Coping With Stress: "Give Your Stress Wings and Let It Fly Away." Terri Guillemets

COPING WITH
STRESS
“Give your stress wings and let it fly away.”
Terri Guillemets
PREPARED BY: SIR JOSHUA DAVID CRUZ

“STRESS”
STRESS AND STRESSORS
 A stressful experience is caused by something that occurs either
within the individual or from the environment. A past painful

experience can linger in our memory and make us feel depressed.
Conflicts with other people cause us difficult ending up in stress.
Common stressors among students may come in form of academic
demands. We say that stress is the effect while stressor is the cause.
 Stress is a natural response to the demands of our environment.
Stress is a physiological response to a physical or psychological

threat.
What's Stressful For You?

What's stressful for you may be quite different from what's stressful to someone else.
 Karen is terrified of getting up in front of people to perform or speak, while her best friend lives for the
spotlight.
 Phil thrives under pressure and performs best when he has a tight deadline, while his co-worker, Matt, shuts
down when work demands escalate.
 Anita enjoys helping her elderly parents. Her sister, Constance, helps out as well but finds the demands of
caretaking very stressful.
 Richard doesn’t hesitate to send food back or complain about bad service when eating out, while his wife,
Miranda, finds it much too stressful to complain.
SOURCES OF STRESS
 A stressor is but anything that induces a stress response. It may be physical,mental, emotional, social,
psychological, economic or even spiritual in nature.
 Physical may come in a form of pollution, a congested place or a high level of noise. It may also include
fatigue, pain, shock, trauma and other physiological conditions of the body.
 Mental stressors include academic overload, reviewing for exams, running after deadlines or situations that
call for sustained mental effort.
SOURCES OF STRESS
 Social, emotional and psychological stressors are somehow interrelated because they involved relating with
other people.
 As we interact with others, we encounter conflicts, disappointments leading to feelings of frustrations, tension
and anxiety even anger and depression. Economic stressor may also involved one’s socio-economic condition
such as limited financial resources to meet our essential needs in life.
 Stressors affecting our spirituality involves loss of joy and peace or disturbance of tranquility.
SOURCES OF STRESS
 Crises/catastrophes
This type of stressor is unforeseen and unpredictable and, as

such, is completely out of the control of the individual.
Examples of crises and catastrophes include: devastating
natural disasters, such as major floods or earthquakes, wars,
etc. Though rare in occurrence, this type of stressor typically
causes a great deal of stress in a person's life. A study
conducted by Stanford University found that after natural
disasters, those affected experienced a significant increase in
stress level.
SOURCES OF STRESS
Not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated.
 Common external causes of stress  Common internal causes of stress

a. Major life changes a. Inability to accept uncertainty
b. Work b. Pessimism
c. Relationship difficulties c. Negative self-talk
d. Financial problems d. Unrealistic expectations
e. Being too busy e. Perfectionism
f. Children and family f. Lack of assertiveness
STRESS FACTORS
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
 The physiological and psychological factors are involved in a stress
response – the processes and structures in our body system responsible
for these reactions.
 Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist, proposed the
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) to explain our body’s response to
stress. It consists of three stages: (a) alarm stage; (b) resistance stage,
and (c)exhaustion stage.
STRESS AND THE IMMUNE
SYSTEM
 Researcher recognized that thoughts, emotions, attitudes
and beliefs relate to our health. Nurturing anger and
bitterness, for instance, can result in the lowering our
immune system. There are interrelated mechanisms that link
the nervous, immune and endocrine systems through the
neurotransmitter. We need to strengthen our immune system
so as to resist infection to enter body.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
 When we are overwhelmed with stress, it is no only the
body that suffers but our mind and behavior as well. We
feel lonely and depressed. Others become forgetful,
irritable and anxious. Some tend to isolate themselves from
others.
MANAGING
STRESS
LEARNING HEALTHIER WAYS TO
MANAGE STRESS
 If your methods of coping with stress aren’t contributing to your greater
emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones. There are many
healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You
can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which
option to choose, it’s helpful to think of the four As: avoid, alter, adapt, or
accept.
THE 4A
 Change the situation:
 Avoid the stressor.
 Alter the stressor.
 Change your reaction:

 Adapt to the stressor.
 Accept the stressor.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress
 Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed.
You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.
 Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them.
 Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you
can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end
the relationship entirely.
 Take control of your environment
 Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over politics, biases, or unjust things, cross them
off your conversation list.
 Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #2: Alter the situation
 If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the
problem doesn’t present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and
operate in your daily life.
 Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you,
communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way.
 Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same.
 Be more assertive. Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best
to anticipate and prevent them.
 Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. If you plan ahead and make
sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #3: Adapt to the stressor
 If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of
control by changing your expectations and attitude.
 Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective.
 Look at the big picture. Take a wider perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important
it will be in the long run.
 Adjust your standards. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with
“good enough.”
 Focus on the positive. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you
appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts.
MANAGING STRESS
Adjust Your Attitude
 How you think can have a profound effect on your emotional and physical well-being. Each time you
think a negative thought about yourself, your body reacts as if it is a tension-filled situation. If you see
good things about yourself, you are more likely to feel good; the reverse is also true.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #4: Accept the things you can’t change
 Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a
loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to
accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against
a situation you can’t change.
 Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the
behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as
the way you choose to react to problems.
 Look for the upside. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major
challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth.
 Share your feelings. Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist.
 Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let
go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #5: Make time for fun and
relaxation
 Beyond a take-charge approach and a positive attitude, you can reduce stress in
your life by nurturing yourself.
MANAGING STRESS
Stress management strategy #6: Adopt a healthy lifestyle
 You can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health.
 Exercise regularly
 Eat a healthy diet
 Reduce caffeine and sugar
 Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs
 Get enough sleep
COPING WITH
STRESS
“Give your stress wings and let it fly away.”
Terri Guillemets
PREPARED BY: SIR JOSHUA DAVID CRUZ

Coping With Stress: "Give Your Stress Wings and Let It Fly Away." Terri Guillemets

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Coping With Stress: "Give Your Stress Wings and Let It Fly Away." Terri Guillemets

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Coping With Stress: "Give Your Stress Wings and Let It Fly Away." Terri Guillemets

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

COPING WITH

PREPARED BY: SIR JOSHUA DAVID CRUZ

within the individual or from the environment. A past painful

 Stress is a natural response to the demands of our environment.

Stress is a physiological response to a physical or psychological

What's Stressful For You?

This type of stressor is unforeseen and unpredictable and, as

 Common external causes of stress  Common internal causes of stress

 Change your reaction:

PREPARED BY: SIR JOSHUA DAVID CRUZ

You might also like