Managing Stress A Balancing Act What is Stress? Stress is

1
Managing Stress

• A Balancing Act

2
What is Stress?

• Stress is any physical, chemical or emotional
  factor that causes bodily or mental tension (Dr.
  Melissa Stopper, M.D., 2004)
• A disruption of the bodies balance

3
Types of Stress

• Stress can be positive Eustress
• Energy and motivation
• Stress can be negative Distress/Burnout
• Overwhelming
• Poor management of life
• How you view the world depends on hoe you deal
  with stress

It isnt the event that causes the stress but
your perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and opinions
about the event that label and determine it to be
stress.
4
I know Im Stressed when

• Questions
• Whats going on with me right now?
• How I feel?
• Am I operating at maximum capacity?
• Am I handling things that way I normally do?
• Lets take a stress assessment!

Stress manifests itself in several ways. But its
always important to begin with some basic
questions to help you determine whether or not
you are experiencing stress. Have participants
complete the stress assessment and share their
thoughts/ feelings regarding it.
5
My Stress Type is

• 6 Stress Types
• The Speed Freak
• The Worry Wart
• The Drifter
• The Loner
• The Basket Cases and Cliff Walkers
• Source Richard Earle, PhD (2004)

The Speed Freak is the one who says if I give
110, sooner or later, I will succeed. And when
you dont experience feelings of success,
satisfaction or accomplishment you push harder.
The Worry Wart is the one who has difficulty
turning odd their thoughts which paralyze them
and creates frequents anxiety, tension headaches.
This is the person who has grown more accustomed
to worrying to the point of inaction. You usually
spend most of your time worrying about all the
possible outcomes until you end up doing
nothing. The Drifter is the one who never
finishes on thing before starting another. You
get caught up in so many different things until
you actually end up accomplishing very little.
You have a list and just keep adding to it to the
point of spreading yourself to thin. The Loner
is the one who walks around as though all is well
when it actually is not. You have difficulty with
intimate relationships, feel lonely with little
support for the difficulties you face in life and
often either avoid or drop out of social events
at the last minute. You also tend to have real
difficulty in relationships due to feeling as
though others would not understand your situation
so you tend to avoid having them in some way. You
may have relationships with co-workers but they
may be superficial at best. The Basket case is
the one who something is always wrong with. You
have this ache or that pain or complain of being
tired all the time. You can be the one to have
the whoe is me syndrome. You also may come
across as being lazy because you see and
communicate to others that most activities are
too much for you to do. The Cliff Walker is the
one who has different health problems but
actively thinks it will never happen to me.
Usually suffer from high blood pressure, smoking,
alcohol misuse, lack of exercise or proper
dieting.
6
Identifying Stressors

• Multiple obligations/responsibilities
• Lifestyle changes
• Financial responsibilities
• Health
• Children
• Relationships
• Other expectations of us etc

We all experience may different responsibilities
that we have to add on a daily basis that can
cause us stress. Many of these responsibilities
include things that we have to so and have no
choice but to do, things we have to do but dont
want to do, and things we like to do but dont
get to do. All of these may cause some type of
positive or negative stress. Lifestyle changes
include making the decision to go back to school,
having to drop out of school, change or losing a
job or any change that impacts the life you
live. Health refers to trauma, infections,
illness, and injury. Talk about my fall last week
on my way to work . Stressful for me because it
was difficult for me to walk not to mention
getting done all the things that I had been
planning to take care of at the end of the day
that now I either had to rely on someone else to
take care of for me or put off for the day. Also,
being pregnant or having kids slows you down and
you cant get as much done as you could if it ere
just you can be just as stressful because there
are loose ends that need tending to but you
cant.
7
Impact if Stress

• Children
• Increase risk of experiencing stress
• Learn by observation
• Self Blame
• Be on the lookout
• Irritability
• Change in appetite, sleep patterns or behaviors
• Anger
• Fighting

8
Signs of Stress

• Vary and depend on how you manage your life.
• Feelings of anxiety, poor concentration, tension,
  increased/ decreased appetite, inability to rest
  well at night, irritability, inability to control
  anger, loss of interest in normal activities,
  headaches
• Frequent illness, i.e. colds, etc

9
Balance

• To bring into harmony or proportion
• Set priorities
• Say no when necessary
• Let yourself off the hook
• Source Websters Ninth New Collegiate
  Dictionary, 1990

10
When stress goes to far

• Burnout- physical or mental exhaustion
• Overworked , overtaxed emotionally
• Physically exhausted
• Unable to cope w/ daily life
• Lots of enthusiasm in life
• Distress- overwhelming, chronic,
• Exceeds your ability to cope well
• No outlets/ release
• May result in developing physical symptoms

11
Managing Stress Effectively

• Rules to live by
• Dont over commit
• Time management
• Get plenty of rest and eat well
• Establish a support network
• Relaxation techniques
• Progressive muscle relaxations
• Exercise
• Find what works for you
• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
• Set priorities