focus your awareness inward. You can select anything as your mantra from a single word to religious
scripture, anything that is meditative for you.

7. Exercise.

Exercise is an excellent means of releasing tension from your body and inducing a relaxation response. Youve been practicing
this technique for many weeks now. Among the other benefits physical activity brings, have you experienced a reduction in
stress?

8. Stretching.

Stress makes your muscles tense up and can cause headaches, a stiff neck, sore shoulders and a knotted back. Full body
stretching will help your muscles relax and help you to breath deeper. Always remember to hold stretches for a minimum of
tenseconds and concentrate on elongating the muscle slowly and rhythmically. Dont bounce! When you dont have the time to
stretch your entire body, try these simple upper body stretching exercises to release tension. They can be easily done in a chair
anywhere; at home, at the office, traveling in a car, bus or on plane:

Neck.

Sit comfortably with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed. Tilt your head to the left as though you are trying to touch
your left ear to your shoulder. Feel the stretch on the right side of your neck. Hold the stretch for 10seconds. Be sure not to let
your shoulders raise up, keep them down and relaxed. Now, slowly move your head to the right, repeating the exercise to
stretch the left side of your neck. Last, slowly roll your head down, bowing your head and try to touch your chin to your chest.
Feel the stretch down the back of your neck. Hold this position for 10 seconds. A word of caution: Do not tilt your head back in
an attempt to stretch the front of your neck, this position hyperextends the neck and can cause physical harm.

Shoulders.

Sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed

andyour arms at your sides. Slowly begin rolling your shoulders in a circular, backward motion. Keep the movement isolated to
your shoulders and keep your arms relaxed and limp. Roll your shoulders back ten times then begin rolling them forward ten
times. Make the largest circles you can and feel the full range of motion as your shoulders move. Next, shrug your shoulders up
as though you were trying to touch them to your ears, then bring them down as though your were pressing them to the ground.
Repeat this up and down shrugging ten times.

Back.

Sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed and your arms at your sides. Slowly rotate your torso and head
as though you were looking over your left shoulder. Rotate as far around as you comfortably can and hold the stretch for ten
seconds. Slowly bring your torso and head back to center position and rotate to your right side. Hold the stretch for 10
seconds. Next, sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed and cross your arms in front of your chest. Now
bring your crossed arms up to a 90 degree angle, perpendicular to your body and hold them there. Slowly begin rounding your
back, making your chest concave. Stretch your arms away from your back as though a sting was tied around your arms pulling
them forward and another string attached to your back was pulling it backwards. Hold the stretch for ten seconds.

Lastly, sit comfortably with your back straight, your shoulders relaxed and your arms at your side. Slowly begin leaning forward
until you are resting your chest in your lap. Allow your arms to relax and gently fall to the floor and bow your head over your
knees. Feel the stretch across your back as you let your body go limp. Hold this stretch for ten seconds.

9. Give yourself reminders.

Part of the problem with some of these techniques is simply remembering to practice them. At home, at work, or in the car you
may want to put up little reminders to practice a technique. For example, purchase some labels that are small round colored
dots. Put them in various places in your home, car or work area. Whenever you see one of these colored dots, practice deep
breathing. Or, remind yourself with sticky notes, an on-screen computer message that pops up at various intervals during the
day, schedule it in your daily appointment book, etc. Just be inventive in finding things that will remind you to take some time to
de-stress.

10. Is this worth the stress?

Often we become involved in situations that simply arent worth the stress that they cause. Ask yourself this question
occasionally, and if the answer is No, move on.

11. Be aware of situations you cant control.

Have the wisdom to realize when youre in a situation you cant control, then accept it. Dont waste your time trying to change
it. Instead, focus on reacting to the situation in a stress-free manner.

12. Dont bottle up your feelings.

Often stress occurs out of frustration and lack of communication. Learn positive ways to express your feelings and desires to
people who may be causing you stress. If talking to a person isnt the answer, then put your feeling son paper in a journal. Many
times the simple act of 'getting it off your chest' in an appropriate manner will reduce your stress level.

13. Are chemicals the culprit?

Surprisingly, much of the stress you experience daily could be due to what you are putting into your body in the form
of chemicals. Be sure to eat a balanced, healthy diet to assure youre giving your body the nutrients it needs to operate and
maximum efficiency.

Caffeine is a stimulant. If you drink more than a couple cups a day, try decaf. You may find that switching to a good
decaffeinated coffee will reduce a significant amount of stress.

Alcohol in small doses may help you relax. However, in larger amounts it may increase stress as it disrupts sleep and causes
hangovers. Large amounts over an extended period will start damaging your body.

Nicotine in the very short-term may appear to relax your body, but it doesnt. Nicotines toxic effect raises the heart rate and
stresses the body and lungs. Consider quitting! There are a number of stop-smoking aids available on the market today.

Sugar can raise energy in the short term. Unfortunately, your body has tocounteract the high dose of sugar in your blood by
raising your insulin level. Once your blood-sugar level is normalized, the insulin will continue acting and you will experience a
decrease in energy lower than before you ate the sugar. Try not to overtax your body by feeding it high dosages of sugar

CONSIDERATIONS:

Link between stress and heart problems

Stress vs Anxiety

Stress is caused by an existing stress-causing factor or stressor. Anxiety is stress that continues after that stressor is
gone. Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or even anxious.
What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another.

fun fact:

Research shows women with children have higher levels of stress related hormones in their blood than women
without children. Does this mean women without children dont experience stress? Absolutely not!
It means that women without children may not experience stress as often or to the same degree which women with
children do. This means for women with children, its particularly important to schedule time for yourself; you will be in
a better frame of mind to help your children and meet the daily challenge of being a parent, once your stress level is
reduced.
At the end of the lecture:
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