Stress
Management: Lecture
What is Stress?
Stress
is commonplace in the lives of college students. Learning to deal with stress
means learning to understand what stress is, identifying common sources, and
then practicing some method of stress reduction on a regular basis.
Everyone
has some method(s) for dealing with stress. Sometimes the methods we use for
dealing with stress are productive: meditation, exercise, and listening to our
favorite music would be examples. But sometimes the methods we choose are not
so positive: alcohol abuse, smoking and overeating would be examples. Though
these negative stress management tools to tend to work in the short term, in
the long term they will have other negative health effects. It is best to find
stress management tools that will have beneficial, positive health effects in
the long run and yet still effectively manage stress in the short term.
Coping with Stress
College
students have many sources of stress: school, jobs, relationships, money (the
lack of it), etc. Perhaps there is no more important topic than how one can
handle or cope with stress. This module hopes to offer some practical advice on
how to understand and manage one's stress.
Definition:-Stress refers to how the body responds to any number of
physical or emotional stimuli (i.e., stressors).
Effects of this response are sometimes
perceptible-such as an increased heart rate, respiratory rate, sweating, skin
problems, or tense muscles. Other changes, though common, are not perceptible:
increased blood pressure, metabolism, and changes in circulating fats.
Continued exposure to stressors, especially of a negative type, will often lead
to mental and physical symptoms such as anxiety, depression, heart
palpitations, and muscular aches and pains. Eventually, if one cannot find a
way to effectively regulate stress, various physical and mental disorders may
develop which may be serious enough to cause disability and even death.
There
are many kinds of stressors: burnt toast, crying kids, arguments with
co-workers, exercise, loud sounds, productive work, viruses, bacteria,
overexposure to the sun, and grief are all examples of stressors. While some of
these stressors could be considered good, pleasant and/or beneficial, they
nevertheless cause a similar generalized response in the body. For example,
what does an argument with your boss have in common with jogging? Since they
are both stressors, they will each cause increased heart rate, increased blood
pressure, increased respiratory rate and muscle tension. Though your perception
of these two stressors might be different, your body's reaction to them is
pretty much the same. Therefore, it is important to note that stress is
cumulative. It doesn't make any difference whether the stressor is good or bad.
NOTE:
the degree of stress which any stressor will cause is
dependent on:
1.)
the degree to which the stressor is present:- In other words, the
more of the stressor, the greater the stress it produces . So, for example, if
a small headache causes some stress, a large headache will cause more stress.
If a small argument causes a small amount of stress, a huge argument will cause
more stress.
2.)
how the stressor is perceived :-(different people will view stressors
differently). As a result, one stressor might produce distress in one person
and eustress in another. Eustress can be defined as a pleasant or curative
stress.
Stress
can also be beneficial:-
We
can't always avoid stress, in fact, sometimes we don't want to. Often, it is
controlled stress that gives us our competitive edge in performance related
activities like athletics, giving a speech, or acting
For
any performance-related activity, there is an optimal amount of stress. If you
are involved in an oral interview for a job, you will benefit from a certain
amount of stress. It is stress that provides you with focus and gives you your
"competitive edge" that will help you think quickly and clearly and
express your thought in ways that will benefit your interview process.
Sources of Stress
In
order to combat stress in your life, you need to become aware of common sources
of stress. While there are many sources of stress, the most important ones to you
are the ones that you encounter frequently and that may serve as a source of
distress with time.
1)Situational
Stress
Situational stress is caused by situational stressors in your immediate
environment. An example would be sitting in an airplane as it is taxiing the
runway for takeoff. You may be sitting, clutching the arm rests and hoping that
you won't need to use the emergency instructions that the stewardess has just
explained to you.
Your
work environment, while you are working, is considered a situational stress.
You are running back and forth, dealing with customers, counting change,
answering phones, etc. When your workplace is real busy, you may experience a
high level of situational stress. If your workplace is always busy, you may
need some coping methods to help you function at high levels with the lowest
possible negative reactions to the continual stress.
2)Body Stress
Body stress is stress that results in overt physical symptoms. Examples include
abuse, such as consuming too much alcohol, abusing drugs, or exercising too
much. On the other hand, some people neglect their bodies by not getting enough
sleep or proper nutrition.
Many
people view it as a simple hangover, but drinking too much alcohol is a stress
to the body. It reduces the amount of REM or dream sleep that you experience
and results in a series of problematic symptoms such as headache, fatigue and
inability to concentrate. This is an example of body stress that is caused by
abuse of alcohol. What is the solution to this kind of stressor. Not too much
can be done about an aggressive hangover except to wait out the symptoms. The
more serious problem facing you would be to ensure that this type of abuse does
not become a regular feature of your life. Often, body stress is related to
other sources of stress. For example, the reason that one abuses alcohol may
very well have to do with stresses at work or with relationships. So, the abuse
of alcohol and resulting body stress is really tied to a deteriorating
relationship.
3)Mind Stress
Mind stress is caused by negatively perceiving life events. Some people have a
tendency to exaggerate problems or even invent problems that don't exist. We
sometimes say that these people make "mountains out of molehills".
Try to catch yourself being pessimistic, taking things personally or jumping to
conclusions.
Mind
stress is very common. You could be reading a book, listening to your teacher
lecture or watching a movie, and suddenly you are no longer listening but
instead you are thinking about something that happened earlier that morning or
something that will be happening later that day. To the extent that you are
worrying or fretting over these details is an example of mind stress. People
who frequently allow themselves to mentally worry or think negative thoughts
are the most prone to the negative long-term effects of mind stress.
How to Deal With Stress
Now
that you have learned how to identify sources of stress in your life, and also
how to measure the amount of stress you are experiencing, we can now talk about
specific ways that you can use to counter the common stressors in your life.
Dealing with Situational Stress
The
following interventions can be used to deal with stresses that result from your
immediate surroundings.
Make
changes in your surroundings
If you have a headache because you've been reading with poor light, move to
another room where the lighting is better. Changing your surroundings can mean
turning on lights, turning off loud music or raising or lowering your computer
chair. Make a careful survey of the places where you spend a good deal of your
time, your study place at home or your workplace for example. Check your
surroundings carefully for potential situational stressors.
Caringly and Carefully Communicate
You need to learn to communicate with those with whom you are having problems.
Sometimes your situational stress is caused by people. This is a more
complicated potential source of stress. Whenever there are problems, you owe it
to yourself and to the other person to reach a mutually acceptable solution to
the problem. This involves communication in a caring and careful way.
Learn how and when to say "NO"
Sometimes your stress is caused by taking on too many responsibilities. Some
people have a habit of always saying "yes" to requests for help by
others. Pretty soon they not only have all their own problems and
responsibilities to attend to-they have everyone else's too! You need to become
more aware of your limits and learn when you have reached them. The next step
is to practice saying "no". Remember, your first responsibility is to
your own health. You are of little use to others if you are not healthy.
Learn techniques for time management
Situational stress often results from feeling like we don't have enough time to
accomplish all we need to in a given day. In many cases it is not a lack of
time that is the problem, but rather it is poor time management skills that
lead us to this dilemma. Time management means different things to different
people. For some, it will be something as simple as making lists of
"things to do". For others, learning to use daily planners and
organizers will help them to better manage their time.
Delegate responsibilities
People with perfectionist tendencies have trouble delegating work. They have
the attitude that, "If I want it done right, I have to do it myself".
They fear that by letting someone else help them with a given task, that they
are losing control and that something will probably go wrong. We need to learn
that there is more than just, "my way" of doing things. Learning to
delegate responsibilities when they become overwhelming, will help you build
more trusting relationships and will relieve your burden of too many stressors.
Dealing with Body Stress
Practice
relaxation training
Dealing with body stress often simply means dealing with the evident
symptoms that are seen in the body. For example, when you see rapid, shallow
chest breathing, you can counter that with the practice of more relaxed
breathing technique. Or when you notice tense muscles in various parts of the
body, you can practice systematically relaxing the muscles by consciously
loosening the muscles that seem to be tense.
Avoid common
stress-inducing substances
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
Decrease your intake of sugar especially refined sugar. Read labels.
2.
Cut down your sources of salt to no more than 2200 mg/day. Fast, packaged, and
canned foods are notoriously high in salt.
3.
Drink no more than the equivalent of two cups of coffee per day (250 mg) or
less.
4.
Seek out and consume good sources of water-soluble vitamins and if you are
unsure, take a vitamin supplement with amounts of the water-soluble vitamins
equalling no more than 100% of the RDA.
5.
Drink no more than the equivalent of two drinks of alcohol per day.
6.
Don't smoke and if you do find a program to help you quit.
7.
Get regular exercise.
8.Exercise regularly
9.Practice stretching and/or yoga
Dealing with Mind Stress
The
following interventions can be used when your stresses result from negative
thinking or from a tendency to mentally create problems or unrealistically
exaggerate problems.
Develop
and take "Star Treks"
A Star Trek is just another name for mental imagery, or visualization. Just as
on TV when they "beam" people back and forth, you can mentally
transport yourself to the most peaceful, relaxing place that you can think of.
Imagine a beautiful beach scene or lying in an outdoor hot tub on a warm summer
night. Whatever you imagine, be sure to pay attention to each detail. Take five
or ten minutes out of your day for "Trekking".
Find health enhancing phrases and repeat them regularly
Write little notes to yourself which say, "Smile more today" or,
"Don't take things too seriously", or whatever else might reinforce a
relaxed state of mind. Post these little notes in places where you are likely
to see them often (bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, etc.). Or perhaps,
enlist the help of a friend. You can write these little notes to each other and
leave them in places where they are sure to be found.
Practice meditation and/or prayer
In the West, the techniques of meditation are often extracted from their
Eastern religious traditions and provide simple methods for focus and
concentration. A by-product of this focus is stress reduction. Meditation
techniques have been shown to be effective in reducing heart rate and blood
pressure, two common indicators of stress. Prayer can be used by those who are
comfortable in a religious context. Prayer also allows focus (on God or on
specific words of wisdom) and, as a result, often leads to a reduction in
stress levels.
