Unit 2:

Aspects of
Personal
Development
 MODULE 5:
Coping with
Stress in Middle
and Late
Adolescence
 Two common
sources of stress
are change and
loss.
 Common experiences of
students include:

 Migration
 parents’ separating
 breaking up with boyfriends
or girlfriends
 changes in peer group
 death of a grandparent.
 Reactions to loss are
individually different and can
vary for many reasons.

 Finding ways to cope and

adjust to the changes and
losses are critical for
students.
What is
 Stress
- body’s response to anything
that makes us feel threatened
or pressured
-caused by any kind of
demand, to which we must
adapt, adjust, or respond
 Stress
-the body’s automatic
way of reacting to
changes, challenges, and
demands placed on us
Motivation: STRESS BINGO

Find someone who

regularly participates in
one of these activities. Ask
him/her to sign his/her
name in the appropriate
box.
 STRESS
MANAGEMENT
One of the Webster’s
definitions describes
stress as an
“…emotional factor
that causes bodily or
mental tension.”
A practical way of defining stress
is the feeling one gets from
prolonged, pent-up emotions. If
the emotions you experience are
pleasant and desirable – joy,
elation, ecstasy, delight – you
usually feel free to let them show.
They are not suppressed.
Therefore; positive emotions do
not usually cause stress.
Negative emotions, on the other hand,
are more often held inside. They are
hidden. You suffer quietly and you
experience stress. Do not confuse
positive situations with positive
emotions. A wedding, for example, is
a positive situation that often brings
about the negative emotions of
anxiety and tension. So stress can
exist in great situations.
 Causes and Effects of Stress
Just as there is great variety in
the range of emotions you might
experience, there are many
possible manifestations of stress –
in your private life and in your
working life. Here are some words
that describe the emotions
associated (as cause and effect)
with stress.
Anxiety
Pressure
Misery
Strain
Desperation
Tension
Anger
Panic
Dejection
 Prolonged stress can be devastating;
burnout, breakdown, and depression are
some of the potential results of long-
term, unmanaged stress. By wearing a
mask, you may expect to hide stress
caused by problems in your personal life
and not let them influence your
performance on the job. The more you try
to hold your emotions in, the greater the
pressure build-up will be.
1.Everyday frustrations
cause stress build-up
From the time you wake up until you go to
sleep, you may be confronted with a
succession of stressful situations.
Examples:
a. Managing to get yourself (and possibly a
spouse and children) out of bed and ready to
face the day can be a challenge to your
patience and ingenuity.
b. Driving to school or work can be harrowing –
especially if you’re running late.
c. You may experience frustration in
arranging to get the car repaired.
d. You may face conflicts in school or
at work, such as coping with
unrealistic deadlines, equipment
failures, or unexpected bad weather.
e. If part of your job is selling, you
may experience feelings of rejection
when most of your customers say
“no.”
 A series of stressful and frustrating
experiences throughout the day can
cause you to lie awake at night in an
emotional turmoil – unable to get needed
rest. You face the next day with less
emotional and physical stamina. After
another stressful day and another night
without rest, you may have even less
emotional strength and stability.
Therefore, stress build-up, if not resolved,
continues day after day.
2. Problems in our personal life can be
devastating

Surviving the normal, everyday stress

described above can be difficult. But far more
serious and painful circumstances can create
long-term stress.

More serious stressful circumstances may

include:
a. separation from loved ones
b. personal illness, or illness of a loved one
c. death of someone you care about
d. conflict with a spouse or close friend.
Other major causes of stress:
a.problems with drug and alcohol abuse
b.domestic violence
c.care of children and elderly relatives
d.chronic mental illness
e.Injury
f. physical handicaps
g.even moving to a new home, if you’ve
lived in the same place for more than 10
years.
The list goes on and on. Managing your
personal finances can be another
stressful experience. This can be a
problem no matter what your income
level, but it is especially difficult if you
must support a family and do not earn
enough to live comfortably.

What makes life difficult?

a. Unpaid bills
b. unwise use of credit
c. budget limitations
3. A common cause of stress is dealing with life’s
transitions
This is especially true when a person must cope
with too many transitions all at once.
For example:
• Ellen has just completed a program in fashion
merchandising.
• She is eager to get started on her new job. Her
mother is ill and requires care.
• Her father died a few months ago.
• Ellen’s new job requires that she relocate to a
town 100 miles from home.
The move, a new career, and a change in family
relationships may cause excessive stress for her.
Too many changes have arrived at the same time.
Activity: WHAT CAUSES YOU TO “LOSE YOUR
COOL”?

We all have certain things, situations, or

people that cause us to lose our composure
from time to time. Determine what causes
YOU to “lose your cool” by completing this
activity. When you begin to identify your
stressors, you can become skilled at
preventing negative consequences. Place an X
next to each factor that causes you stress.
There are blank spaces provided so you can
add your own.
______ too much homework
______ speaking in public
______ going to the dentist
______babysitting
______ arguments with friends
______ parents fighting
______ getting detention
______ your job
______ taking tests
______ video games
______ using a computer
______ chores
______ restrictions at home
______ lack of sleep
______ no date for a dance
______ pimples
______ physical education class
______ math class
______ English class
______ other class
______ boredom
______ rude people
______ no money
______ not being included in a sports team
______ losing something valuable
______ closed-in spaces
______ interruptions while busy
______ getting an injection
______ commercials
______ no transportation
______ playing on a sports team
______ arguments with parents
______ fight with boyfriend/girlfriend
______ slow drivers
______ loud people
______ baby crying
______ a friend betrays
______ losing
______ disrespectful children
______ careless drivers
 Activity: STRESS SIGNALS
Take a look at the warning signs of stress
listed below. Check EACH of the warning
signs that apply to you. When you are
finished checking your warning signs,
discuss your list with someone you can
trust. Are there any similarities? How
much stress do you think you are
currently under? Discuss ways that you
can eliminate some of the stress that
could start to cause you physical or
emotional or behavioral difficulties.
 Physical
______ headaches ______ stomach aches
______ dizziness ______ back pain
______ neck stiffness ______ ulcer sores on mouth
______ jaw pains ______ weight loss
______ weight gain ______ twitches (eyelids, face)
______ weakness ______ nausea
______ indigestion ______ excessive sleeping
______ overeating ______ loss of appetite
______ inability to sleep ______ skin problems
______ constant fatigue ______ cold hands or feet
______ excessive sweating ______ chest pains
______ high blood pressure
______ rapid or difficult breathing
 Emotional

______ mood changes ______ confusion

______ lack of concentration ______ aggressiveness
______ nightmares ______ panic attacks
______ anxiety ______ anger
______ irritability ______ crying
______ thoughts of suicide
______ depression
______ feelings of helplessness
______ restlessness
______ racing thoughts
 Behavioral
______ smoking ______ nail biting
______ tapping ______ pulling hair
______ grinding hair ______ use of alcohol
______ use of medication ______ compulsive dieting
______ hair chewing
______ nervous laughter
______ pacing ______ lateness
______ putting things off
______ not caring about physical appearance
______compulsive overeating
 Reading: STRESS RESPONSE

Your stress response is the

collection of physiological
changes that occur when you face
a perceived threat—when you face
situations where you feel the
demands outweigh your resources
to successfully cope. These
situations are known as stressors.
When your stress response
is triggered, a series of
changes occur within your
body. They include:
Redirection of blood
away from extremities and
instead to major organs
 The release of cortisol and other
hormones, which bring other
short- and long-term changes.
The stress response is intended
to give you a burst of energy so
you’re able to fight off attackers or
run away from them effectively.
This helped our ancestors, who
faced numerous physical threats,
to stay safe.
 However, now our threats tend to be less
physical and more associated with our way of
life—a challenge to our status, a demand for
performance, etc. In addition to giving us a
set of changes that may not match our needs
as well (it might be more effective for us to
have a burst of mental clarity or wisdom than
a burst of physical strength, for example), the
stress response can actually cause harm if it
leads to a state of chronic stress—that is, if
our stress response is triggered, and then our
body doesn’t go back to its normal state via
the relaxation response.
 Activity 2:
QUIET TIME
Provide students
with 15 minutes
of quiet time.
Portfolio Output
No. 9:
My Stress
Signals
Write about your stress signals. Answer the
following questions:

1. How do you know that you are stressed?

2. What stress signals do you have that your
partner does not have?
3. How much stress do you think you are
currently under?
4. How are your stress signals different for
different types of stressors?
5. What are some ways that you usually
remove or reduce the stress that cause you
physical, emotional or behavioral
difficulties?
 Topic 13:
Stress
Management
 Stress and change are part of our lives.
We all talk about stress, but we are not
always clear about what it is. This is
because stress comes from both the good
and bad things that happen to us. If we
did not feel any stress, we would not be
motivated to do anything. Too much
stress, however, can negatively impact
our mental wellness. It also may put
students at greater risk of becoming
involved in risk-taking behaviors.
 Motivation:
BELLY BREATHING

Deep breathing is a stress reduction

strategy that can be used in the
present moment as well as an
excellent skill to master to more
effectively cope with future stressors.
Have all students stand with
comfortable space between each
other or seated in a chair.
Give the following directions:
1. Stand straight with feet shoulder-width
apart.
2. Relax your arms and hands.
3. Relax your body.
4. Close your eyes.
5. Focus on lower abdomen (belly) and
imagine a small balloon in that space.
6. Breath in slowly and deeply through
nostrils, imagining the balloon inflating
(getting bigger/larger/growing) slowly,
hold a few seconds
7. Slowly exhale through the mouth, imagining
the balloon gently deflating (getting smaller,
shrinking); blow out of the mouth as if blowing
out a candle
8. Tip: Place a hand over the lower abdomen
to feel it go up and down, and make sure
you’re not breathing with the chest
9. Repeat at least 10 times. Ask students how
different their bodies feel after the exercise.
(Are they more relaxed/calm? Do they feel
lighter? Great? Tired?) Explain that Belly
breathing is one of the strategies that one can
do in stressful situations, but there are others
too.