Download Personal Stress Management

Personal Stress
Management
Personal Stress Management
• Personal management involves learning effective
coping techniques to manage the stress in your life.
In previous units, we discussed time management
skills and goal setting. Using stress management
techniques along with time management and goal
setting will help you learn how to plan, organize, and
prioritize your daily activities to make the most out
of your time, and at the same time keep your stress
manageable. We all have moments of stress
Getting Started
What is Stress?
Stress is anything that places a demand on us physically, mentally, or
emotionally. It causes us to change the normal way we live.
Most of us think of stress as a crisis (distress), but not all stress is bad.
Without stress (astress), life would be boring. There would be no growth and no
change.
With too much stress (distress) we reach overload. Our ability to cope becomes
limited, and we feel burned out.
Some stress is good (eustress). It can provide an opportunity to bring positive
changes in our lives. Eustress or good stress leads to peak performance.
Top Stressors
• Let me start with three biggies:
• Want to guess ? I’ll take the first three
responses.
• Let’s see if you are right
Finance
Work
Illness
Stressors In Your Life
• Let’s Identify some for you besides the ones I just
mentioned?
• I will take the first ten responses….. One per person
no repeats.
• Now that we have identified some of your personal
stressors, we can look at the stress values
researchers have placed on certain life events.
Stress Management
• Now that we have identified some of your
personal stressors, let’s take a look at the
stress values researchers have placed on
certain life events.
• Pay Attention…and have a pencil ready
Stressors In Your Life
• Look at each event on the slide and write it down if it has
affected you in the last two years, then write down the
number attached to the event.
• When we finish, you will add up the points attached to each
event that you wrote down.
• The higher the points, the more likely you will suffer from a
physical, physiological or emotional reaction of some sort as
your stress increases.
Stressors In Your LIfe
• Now, Let’s see how your stress adds up. In the last
two years have you experienced any of the following:
• Separation (65)
• Change in health of family member (44)
• Change in Work status-layoff (47)
• Foreclosure (30)
• Change In Living Conditions (25)
Stressors In Your Life
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Death of spouse (100)
Divorce (73)
Marital separation (65)
Death of close family member (63) or Jail Term
(63)
• Serious personal injury of illness (53)
• What Can You Do?
Stress Management
• Now that we have identified some stressors,
• Let’s consider the physiological, emotional
and behavioral signs of stress.
• As we review them, I would like you to mark
down the signs you might exhibit in stressful
situations.
Signs of Stress-Recognize Them
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Physiological
Breathing and heart rate increase
Muscles tense
Adrenaline begins to flow, because your body
is getting geared up to meet a challenge.
Signs of Stress
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Physiological Continued
Pounding heart, Rapid breathing
Sweaty Palms, Cold hands and feet
Lack of energy, Headaches
Muscle Tension, Sleep difficulties
Stomach disturbances
Do you experience any of these signs?
Signs of Stress
• Emotional
• Irritability, Nervousness, Edginess
• Lack of patience, Quick temper, Worry, worry , worry.
Restless sleep
• Emotional sensitivity, Forgetfulness,
• Lack of concentration, Increase in careless errors,
• Negative attitude, preoccupation, procrastination
Signs of Stress
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Behavioral
Sleeping more
Sleeping less
Eating more
Eating less
Angry outbursts
Withdrawing from others.
Stress Management
• What can you do to relieve
stress?
• Experts say to add some
spice!
Adding Spice to Your Life
• Some say that stress is the spice of life and
without it, life would be boring:
• Productivity would decrease
• Excitement in living would dwindle
• Do You Believe that?
• Let’s Take A Look
Adding Spice To Your Life
• Roller coaster riding is stressful, but people flock to
them. Why?
• Athletes get “psyched up” before a match or game?
Why?
• Extreme Sports, though they are stressful and
dangerous are the new rage. Why?
• Research says that humans often seek out stressful
experiences to heighten their sense of excitement
and adventure in life. This is called (Eustress-good
stress)
Adding Spice to Your Life
• Most view stress (Distress) as a negative, BUT
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• BUT.
Stress Management
• This is Important!
• How a person reacts to a stressor depends on
their own constitution, temperament, past
experiences, training and a number of other
factors. However, the two factors that most
affect how we react to stress are:
– How we perceive the stressor
– Our own ability to handle the stressor successfully
• How we perceive or handle the Stressor
• For some, jumping out of perfectly good airplanes is
extreme and anxiety arousing. They doubt their
ability to cope with this unnatural situation.
• Others find parachuting exciting and thrilling. They
may experience some fear, but do not doubt their
ability to cope. These experiences and others like it
stress us by presenting novel situations whose
successful completion expands confidence.
I do it!
Can you have to much stress?
• When stress is tooooo high or lasts toooo
long, the negative effects of stress may be felt.
These include:
• Depression, Headaches, Hypertension,
• Anger/Irritability, Weight Gain/Loss, Fatigue,
and more. Can you provide any other
examples?
• The effects of stress may not be felt
immediately. In long term stress the effects
tend to accumulate. However, over the years
stress may reduce your immune system’s
functioning, which may lead to some of the
effects listed above us as well as physical
illnesses.
• What to Do?
Skill Building
• There are strategies you can use to reduce
stress. Let’s look at two popular examples:
• First, HOPE the stressful situation will go away.
• This is an avoidance technique that works
occasionally and for stressful events of short
duration only. At certain times, it is to your
advantage to “just let things go.”
• Easier said than done, it takes practice.
Skill Building
• The second popular strategy to reduce stress
is “Work hard and drive on through the stress”
• This style is also be used for situations that are
short lived and is commonly used by
individuals with Type-A personalities. It has
the advantage of helping the person feel more
in control of the situation. However it tends to
lead to burnout.
Skill Building
• When the situation continues over a longer
duration, both styles tend to lose their
effectiveness.
• The key to success is to adjust your coping
mechanisms to the situation. Remember,
• It is a Balancing Act
How can I keep it in balance?
• The key to managing stress is maintaining
balance in all the dimensions of life:
• Work and Play
• Self and Others
• Inactivity and. Activity
• When things are out of balance, then our
ability to effectively manage stress becomes
impaired
How can I keep it in balance?
• If too much time is spent at work, then family
and social life may suffer. If too much time is
spent at play then family and work may suffer.
• Keeping life in balance requires effort. It
means watching where and how your time is
spent and making a conscious effort to
maintain a balance. That effort might include
a schedule, to do list, or planning in advance.
Balance
• If demands in one area (work, school, family)
are high, those demands need to be balanced
by enjoyable activities at and outside of work,
school and family. Take time to make time.
Exercise
Play
Social Support
Mini-Vacations
Keeping a Healthy Perspective
Diet
Assertiveness
Skill Building
Relaxation and Meditation
RELAX….It willl do you good!
Personal Stress
Recognize it
• You do not have be sitting on the beach in
Hawaii, to reduce your stress. Recognizing it is
the first step, and doing something
productive to reduce it helps. That can be
something as simple as taking a walk, some
relaxation exercises, and….
• Suggestions please!
What Can Be Done To Reduce
Stress?
• Some Practical Ideas:
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Avoid being a perfectionist:
Be assertive
Take time out from your work
Exercise regularly and moderately
Maintain a reasonable diet
Develop outside interests
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
Remember, there is only one of
you and taking care of the stress in
your life, helps everyone else in
your circle.
If you need help to discover new
and exciting ways to manage
stress, check out the 101 things to
manage stress.
References
This power point was recreated from
“Personal Stress Management.” USACHPPM.
Readiness thru Health.
Retrieved 2010
<http://www.hooah4health.com/toolbox/stress
/Sec01A_lesson2.pdf >