• Identify at least ten major

stressors in your life this week.

• List them down in order of most
stressful to least stressful.
• Also choose at least one activity
that you do which recharges your
energy.
• Get the total of your score for each
column:
– F= 1 S=2 M=3 V=4
• But reverse the scoring for the
following items:
– 8, 17, 21, 26, 35, 40, 46, 53, 72, 89,
• The following are the scales of your college
adjustment domains:
– Column 1 = Academic problems (AP)
– Column 2 = Anxiety problems (AN)
– Column 3 = Interpersonal problems (IP)
– Column 4 = Depression problems (DP)
– Column 5 = Career problems (CP)
– Column 6 = Suicidal ideation (SI)
– Column 7 = Substance abuse (SA)
– Column 8 = Self-esteem (SE)
– Column 9 = Family problems (FP)
• Stress refers to any response to
objects, events or people that are
threatening or challenging.
• Stress is a nonspecific response of
the body to any demand made on i t.
• Stress produce both phys iological and
psychological consequences.
• The sympathetic portion of the autonomic
nervous system is activated during stress,
producing the following physiological
reactions:
– Increased heart beat and blood pressure
– Increased breathing and skin changes
– Released of adrenaline and cortisol
• On a short-term basis, these responses
may be adaptive because they produce an
emergency reaction which allow immediate
coping with the stressful condition.
• Adaptive benefits of stress:
– Invigorates our lives by arousing us and
motivating us
– Challenges us
– Helps us flee immediat e external threats
– Momentary stress produces negligible
costs
– Uncontrollable aggravat ions may
produce cons iderable cos ts
• But continued exposure to the stressor
may result in a decline in normal bodily
functioning and eventual deterioration of
bodily tissues resulting in certain ailments
and diseases.
• The immune system functioning is impaired
by continued exposure to stress, leaving
the person susceptible to diseases.
• The person may also suffer mentally and
emotionally because of persistent exposure
to stress.
• Three basic sources of stress:
1. Environment—e.g., daily traffic, taking
an exam
2. Physiological—e.g., rapid growth of
adolescence, illness, aging, lack of
exercise, poor nutrition, sleep
deprivation and disturbances
3. Thoughts—the brain interprets and
translates complex changes in the
environment and determines when to
push the panic but ton.
• How we interpret, perceive and label the
present experience and what we predict in
the future can serve either to relax or
stress us.
• Sometimes, we feel more upset than the
situation warrants because we interpret
events based on irrational ideas or beliefs.
• Using negative self-talk produces
substantial physiological arousal of
tenseness and stress, resulting to anxiety,
depression, rage, guilt and sense of
worthlessness.
• Cataclysmic events
Strong stressors that occur suddenly
and typically affect many people
simultaneously
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)
Phenomena where victims of major
catastrophes re-experience the
original event and the associated
feelings in vivid flashbacks or dreams
Personal stressors
Major life events that produce
an immediate major reactions that
soon tapers off
Background stressors (daily
hassles)
Minor irritations of life that we
all face time and time again
Uplifts
Minor positive events that make
one feel good
• Stress cannot be entirely eradicated but it
can be managed.
• The first step is to become aware of the
major sources of stress in your life—
circumstances that put you under stress—
as well as your reactions.
• You can then attempt to control, reduce or
learn to tolerate the threats that lead to
stress—known as coping.
• Coping
– The efforts to control, reduce,
or learn to tolerate the threats
that lead to stress
• Defense mechanisms
– Reactions that maintain a
person’s sense of control and
self-worth by distorting or
denying the actual nature of the
situation
• We habitually use certain coping
mechanisms to help deal with stress,
such as resorting to defens e
mechanisms.
• People also have other, more direct,
and potentially more positive means
for coping with stress: emotion-
focused coping and problem-
focused coping.
• In emotion-focused coping, people try to
manage their emotions in the face of
stress, seeking to change the way they
feel about or perceive/view a problem or
situation.
• Problem-focused coping attempts to
modify the stressful problem or sources of
stress by dealing directly with the stressor
to eliminate it.
• These strategies lead to changes in
behavior or to the development of a plan
of action to deal with stress.
1. Keep a diary—keep a list of events,
times, places and people that seem
to make you feel more stressed to
find a pattern s uch as time pressure,
personality clashes, inappropriate
demands, etc. Identifying the
pressure points help you move on to
solutions.
2. Talk—through your diary, with a
good friend or partner. The act of
discussing things often makes us feel
better. Ask for impartial advice.
3. Learn how to relax—deep-breathing
techniques, stretching of muscles,
taking time out, etc.
4. Exercise regularly —e.g., 20-minute
brisk walking
5. Plan breaks in your day—have an
exclusive time for yourself, even if it
is simply sitting doing nothing.
6. De-clutter—mess creates confusion
and a sense of loss of power. Clear
out and tidy up your desk, room or
car to feel more in control.
7. Change the habit —many stresses
are habitual. Do something out of
character when you start to feel
anxious or stressed out.
8. Think positive —use “affirmations” or
mantra—positive strands of thought
put into words. Repeating “I am
loving and much-loved person,” can
work wonders . Say it and believe it.
9. Turn stress into motivator—The
effects of stress depend a great deal
on how we think of it. Turn your
stress into a motivator by consciously
choosing to view situations in a
positive light.
10. Be realistic —have realistic
expectations of yourself.
11. Say cheese—smiling transmits
nerve impulses from the faci al
muscles to the limbic system, a key
emotional center in the brain, tilting
the neurochemi cal balance toward
calmness.
12. Just say no—trying to do everythi ng
is a one-way ticket to serious stress.
• To get your score, add up your
points. Then subtract 20.
• Any number over 5 i ndicates a
vulnerability to stress.
• You are seriously vulnerable if your
score is between 25 and 55, and
extremely vulnerable if your score is
over 55.