COPING WITH

STRESS
“Give your stress wings and let it fly away.”
Terri Guillemets

Subject Teacher: Ms. Hanna Pauline Joseph

“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.
 STRESS AND STRESSOR
 Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, or stressors, that we view as
challenging or threatening.
 Stress is any circumstance (real or perceived) that threatens a person’s well being. When we feel severe stress
our ability t cope with it is impaired.
 Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand.

 We generally use the word "stress" when we feel that everything seems to have become too much - we are
overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed upon us.
 Stress can be considered either positive or negative depending on one’s capacity to handle stressors. A little
amount of stress enables us to adapt and function normally. For instance, when we are about to meet the
deadline of our project, we need a little amount of stress to motivate us in completing the task. In a sense a
manageable amount of stress may not be actually be that bad because it has survival value.
STRESS AND STRESSORS
 The term stress is actually borrowed from the field of physics. It means strain, pressure or force on system. In
the context of human being, the strain or stress makes our mind and body to react. This is our way to cope in
order to alleviate ourselves from the effects of stress. This is why people sleep off their problems, spend time at
the mall t relax or hang out with friends. And still others combat stress by eating and drinking.
 How does an event, place or even people cause us stress? There are factors to consider such as frequency,
intensity, duration of stress. Does the source of stress happen very often? When it happens how serious is it?
How is it affecting you? How long has it been going on?
 Chronic and sever stress is a threat to health. It dampens our Immune system which cause us to have gastric
ulcers, heart disease, asthma, skin disorders and even fatigue.
 It is important that we identify the sources of stress before they build up and cause is strains and serious illness.
STRESS AND STRESSORS

What's Stressful For You?

What's stressful for you may be quite different from what's stressful to someone else.
STRESS AND STRESSORS
 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.
 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
 The physiological and psychological factors are involved in a stress response – the processes and structures in
our body system responsible for these reactions.
 PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS

Think for a while how you felt when you were stressed out. Did your heart beat fast, your muscles got tense,
your hands and feet felt cold?
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.
To illustrate the General Adaptation Syndrome, suppose your parents often quarrel, but before the actual fight,
you sense that the atmosphere gets tense and you become upset. This is the alarm stage, signaling that there is
a problem starting to brew in your family environment. Yet, you try to ignore it and pretend that it does not
affect you – the resistance stage. However, your parents’ conflict continued on with your fighting day after day
until you are fed up listening to their squabbles. You now enter the exhaustion stage where you feel that you
have become tired and stressed out. Now you react to the stressful situation by going out with your friends.
 STRESS FACTORS
 The body’s resistance to stress differ depending on the individual’s capacity to contain its effect or their
flexibility to adapt to their situation. The ill effects of stress occur only when the individual fails to adapt and
gets exhausted by chronic or prolonged stress in life.
STRESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
 The immune system is the body’s natural defense against any disease. It helps the body fight infection that can
lead to more serious health problems. Handling chronic stress causes fatigue and consequently weakens our
immune system of or body’s defense.
 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.
 STRESS FACTORS
Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms
Memory Problems Moodiness
Inability to concentrate Irritability or short temper
Poor judgment Agitation, inability to relax
Seeing only the negative Feeling overwhelmed
Anxious or racing thoughts Sense of loneliness and isolation
Constant worrying Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms
Headaches Eating more or less
Back pains Sleeping too much or too little
Diarrhea or constipation Isolating oneself
Frequent colds Procrastinating
Rapid heartbeat Forgetting or neglecting obligations
dizziness
Effects on your body:
 A tendency to sweat  Hypertension (high blood pressure)

 Back pain  Loss of libido

 Chest pain  Lower immunity against diseases

 Childhood obesity  Muscular aches

 Cramps or muscle spasms  Nail biting

 Erectile dysfunction  Nervous twitches

 Fainting spells  Pins and needles

 Headache  Sleeping difficulties

 Heart disease  Stomach upset

 MANAGING STRESS
Managing stress is all about taking charge: of your thoughts, emotions,
schedule, and the way you deal with problems.

The simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the

foundation
of stress management
 MANAGING STRESS
STRATEGIES

I. Identify the sources of stress in your life

II. Look at how you currently cope with stress

 Unhealthy ways of coping with stress

 These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they cause more damage in the long run:

 Smoking

 Drinking too much

 Overeating or under eating

 Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer

 Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities

 Using pills or drugs to relax

 Sleeping too much

 Procrastinating

 Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems

 Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)
 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.
 MANAGING STRESS
Dealing with Stressful Situations:
The Four A’s

 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
Healthy ways to relax and recharge:
 Go for a walk.  Play with a pet.
 Spend time in nature.  Work in your garden.
 Call a good friend.  Get a massage.
 Sweat out tension with a good workout.  Curl up with a good book.
 Write in your journal.  Listen to music.
 Take a long bath.  Watch a comedy.
 Light scented candles.
 Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea.
 MANAGING STRESS
Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing
yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.
 Set aside for a relaxation time. 

 Connect with others. 

 Do something you enjoy every day. 

 Keep your sense of humor. 

 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