MANAGING STRESS

Health 7 Quarter 3
Do you know that stress is not always something negative? Stress can either be negative or
positive! But if stress is constant over time, it can be determined to your health. Preventing stress is
important.
Stress is defined as the physiological (or physical and emotional responses to a significant or
unexpected change or disruption in one’s life (Payne, et al., 2005). Stress is inevitable and a normal part
of life. Stress can also be defined as a state of mental or emotional strain resulting from difficult or
demanding circumstances. While everyone experiences stress, what stresses someone out varies from
person to person. While one might find joy in something another might find stress. The word stressor
refers to the things that make a person stressed. There are two different kinds of stress – eustress and
distress.

Two kinds of Stressor

1. Eustress refers to a positive and healthy response of the body from a stressor. It produces good
effects to one’s well- being.

Example:
A student like you studied for long hours and answered all the activities in your respective modules and
got an outstanding grade, may feel happiness and enjoyment.

2. Distress refers to a negative reaction of the body towards a given stressor. It may cause problems
in health, alter the mood and emotions, and even affect the way a person thinks.

Example:
Your classmate did not submit his/her module on time and the teacher did not get his/her module, he or
she may feel anger and disappointed.
HEALTHY WAYS TO COPE WITH STRESS

1.Understand how you stress. Stress is experienced and managed differently by each individual. Some
things that may be stressful for some may serve as a trigger for others to become productive. It is
important for you to know what types of situations make you feel different than you do most of the
time. For example, stress may be related to your children, family, health, financial decisions, work,
relationships or something else.
2. Find healthy ways to manage stress. The ways in which you cope with stress are unique to your
personality. Consider healthy, stress-reducing activities that work best for you such as exercising or
talking things out with friends or family, listening to music, writing, or spending time with a friend or
relative. Keep in mind that unhealthy behaviors develop over time and can be difficult to change. Don't
take too much at once. Focus on changing only one behavior at a time.
3.Take care of yourself. We generally do a good job of attending to our own needs. However, at times we
can take on more than we can manage. No matter how hectic life gets, make time for yourself — even if
it's just simple things like reading a good book or listening to your favorite music. Eat right, get enough
sleep, drink plenty of water and engage in regular physical activity. Take regular vacations or other breaks
from work.
4.Reach out for support. Although it can be difficult to open up to others about your life and problems,
sometimes not holding things inside can help with decreasing your stress. Accepting help from
supportive friends and family can improve your ability to manage stress. If you continue to feel
overwhelmed by stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist, who can help you better manage stress
and change unhealthy behaviors.

TYPES OF COPING STRATEGIES

Active Coping Strategies Passive Coping Strategies

 Accepting  Ignoring
 Re-appraising  Escaping
 Praying  Confronting
 Problem solving  Relaxing
 Controlling  Exercising
 Seeking social support  Seeking social support

UNHEALTHY WAYS OF COPING WITH STRESS

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

1. Using pills or drugs to relax
2. Drinking too much
3. Sleeping too much
4. Smoking
5. Procrastinating
6. Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer
7. Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems
8. Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities
9. Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outburst,
physical violence)

Common Internal Stressors:

1. Chronic worry- a mental habit wherein an individual is constantly worrying on things which
happened and may happen to him/ her.
2. Pessimism- a tendency when an individual expects that something worst will happen and that
leads to experiencing lack of hope in life.
 3. Negative Self-talk- it is any inner dialogue that a person does in most of his thinking that may
limit the ability to have self-confidence and avoid believing to capabilities.
4. Unrealistic expectation/ perfectionism- People who experience this tend to be not satisfied with
what they accomplish. They may suffer from painful emotions when they feel that they do not
produce a perfect output.
5. Rigid thinking, Lack of flexibility- these are the kind of difficulties when an individual frequently
finds it hard to cope with change. Hence, persons who experience this believe that any kind of
change as a source of anxiety.
6. All or nothing attitude- a thinking that leads to holding back from achieving things in life. For
instance, one may say that; if he/she can’t be the best player in the team, he will never play the
sport.

Common External Stressors:

1. 1. Major life changes- one may feel stressed when a big part of his/ her life changes into
something that is difficult to accept. For instance, a person may find it hard to believe that his/
her business falls near bankruptcy.
2. Work or school- a kind of stressor wherein an individual cannot able to handle things to deal
with in workplace or school. This includes unexpected deadlines, nature of work, society to work
with and so forth.
3. Relationship difficulty- an individual may experience to hardly accomplish things when they are
facing difficulties in building harmonious relationships. For instance, they may feel stressed to
handle a husband- wife relationship when quarrel always happen.
4. Financial Problems- this is one of the stressors that entails to encountering stress after an
individual faced problem in money. Paying bills, tuition fees, budget for foods and fares, and
other money matters are examples of situations that often lead to stress.
5. Children and Family- for many, this stressor is often experience for a person may feel difficulties
in working for their families and in providing everything to their children. For example, a big
responsibility came up to an individual after getting married and after giving birth to children
who needs shelter, foods, education and the likes.

Internal and external stressors can affect the body’s immune system to the extent that it can cause
certain illnesses like the following:

1. Cancer- a serious disease caused by cells that are not normal and that can spread to one or
many parts of the body
2. Asthma- a physical condition that makes it difficult for someone to breathe.
3. Ulcer- a painful, sore area inside or outside of the body.
4. Diarrhea- an illness that causes you to pass waste from your body very frequently and in liquid
rather than solid form.
5. Stroke- a serious illness caused when blood vessels in your brain suddenly break or blocked
6. Migraine- a condition marked by recurrent severe headache often with nausea and vomiting.
7. Cramps- a temporary paralysis of muscles from over use.
8. Infertility- a condition when an individual cannot able to produce offspring.
9. Allergies- a medical condition that causes someone to become sick after eating, touching, or
breathing that is harmless to most people.
10. Heart attack- a sudden painful and dangerous condition in which your heart stops beating
properly
A person who is not able to handle stress may develop poor habits that will lead to a bad health
condition. It is then important for a person to develop and practice stress management skills.

Stress management skills are techniques that can be used to cope with the harmful effects produced by
stress. One type of skill focuses on doing something about the cause of stress. Learning and using
responsible decision-making skills can help solve the stressor that is causing stress. A second type of skill
focuses on keeping the body healthy and relieving anxiety; exercising and eating a healthful diet are
effective skills of this kind. (Meeks, et al., 2011)

What is general adaptation syndrome?

GAS is the three-stage process that describes the physiological changes the body goes through when
under stress

General adaptation syndrome stages

1. Alarm reaction stage: The alarm reaction stage refers to the initial symptoms the body
experiences when under stress. You may be familiar with the “fight-or-flight” response, which is
a physiological response to stress. This natural reaction prepares you to either flee or protect
yourself in dangerous situations.
2. Resistance stage: After the initial shock of a stressful event and having a fight-or-flight response,
the body begins to repair itself. It releases a lower amount of cortisol, and your heart rate and
blood pressure begin to normalize. Although your body enters this recovery phase, it remains on
high alert for a while. If you overcome stress and the situation is no longer an issue, your body
continues to repair itself until your hormone levels, heart rate, and blood pressure reach a pre-
stress state.
Your body continues to secrete the stress hormone and your blood pressure remains elevated.
You may think you’re managing stress well, but your body’s physical response tells a different
story. If the resistance stage continues for too long of a period without pauses to offset the
effects of stress, this can lead to the exhaustion stage.

Signs of the resistance stage include:

• irritability
• frustration
• poor concentration

3. Exhaustion stage: This stage is the result of prolonged or chronic stress. Struggling with stress for
long periods can drain your physical, emotional, and mental resources to the point where your
body no longer has strength to fight stress. You may give up or feel your situation is hopeless.
Signs of exhaustion include:

• fatigue
• burnout
• depression
• anxiety
• decreased stress tolerance
 The physical effects of this stage also weaken your immune system and put you at risk for stress-
related illnesses.

Some people react to stress differently. Here are some of the physical reactions of people to stress.

1. Nail biting- Sometimes we see people nail biting. It’s a sign that they are stressed.
2. Drinking coffee- People who are in stressful situations are more likely engaged in drinking coffee
3. Insomnia- Sometimes people who are stressed are having a hard time to sleep.
4. Restlessness – People who are under stress show signs of uneasiness.
5. Changes in appetite- It is a condition of either not eating or eating too much.
6. Behavioral Changes- This condition sometimes causes moodiness, aggression, short-temper or
clinginess.
7. Fears- A condition where the person starts to fear darkness, being alone and started to fear
stranger.
8. Bedwetting- A person starts to urinate while sleeping.

These are only few of the common physical responses of your body to stress.

Learning how to manage stress takes practice. Here are some steps or ways on how to manage your
stress.

1. Exercise - Exercising regularly is one of the best ways to relax your body and mind.
2. Eat well - Eating regular with balanced diet will help you feel better.
3. Take a break - You need to plan what you are going to do to give your mind time off from stress.
4. Make time for hobbies- You need to relax and give yourself a chance to do the things you love.
5. Talk about your problems- If things are bothering you, talking about them can help lower your
stress. You can talk to your family, friends and trusted people in your life.
6. Go easy on yourself- Learn to accept the fact that you can’t do things perfectly no matter how
hard you try.

Below are the people who can provide support in stressful situations.
1. Family- A group of people, usually of the same blood (but do not have to be), who genuinely
love, trust, care about, and look out for each other.
2. Friends- people having mutual feelings of care, respect, admiration, concern, and love.A friend is
someone whom you can turn to in times like this. A true one offers his shoulders to cry on.
3. Teachers- second parents in school that help students acquire knowledge, competence and
virtue.
4. Religious leaders- are people who is are in charge of a religious church or congregation.

When you need to overcome anxiety, stress, and loss, more than ever, you need to turn to God. The
religious leaders can facilitate the healing /recovery process through their various ministry.
Death refers to the end of the physical being of a person that is caused by an illness, aging, or an
accident.
Loss occurs when someone dies, or a life situation changes or ends. Grief refers to the emotional
suffering caused by a loss, disaster, or misfortune (Meeks, et al., 2007). Furthermore, loss and grief may
include a change in the family, changes in living conditions, the death of a friend, suicide, the death of a
well-known person, tragedies in the news, and the loss of special belongings (Meeks, et al., 2007). Loss,
grief, and death may greatly affect the mental and emotional health of a person.
Death is part of one’s life and we must accept it. After the death of a loved one, grieving follows.
Grieving is a normal, natural, and healthy response to loss (Telljohann, et al., 2007). It is important to
grieve because it is also a way to release distress. Releasing bad stress from the body through different
actions such as crying may result to an ease of feeling. Grieving may also be considered as a sign of the
capability of a person to heal and move on.
People may also grieve after experiencing earthquake, typhoons, tsunamis, storm surges, and
other natural disasters. These people may have lost their properties and other important things needed
for everyday life.
Others grieve for a misfortune such as losing any valuable material, getting robbed, or failure in
an examination. People may also suffer from experiences such as separation from friends and conflict
with others.

The Five Stages of Grief

1. Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”

2. Anger: “Why is this happening? Who is to blame?”
3. Bargaining: “Make this not happen, and in return I will ____.”
4. Depression: “I’m too sad to do anything.”
5. Acceptance: “I’m at peace with what happened.”
How to deal with the grieving process
While grieving over a certain loss is just a part of life, there are ways to help cope with the pain, come to
terms with your grief, find a way to pick up the pieces and move on with your life.

1. Acknowledge your pain.

2. Accept that grief can trigger many different and unexpected emotions.
3. Understand that your grieving process will be unique to you.
4. Seek out face-to-face support from people who care about you.
5. Support yourself emotionally by taking care of yourself physically.
6. Recognize the difference between grief and depression.

If stress is prolonged and you are not able to manage it well, you may develop a mental illness; Mental
Illness is a disorder that disrupts thinking, feeling, mood, behavior and impairs daily functioning. Triggers
are events, conditions or situations that may “activate” a person’s tendency to experience symptoms of
mental disorders.

Triggers:
• childhood abuse
• trauma or neglect
• social isolation
• experiencing discrimination
• poverty/debt
• bereavement (losing someone close on you)

Warning Signs:
• feeling sad or down
• excessive fears or worries
• extreme mood changes
• significant tiredness
• problems sleeping
• suicidal thinking

A. Major Depressive Disorder- It is normal to feel sadness and grief when faced with difficult situations.
However, a person may develop a major depressive disorder when depression is on a daily basis:

Signs and Symptoms:

• Lack or loss of motivation (nobody can motivate him)

• Overthinking (that others may say something bad about him)
• Lack or loss of energy (he is feeling tired even he never do things)
• Slow to react (late reactions in every situation)
• Difficulty in concentrating and remembering (he can’t do his job well, easy to forget something)
• Loss of appetite (failure to eat regularly)
• Excessive gain or loss of weight (easy to become slim or become fat)
• Withdrawal from others/feeling alone (want to be alone, don’t want to talk to others)
B. Bipolar Disorder- Also called manic-depressive disorder; it is a form of depression characterized by
alternating mania and depression. A person who experiences this disorder may at times feel very happy
and elated, and then at an instant may feel utmost sadness and despair
Symptoms:

• Rapid speech and racing thoughts(quick changes of mind)

• Difficulty in decision making ( can’t make a decision easily)
• Recklessness and impulsiveness(doing things without careful)
• Agitation( disturbance)
• Difficulty in concentrating (can’t concentrate on what he/she do)
• Extreme irritability

C. Schizophrenia – A person with this illness may experience hallucinations or feeling of being detached
and away from reality, He or she may lose the functions of the sense organs and thinks and imagines
very
differently than that of a normal person.
D. Post –traumatic stress disorder-A person may have this disorder when he or she experienced a
traumatic situation such as being abused, raped, or involved in an accident. Symptoms may vary from
being spaced out ( tulala) extreme sadness or frustration, irritability avoidance to people, or isolation
and others.