Managing Stress
A Balancing Act
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
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 isn’t the event that causes the stress but your perceptions, beliefs,
attitudes and opinions about the event that label and determine it to be
stress.
I know I’m Stressed when…
Questions:
What’s going on with me right now?
How I feel?
Am I operating at maximum capacity?
Am I handling things that way I normally do?
Let’s take a stress assessment!
Stress manifests itself in several ways. But it’s 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.
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 don’t 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, te nsion
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 relati onships, 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 o thers 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 suffe r from high blood
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 don’t want to do, and things we like to do but don’t 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 can’t get as much done as you could if it ere just you
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
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
Balance
To bring into harmony or proportion
Set priorities
Say no when necessary
Let yourself off the hook
Source: Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1990
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
Managing Stress Effectively
Rules to live by
Don’t 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