SUBJECT: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

MODULE 1: Knowing and Understanding Yourself

Our self-concept is important because it influences how we think, feel, and act in everyday organizational
life. Understanding the self-concept is particularly important for managers because self-knowledge helps
managers understand why they do the things they do and how their beliefs and behaviors affect themselves,
others, and the organization—for better and worse.

- refers to your awareness of yourself. It is the construct that negotiates these two selves (ideal self &
actual self)
- it connotes first the identification of the ideal self as separate from others, and second, it encompasses
all the behaviors evaluated in the actual self that you engage in to reach the ideal self

ideal self is the self that you aspire to be. It is the one that you hope will possess characteristics similar to
that of a mentor or some other worldly figure.

- how we want to be
- an idealized image that we have developed over time, based on what we have learned and
experienced.
- could include components of what our parents have taught us, what we admire in others, what our
society promotes, and what we think is in our best interest

actual self is the one that you actually see. It is the self that has characteristics that you were nurtured or, in
some cases, born to have. The actual self and the ideal self are two broad categories of self-concept

- is built on self- knowledge.

- It is who we actually are
- It is how we think, how we feel, look, and act. The actual self can be seen by others, but because we
have no way of truly knowing how others view us, the actual self is our self- image.

Self-knowledge is derived from social interactions that provide insight into how others react to you.

Benefits of Self Knowledge:

Happiness - you will be happier when you can express who you are. Expressing your desires will make it
more likely that you get what you want.
Less inner conflict - when your outside actions are in accordance with your inside feelings and values, you
will experience less inner conflict
Better decision-making - When you know yourself, you are able to make better choices about everything,
from small decisions like which sweater you‘ll buy to big decisions like which partner you‘ll spend your life
with. You'll have guidelines you can apply to solve life‘s varied problems.
Self-control - when you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to resist bad habits and develop
good ones. You'll have the insight to know which values and goals activate your willpower
Resistance to social pressure - when you are grounded in your values and preferences, you are less likely
to say ―yes‖ when you want to say ―no.‖
Tolerance and understanding of others - your awareness of your own foibles and struggles can help you
empathize with others.
Vitality and pleasure - being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and makes your experience of life
richer, larger, and more exciting.

There is negotiation that exists between the two selves which is complex because there are numerous
exchanges between the ideal and actual self.

These exchanges are exemplified in social roles that are adjusted and re-adjusted, and are derived from
outcomes of social interactions from infant to adult development.
(Alignment is important. If the way that I am (the actual self) is aligned with the way that I want to be (the ideal
self), then I will feel a sense of mental well-being or peace of mind. If the way that I am is not aligned with how
I want to be, the incongruence, or lack of alignment, will result in mental distress or anxiety. The greater the
level of incongruence between the ideal self and real self, the greater the level of resulting distress. Personal
development modules ultimate aim is greater self-knowledge that will lead to higher alignment between these
two personality domains)

Strengths are the skills and abilities that are easy for you. So when you‘re leveraging those skills and abilities
you do quite well. Knowing your strengths means you know what activities to engage in that will allow you to
shine.

Weaknesses are those skills and abilities that don‘t come easy to you. When you are using those skills and
abilities, you might struggle. Knowing your weaknesses allows you to understand how you can work around
them.

Strengths and weaknesses are part of being self-aware. When you know your strengths and weaknesses,
you can create a development strategy that focuses on your specific development needs.

Instead of simply focusing on your weaknesses, recognize your own talents and abilities, build on them, utilize
them to your greatest advantage.

Kinds of people:

Moviegoer - watches the movie of their lives admires some parts and criticizes others. Aside from that, they
do nothing else.

- feels she has absolutely no control of their lives --- except to comment about it.
- are the most pathetic, miserable people in the world.

Actor - person does not only watch the movie of her life. She actually realizes she‘s the Actor – and can
control a big part of her life

- can actually make or break the movie – by how well she delivers her lines and how she portrays her
character
- are a happy bunch, realizing they‘re the start of the show and enjoy some level of control but many
times, they wish the movie would end in another way – but realize that they have no say in such things

Scriptwriter - does not only watch, and she doesn‘t only act, but she actually creates the entire movie from
her mind

- determines what she will say, what she will do, and how the movie will end.
- realizes she has enormous control over her life, and sees to it that the movie of her life will turn out
beautiful
MODULE 2: DEVELOPING THE WHOLE PERSON
Aspects of Development:

Physical Self - includes the descriptions of your height, weight, facial appearance, and quality of skin, hair
and descriptions of body areas such as your neck, chest, waist, legs etc.
Intellectual Self - included here are assessment of how well you reason and solve problems, your capacity to
learn and create, your general amount of knowledge, your specific areas of knowledge, wisdom you have
acquired, and insights you have.
Emotional Self - it is about the typical feelings you: seldom feel, try to avoid, enjoyed most, and associated
with each other.
Sensual Self - it is about how you feel as a sensual person. What do you use most – sight, hearing,
speaking, smelling, touching? How do you feel about the different ways you take in information - through the
eyes, ears, mouth, nose, pores, and skin.
Interactional Self - includes your descriptions of your strengths and weaknesses in intimate relationships and
relationships to friends, family, co- students and strangers in social settings.
Nutritional Self - includes how do you nourish yourself? What foods do you like and dislike? What do you like
and dislike about these?
Contextual Self - this could be in the areas of maintenance of your living environment: reaction to light,
temperature, space, weather, colors, sound and seasons and your impact on the environment.
Spiritual Self - this could include your feelings about yourself and organized religion, reactions about your
spiritual connections to others, feelings about your spiritual development and history, and thought about your
metaphysical self.

Holistic Development refers to human development that is meant to involve all the aspects of a person.
Designed to accommodate:

- Physical development
the process of physical growth in which (height, length, mass etc.) of an individual increases including
the five physical senses
- Intellectual development
deals with thinking and mental process which further divided into six classes; knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
- Emotional development
it refers to the children‘s growing ability to identify and understand their own feelings, accurately read
and understand the feelings of others, manage the way they feel, shape the way they behave, develop
empathy for others, and build and keep good relationships with friends, family and others
- Social development
refers to how a child develops friendships and other relationships, as well as how a child handles
conflict with peers. It is the manner by which an individual interacts with other individuals or group of
individuals
- Spiritual development
is a process through which a child develops proper attitudes or behaviors towards the other people in
the society, based on various things such as social and cultural norms, laws, and rules. It is the
attributes of a person‘s consciousness and beliefs, including values and virtues that guide and put
meaning into a person‘s life.

Understanding a person holistically means that one aspect cannot be seen in isolation from the whole person.
One must see how the interplay of all five aspects occurs within an individual. It is the psychological or how
thinking, feeling, and behaving interacts and happens in a person. This holistic approach in viewing a person
is emphasized in education, medicine, spiritual development, relationships, and in one person‘s overall
wellness.

Therefore, holistic development is a process of self-actualization and learning that combines an individual‘s,
physical (physiological), Mental (intellectual), social, emotional (psychological), and spiritual growth.
Remember:
Basic drives are the biological instincts that humans experience such as hunger, thirst, etc.
Emotions are usually caused by physical sensations experienced by the body as a reaction to a certain
stimulus.
Feelings are the result from the emotions that were experienced.
Attitudes are a person‘s thoughts, feelings, and emotions about another person, object, idea, behavior, or
situation. It is a result of a person‘s evaluation of an experience with another person, object, idea, behavior, or
situation based on his/her values and belief systems.
Behavior is an outward manifestation or acting out of the attitudes an individual has.
Values are a system of beliefs that adhere to the highest ideals of human existence. These ideals create
meaning and purpose in a person‘s life that often result in personal happiness and self-fulfillment.
Virtues are descriptions or adjectives that reflect a value.

The Story of the Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson

about a battle that goes on inside people. He said,
"My son, the battle is between two wolves
inside us all" "It is a terrible fight and it is between
two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt,
resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority,
and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is
joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness,
benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth,
compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on
inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and
then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will
win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one
you feed".

Knowing which wolf to feed is the first step towards recognizing you have control over your own self.

People often think that the feelings they experience are caused by external events, situations, and the actions
of others, but it is what we think about these things that really determines how we feel.

- Specifically, it is our thoughts and beliefs about the situation or person that makes us feel and respond
the way we do.
- Thoughts come automatically to us and we are often not conscious of how or what we are thinking
- There are 3 kinds of automatic thoughts: neutral, positive, and negative
- If we feel distressed, it is often because we are thinking particularly negative thoughts that contribute to
us feeling distressed
- If we want to improve how we feel, we need to begin by becoming more aware of what we are thinking
and changing our thoughts

Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny. -
Mahatma Gandhi
MODULE 3: DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES IN MIDDLE AND LATE ADOLESCENCE
The physical changes associated with puberty become the basis for new emotional experiences. For
example, it is common for parents to note their children become more moody and irritable during this period of
their lives. This moodiness is commonly attributed to the sudden and fluctuating hormonal levels, or "raging
hormones". It is certainly true that sex hormones are powerful chemical agents that can affect mood. During
puberty, the body is adjusting to these fluctuating hormone levels and this fluctuation does create mood
swings. However, there are several other physical causes accounting for increased moodiness apart from
fluctuating hormones.

Human Development focuses on human growth and changes across the lifespan, including physical,
cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth. The study of human
developmental stages is essential to understanding how humans learn, mature and adapt. Throughout their
lives, humans go through various stages of development.

Developmental Stage Characteristics

1. Pre-natal Age when hereditary endowments and
(conception to birth) sex are fixed and all body features, both
external and internal are developed.
2. Infancy Foundation age when basic behavior are
( Birth to 2 years) organized and many ontogenetic
maturation skills are developed.
3. Early Childhood Pre-gang age, exploratory, and
(2 to 6 years) questioning. Language and Elementary
reasoning are acquired and initial
socialization is experienced.
4. Late Childhood Gang and creativity age when self-help
(6 to 12 years) skills, social skills, school skills, and play
are developed.
5. Adolescence Transition age from childhood to
(puberty to 18 years) adulthood when sex maturation and rapid
physical development occur resulting to
changes in ways and feelings, thinking,
and acting.
6. Early Adulthood Age of adjustment to new patterns of life
(18 to 40 years old) and roles such as spouse, parent and
bread winner.
7. Middle Age Transition age when adjustments to initial
(40 years to retirement) physical and mental decline are
experienced.
8. Maturity / Old Age Retirement age when increasingly rapid
(Retirement to death) physical and mental decline are
experienced.
 Erikson’s Eight Stages of Personality Development

Erik Erikson’s eight stages of personality development define each stage of human development with a crisis
or a conflict. Each crisis or conflict either gets resolved or may be left unresolved, resulting in favorable or
unfavorable outcomes.

In referring to these eight stages of development espoused by Erikson, it is important to know that the stages
are borderless and flowing, not strictly fixed and definite. An adolescent who is experiencing identity issues
may also be experiencing intimacy issues (young adulthood) or may still be struggling with inferiority (of
school age), depending on whether or not they were able to resolve each stage crisis

Conflict or Possible Results from Resolving Conflict or Crisis

Stage Influential Crisis to be Favorable Results Unfavorable Results
Figure Resolved
Able to trust others when primary Mistrusting others,
Infancy (from Parents Trust vs. caregiver (usually the mother) provide withdrawal or
birth to18 Mistrust caring, attention, and love. estrangement
months)
Develops self-control and physical Compulsive self-restraintor
Early Childhood Parents Autonomy skills, and sense of independence compliance. Willfulness and
(18 months to vs. Shame without losing self-esteem. Ability to defiance. Failure will result in
3 years) and Doubt cooperate and to express oneself. feelings of shame and doubt
Develops feeling of autonomy.
Learns that being assertive, using When using too much power
Late Childhood Parents and Initiative vs. power, and being purposeful can and control, might experience
(Pre-school)(3-5 Teachers Guilt influence their environment. disapproval resulting in lack of
years) Develops sense of purpose. Starts to self- confidence and sense of
evaluate one‘s behavior. guilt. Pessimism, fear of being
wrongly judge
Learns how to cope with the school Loss of hope, sense of being
School Age Parents and Industry vs. environment and its demands. mediocre Develops feelings
(6-12 years) Teachers Inferiority Learns how to create, develop, and of inferiority. Withdrawal from
manipulate. Develops a sense of schooland peers
competence and perseverance.
Develops a sense of self and Feeling of Confusion,
Adolescence Teachers and Identity vs. identity. Plans to actualize one‘s indecisiveness, and anti-social
(12-20 years) Significant Role abilities. Develops the ability to stay behavior. Weak sense of self
Others Confusion true to oneself.
 Develops a strong need to form Impersonal, weak
Young Friends Intimacy vs. intimate, loving relationships with a relationships. Avoidance of
Adulthood (20- Isolation group of people or with another relationship, career, or
25 years) person. Develops strongrelationships lifestyle commitments. May
Learns commitment to work and result in isolation and
with anotherperson or group. loneliness
Creates or nurture things that will Self-indulgence, self-
Adulthood Community Generativity outlast them, either by having concern, or lack of interests
(25-65 years) vs. children or creating a positive change and commitments
Stagnation that benefits others. Creativity, Shallow involvement in the
productivity, feeling of usefulness world, pessimism
andaccomplishment, and concern for
others.
Sense of fulfillment as one looks Sense of loss, contempt for
Maturity (65 Community Integrity vs. back in one‘s life and develops others. May results in regret,
years todeath) Despair feelings of wisdom. Acceptance of bitterness and despair
worth and uniqueness of one‘s own
life. Acceptance of the inevitability of
death and transitioning.

Identity is a self-belief of what the individual thinks and feels about himself.

- roles oftentimes form part of this self-identity, such as birth order in the family, the nature of
work, occupation or title, and academic and social standing
- is also influenced by how others perceive an individual.

Role confusion is the negation of self-identity, in a sense that there is confusion over one‘s self-
concept or the absence or lack of such a concept.

- affects an individual‘s relationship with others, because there is no clear definition of what
he/she is and how he/she relates to others.

The adolescent‘s physiological transitioning is very pronounced at this stage. Puberty kicks in and is
fueled by the hormonal changes that are occurring and pushing the adolescent toward sexual
maturation. At this stage, the brain also continues to develop. Cognitive growth among
adolescents is usually marked by the way they are able to comprehend abstract concepts, such as
freedom and human rights. Their beliefs about morality, religion, and politics are also starting to
evolve.

Factors Affecting Period of Adolescence

1. Generation Gap
- The adolescent lives in the peerage company, representing a changing society, a society in a
state of flux. The adolescent is still not matured enough to have developed his own personality
to assert his views or attitudes. The society of the adults has ever been ignoring the ideas and
the views of the adolescents, entailing a constant struggle between an established society and
the society laboring to be emerged. The generation gap is apparently perceivable in the clash
between the adolescents and the established society of the adults
2. Emotional Instability
- During the period one moves fast towards the climax of development— physical, mental and
emotional, one has to traverse through a period of fast changes also. An adolescent happens
to be very emotional; very sensitive. Sometimes, gets nervous through the ebb and flows of
emotions. He is having more of self- consciousness, and when he feels his self to have been
hurt, he loses control over himself; he may either get very upset, or, may grow nervous when
he finds the entire situation to be against him. The adolescent should be treated with sympathy
and sensitivity.
3. Career Consciusness
- The selection of courses and subjects is made with the targeted career in mind. The
adolescent attains the adult level of cognitive development before he or she is actually adult.
Because of this development, an adolescent understands where the best chances for his
bright career lies; and how he needs to prepare himself for such a career.
 4. Treating the Adolescents
- Adolescence is a period of great importance as it is the period of fast and vast development in
all fields—physical, mental and emotional. It is through adolescence that a child grows to full
adulthood. Nevertheless, it is a period of storm and stress that needs a very sensible and
sensitive handling of the adolescent is required.
5. Good Literature
- Interest in reading rapidly grows during adolescence. This interest should be further inculcated
by the adults of the family, and teachers of the school. If during this period, one does not
develop interest in reading, it would hinder one‘s scholastic progress. Only such students can
grow into eminent scholars who are voracious readers. But equally important is the fact that
the children should read only the good books, with contents which can instill wholesome and
useful ideas and feelings into their fast growing and highly impressionable minds.
6. Socialization
- According to Piaget, the years when one reaches to the apex level of cognitive development,
are the years of adolescence. In achieving this stage, socialization has its very important
contribution to make. Hence, it is for the parents and teachers to see that the growing child
gets a very suitable social milieu where he can indulge himself into a variety of activities
offering occasions for rich interactions
The cognitive and moral development has very positive correlation with the social milieu of an
individual. Students come in contact with one another while indulging in curricular and co-
curricular activities such as games, sports, scouting, outing, excursions or tours or picnic and
so on. The parents and teachers should provide guidance to the adolescents in making
suitable choice of social circles. The impact of teachers, and, of some other adults that the
adolescent comes in contact with, also happens to be very important. But the greatest impact
happens to be that of the peer-group.

(During the period of adolescence, significant others like parents, teachers, friends, peerage, and
community leaders play an important role for their holistic development. Open communication
between the adolescent and the adults is also very significant to guide the adolescent especially in
decision-making. For the adolescents, they need to be open- minded and understanding in every
situation they might experience with the use of critical and analytical thinking skills and
communicative skills.

Participation in the activities of the community can also be beneficial if guided properly with the
responsible adults)

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that intelligence changes as children grow. A
child's cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge, the child has to develop or
construct a mental model of the world. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children
acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.

Cognitive development occurs through the interaction of innate capacities and environmental events,
and children pass through a series of stages. Piaget's stages are:

Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 2 years)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

- The infant knows the world through their movements and sensation.
- Children learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and
listening
- Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be seen (object
permanence)
- They are separate beings from the people and objects around them
- They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them

During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through
sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this
stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.
It is during the sensorimotor stage that children go through a period of dramatic growth and learning.
As kids interact with their environment, they are continually making new discoveries about how the
world works.

The cognitive development that occurs during this period takes place over a relatively short period of
time and involves a great deal of growth. Children not only learn how to perform physical actions such
as crawling and walking; they also learn a great deal about language from the people with whom they
interact. Piaget also broke this stage down into a number of different substages. It is during the final
part of the sensorimotor stage that early representational thought emerges.

Piaget believed that developing object permanence or object constancy, the understanding that
objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, was an important element at this point of
development.

- by learning that objects are separate and distinct entities and that they have an existence of
their own outside of individual perception, children are then able to begin to attach names and
words to objects.

The Preoperational Stage (2 – 7)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

- Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects.
- Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of
others.
- While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to think about things in
very concrete terms.

The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous stage, but it is the
emergence of language that is one of the major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of
development.

Children become much more skilled at pretend play during this stage of development, yet continue to
think very concretely about the world around them.

At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of
other people. They also often struggle with understanding the idea of constancy.

- For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and then
give a child the choice between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is rolled into
a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since the flat shape looks
larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece even though the two pieces are
exactly the same size.

The Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

- During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events
- They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short,
wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example
- Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete
- Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general
principle

While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in development, they
become much more adept at using logic. The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear
as kids become better at thinking about how other people might view a situation.

While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete operational state, it can also be very
rigid. Kids at this point in development tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts.

During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people
might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their
thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings,
and opinions.

The Formal Operational Stage (12 and up)

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

- At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and reason about
hypothetical problems
- Abstract thought emerges
- Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that
require theoretical and abstract reasoning
- Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information

The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning,
and an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple
potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.

The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of the formal operational
stage of cognitive development. The ability to systematically plan for the future and reason about
hypothetical situations are also critical abilities that emerge during this stage.

It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative
process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as
they get older. Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as
they gradually process through these four stages.

*wala ko kahibaw if apil ban i pero apilon nalang nako kay basin diay & kang Piaget japun ni*

Schema

- describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing.
Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
- In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining
that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or
change previously existing schemas.

For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole
experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have
four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog. The child will take in this new
information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new observations.

Assimilation

- The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as
assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and
information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and
labeling it "dog" is a case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation

- Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new
information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves modifying existing
schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also
be developed during this process.

Equilibration

- Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As
children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a
balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to
account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children can
move from one stage of thought to the next.
MODULE 4: BECOMING A RESPONSIBLE ADOLESCENT
Ways to Become a Responsible Adolescent Prepared for Adult Life

Becoming responsible and being able to make good choices are very important traits no matter what
developmental stage you are in. It holds true for adolescents especially that they are just beginning to
internalize and imbibe virtues, values, and other essential qualities.

It may not be easy to be a teenager. There may be lots of things going on in various facets of their
lives. The demands and expectations of their parents and other people around them can also be
stressful. But the good news is, they can treat these ‗difficulties‘ as ‗challenges‘ which can make their
life exciting. Having that mindset is also an indication of becoming a responsible and mentally mature
adolescent.

The following are eight (8) simple rules which could help you, teenagers, to become a
responsible adolescent prepared for adult life:

1. Focus on your studies and do well in all of your endeavors. There is time for everything.
2. Take care of your health and hygiene. Healthy body and mind are important as you journey
through adolescence.
3. Establish good communication and relation with your parents or guardian. Listen to them. This may
be easier said than done at this stage, but creating good relationship with them will do you good as
they are the ones you can lean on especially in times of trouble.
4. ―Think many times before you do anything.‖ Evaluate the probable consequences/results before
you act on a certain situation. Practice self-control and self-discipline.
5. Choose to do the right thing. There are many situations in which it is better to use your mind rather
than your heart.
6. Do your best to resist temptations, bad acts, and earthly pleasures and commit to being a
responsible adolescent.
7. Respect yourself. You are an adult in the making. Do not let your teenage hormones get into you. If
you respect yourself, others will respect you too.
8. Be prepared to be answerable or accountable for your actions and behavior. It is a part of growing
up and becoming an adult

Stress: Nature, Types, and Symptoms

Stress is the body‘s responds to anything that makes us feel threatened or pressured. It is caused by
any kind of demand, to which we must adapt, adjust, or respond. It is the body‘s automatic way of
reacting to changes, challenges, and demands placed on Us.

Nature of Stress

Stress is not a factor that resides in the individual or the environment, instead it is embedded in an
ongoing process that involves individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments.

Types of Stress

Physical and Environmental – demands that change the state of our body. We feel strained when
we overexert ourselves physically, lack a nutritious diet, suffer an injury, or fail to get enough sleep.
Environmental stresses are aspects of our surroundings that are often unavoidable such as air
pollution, crowding, noise, heat of the summer, winter cold, etc. Another group of environmental
stresses are catastrophic events or disasters such as fire, earthquake, floods, etc.

Psychological – stresses that we generate ourselves in our minds and are unique to the person
experiencing them. These are internal sources of stress. Some of the important sources of
psychological stress are frustrations, conflicts, internal and social pressures, etc. We worry about
problems, feel anxiety, or become depressed.

Social – These are induced externally and result from our interaction with other people. Social events
like death or illness in the family, strained relationships, trouble with neighbors are some examples of
social stresses. These social stresses vary widely from person to person. Attending parties may be
stressful for a person who likes to spend quiet evenings at home while an outgoing person may find
staying at home in the evenings stressful.
 The General Model of Stress Process

Personality
Characteristics

Physiological:
Physical health
Vulnerabilities

Psychological:
Mental Health
Temperament
Self-Concept

Cultural:

Stress Appraisal

Physiological Behavioral Emotional Cognitive

Response Response Response Response

Symptoms of Stress

The way one responds to stress varies depending upon his/her personality, early upbringing and life
experiences. Everyone has their own pattern of stress response. Hence, both the symptoms of stress
can be physical, emotional and behavioural

Emotional symptoms
- becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody
- Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
- Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
- Low self-esteem, lonely, worthless, and depressed
- Avoiding others

Physical symptoms
- Insomnia – lack of sleep
- Low energy
- Headaches
- Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and feet
- Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
- Aches, pains, and tense muscles
- Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
Behavioral symptoms
- Frequent colds and infections
- Changes in appetite – either not eating or eating
- Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
too much
- Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing
- Increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes
- Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
- Procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities
Cognitive symptoms - Exhibiting more nervous behaviors, such as nail
- Forgetfulness and disorganisation biting, fidgeting, and pacing.
- Poor judgment
- Constant worrying
- Racing thoughts
- Inability to focus
- Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side