STRESS, STRESS!

GO AWAY!

BEFRIENDING STRESS:
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Workshop on Self Care and Management

For Heads of Centers and Institutions

Oracle, Katipunan Ave, Loyola Hts. QC

November 4-8 2014
Background
• UN ILO (1992): Stress as the 21st
c global health epidemic
• Stress is implicated in the six
leading causes of death -- heart
disease, cancer, stroke, lower
respiratory disease, infectious
and parasitic diseases, and
accidents
http://www.worktolive.info/Portals/156026/images/Stress%20campaign%20headache%20photo.jpg
The New Normal
• Constant shifts and changes
• Fast pace of life and work
• Digital Revolution
• Information overload
• Globalization
• Economic-political uncertainty
• Changing family constellation
• Climate change http://sidoxia.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/green-fish.jpg

(Naisbitt, 1996)
The Nature of Stress: Definition

www. geology.sdsu.edu/visualstructure/vss/htm_hlp/fig_gif/1.gif

Perception of
FORCE OR DEMAND OF SITUATION > ABILITY TO RESPOND OR COPE
Demand versus Ability to Respond/Cope

“In the Zone”

Demand=Ability
Anxiety
Healthy Depression
Tension Demand>Ability Fatigue
Ill Health

Burnout
Ability>Demand Chronic Diseases

http://wikieducator.org/images/thumb/2/25/Human_Performance_Curve.jpg/400px-Human_Performance_Curve.jpg
Types of Stress

EUSTRESS DISTRESS

VERSUS
Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Framework
The Nature of Stress: Continuum of Stress

PERSONAL EVERYDAY PERSONAL TRAUMATIC

LEVEL STRESSORS/ CRISES EVENTS
HASSLES

SOCIAL FAMILY EMERGENCIES CATACLYSMS

LEVEL WORK DISASTERS
STRESS

Chronic Stress Acute Stress

Systems Approach to Understanding Stress
Orbitofrontal Cortex: The Gatekeeper Limbic System:
(Emotional Brain)
Grand Central Station of
NeoCortex:
Emotions and Motivation
Left: Logic, language,
Hippocampus
learning, organizing and
Amygdala
planning positive emotions
Right: wholistic, feelings,
Hypothalamus:
perceptions, creativity,
Endocrine System
negative emotions

OFC:
Central regulatory
structure linked to the
Brain Stem:
neocortex, limbic system,
ANS Functions
endocrine system,
immune system
immune system, and
brain stem http://royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royptb/364/1521/1291/F3.large.jpg
Systems Approach to Understanding Stress
STIMULUS: STRESSOR

OUR RESPONSE: STRESS

(Thoughts, Feelings, Actions)

OUR BRAIN

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM SYMPATHETIC NS

Immune Organs Activated:

CORTISOL NOR/EPINERHINE WBC/Leukocytes Trafficking
T Cells Proliferation
B Cell Antibody Production
IMMUNE SYSTEM Natural Killer Cells
Cytokine Production
http://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/psychoneuroimmunology-090712184039-phpapp01-thumbnail-4.jpg?cb=1247442058
STRESS SYMPTOMS
CHECKLIST
1 -- Never Experience
2 – Seldom
3 – Most of the time
4 -- Always

Below 60 -- Low stress, you’re cool and calm

61 – 99 -- Moderate stress, you’re ready for action
Above 100 -- High stress, you need to relax
FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING
THE NATURE OF STRESS

STRESSORS
RESPONSES IMPACT
BODY
INTERNAL ON WORK,
MIND
EXTERNAL HEART SELF,&
SPIRIT FAMILY
ORGANIZATION
WORK SELF POSITIVE/
INTERPERSONAL ORGANIZATION NEGATIVE
PERSONAL

STRESS RESILIENCY
MANAGEMENT BUILDING
Be Aware!
• Don’t ignore it.
• Know your stressors.
• Be aware of your
responses.
• Know the impact of your
responses. http://www.yoga24x7.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/self-discipline.jpg

“Self awareness precedes

self-regulation.”
What can we do
to manage stress
better and build
our resilience?
Ways of Dealing with Stress

ESCAPE COPE PREVENT STRETCH

Building Resiliency to Stress

ORGANIZATIONAL
RESILIENCY THESE ARE PERSONAL RESILIENCY
THREE WAYS
WE CAN
RESPOND
EFFECTIVELY
TO STRESS!

SOCIAL SUPPORT
Stress and Recovery

STRESS 1 STRESS 2
BEATING A DEADLINE MEETING AN EXTERNAL CUSTOMER

Build resiliency
here!

DOWNTIME/RECOVERY

MORNING NOON AFTERNOON

MONDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

JANUARY-FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL-MAY

STRESSFUL EVENT REST & REENERGIZING RE-ENTRY/MOVING ON

Improving our Resilience Response
Natural Stress Past Experience
Threshold
Inner Resources
Coping
Behaviors
Competencies
Level and
Ability of Coping Attitudes/Values

Physical Health Motivation Personality

Put some order!
• Clean and de-clutter your
space.
• Green your room.
• Beautify!
• Soften lighting.
• Reduce noise.
• Simplify!
http://www.newhomesrule.com/wp-content/uploads//zen-garden-wallpaper-xidtulss.jpg
Building Personal Resiliency

• Behavioral Resiliency Techniques

• Creating Spaces and Pockets of
Relaxation
• Assertiveness Training
• Anger Management
• Time Management
• Life-change Management
• Recreational Activities
• Health Management
Get Mental!
Let’s try this!

•Neurobics
•Creative ways of solving problems
•Reframe
Neurobics
• The brain continues to have a
remarkable ability to grow,
adapt, and change patterns of
connections even in old age.
• The brain is resilient!
http://www.nuigalway.ie/psychiatry/images/Local%20Data.jpg

In Keep Your Brain Alive ( 1999),

Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin
postulate that unusual sensory
stimulation and activities, non-
routine actions and thoughts
encourage growth of new
dendrites and neurons.
http://www.midbrainworld.com/images/neuroexpert.jpg
 Neurobics
• Engage your attention.
• Involve one or more of your
senses in a novel way.
• Breaking a routine in an
unexpected, unusual way.

http://www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/connectome/
 A Creative Brain Storm

Can you think of 3 new,

different, and unusual but
still functional use for a
paperclip?

Cognitive Fixedness or Rigidity

Cognitive Flexibility
● ● ●
● ● ●
● ● ●
● ● ●
● ● ●
● ● ●
Return
Get Mental!
Let’s try this!

•Neurobics
•Creative ways of solving problems
•Reframe
Reframing

• A neuro-linguistic
programming (NLP)
techniques
• Change an existing reality or
create a new one through
changing the language one
uses.

http://suzycarroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Reframe.Change-Perspective.jpg
 Do you see the donut or the hole?

http://insuranceexchangehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/medicare_donut_hole.jpg
Do you see the glass half empty or
half full?

http://www.dralicechan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/iStock_000014644345XSmall-glass-
half-full.jpg
Do you see the dangers and risks or the
opportunities?

DANGER/RISK OPPORTUNITY
Building Personal Resiliency Recognize
Explanatory
Music-assisted
Mindfulness
Ankylosing
automatic
style:
Based
relaxation
Stress
Spondylitis
thoughts.
reducedPermanence
Reduction
pain,Training
anxiety,for
BP,
• Mind-Resiliency Techniques New England
Challenge the Journal
thoughts.
Pervasiveness
Caregivers
HR, etc.
of
Make Medicine
reattributions.
Personalization
• Positive Self-talk and Self Affirmations
• Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques
(Reframing) (Seligman, 1990)
• Learned Optimism (Seligman, 1990)
• Humor (Cousins, 1976)
• Creative Visualization
• Creative activities and Hobbies
• Meditation (Kabat-Zinn, 1990,
Shapiro,
Brown, Kirk, Biegel, 2007)
• Autogenic Training
• Music Therapy (2008-2011)
• Hypnosis
• Prayer
 Get Emotional!
Let’s try this!

•Mirroring
•Have a good laugh.
•Give and receive some
hugs.

http://squidandsquash.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Group-Hug.jpg http://www.beaccessible.org.nz/__data/assets/image/0007/10996/Group-hug.gif
Emotional States: Energy In
Motion
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
ENERGY ENERGY

HIGH ENERGY
ECSTACY
ANGER/RAGE
EXCITEMENT
ANXIETY
ENTHUSIASM
IRRITABILITY
LOW ENERGY

PEACE BURNOUT
CONTENTMENT SADNESS
JOY DEPRESSION
Components of EQ
• Self-awareness – the ability to know one's emotions, strengths,
weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognize their impact on
others while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
• Self-regulation – involves controlling or redirecting one's disruptive
emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.
• Social skill – managing relationships to move people in the desired
direction
• Empathy - considering other people's feelings especially when making
decision
• Motivation - being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement.
 Citing the rosary and yoga
Building Personal Resiliency mantra on breathing rate,
regularity of breathing,
baroreflex sensitivity,
frequency of
• Heart Resiliency Techniques cardiovascular oscillations
• Developing EQ
• Prayer (Dossey, 1993; Bernardi & Bandinelli, 2001)

• Life Mission/Vision
• Authentic Community Building
• Peer Support Groups
• Friendship
• Family
• Story-telling
• Mentoring/Coaching
• Counseling/Therapy
Get Spiritual!

• Pray.
• Remember your
purpose.
• Be grateful. Count your
blessings.

http://www.tansleymethodist.com/site/category/prayer/
Building Personal Resiliency
• Spirit Resiliency Techniques
• Prayer
• Meditation
• Attending Retreats, Recollections

• Joining a Spiritual Community

• Creating Spiritual Partnerships
• Journaling – Keep a Gratitude Journal
• Reading Holy Books, inspirational literature, and
success stories
• Being of service to others/Volunteerism
• Mentoring/Coaching
• Taking up a cause
• Finding and visiting your special place or sanctuary
http://terawallpaper.com/caterpillar-butterfly-clipart/
Our deepest fear
is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
(Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure
around you.)
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates others.
-- Nelson Mandela
Inaugural Speech, 1994 Quoting Marianne Williamson. A Return to Love (HarperCollins, 1993)
Building Personal Resiliency
• Spirit Resiliency Techniques
• Prayer
• Meditation
• Attending Retreats, Recollections

• Joining a Spiritual Community

• Creating Spiritual Partnerships
• Journaling – Keep a Gratitude Journal
• Reading Holy Books, inspirational literature, and
success stories
• Being of service to others/Volunteerism
• Mentoring/Coaching
• Taking up a cause
• Finding and visiting your special place or sanctuary
http://terawallpaper.com/caterpillar-butterfly-clipart/
Get Physical!
Let’s try this!

•Deep belly breathing.

•Body scan.
•Progressive and autogenic relaxation.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LBtYKUokcts/UmMPOmOb2EI/AAAAAAAAAho/mSCnvn9ZZ78/
s1600/1577375-asian-women-exercising-in-a-park-in-the-sunshine.jpg
 Carbohydrates intake
Building Personal Resiliency Slow, deep breathing
increase available
Massage
actually therapythe
stimulates
tryptophan for serotonin
significantly
opposing reduced both
parasympathetic
production protein intake
state and
reaction trait calms
which anxiety
us
increases tyrosine for
• Body-Resiliency Techniques down.
dopamine and NE.
• Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Progressive Relaxation (Benson,
1975)
• Yoga & Stretching
• Physical Exercise and activity
• Adequate Rest & Sleep
• Good Nutrition (Wurtman, 1996)
• Biofeedback
• Acupressure
• Massage (Shulman & Jones,1996)
• Tai Chi/Quigong
• Body Therapies
Activity: Maaalala Mo Kaya
Part 1: Self-reflection
• Find a quiet space to work in.
• Clear the clutter.
• Take deep relaxing breaths.
• Get in touch with a past/recent past adversity that you overcame.
• Recall 6 salient scenes in your story and draw them on your
storyboard – 2 scenes talk about the presenting problem/crisis, 2
scenes about the conflict, 2 scenes about your affirmative action and
resolution of the problem/crisis.
• You may write down phrases or a short sentence describing each
scene.
Part 2: Story-telling
• Form groups of four persons.
• Take turns sharing your storyboards with each other.
(Max of 15 mins for each person.)
• Listen actively, respectfully, nonjudgmentally
My Silver Bullets

I AM I HAVE

I CAN SOCIAL I ACT

VALUES SUPPORT

I WILL PERSONAL
COMPETENCIES
PREFERENCES
AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION

(Grotberg, 1995)
Part 3: Processing
• After the sharing, discuss as a group the following:
1.What strengths, capabilities, ability to take responsibility, beliefs
about myself, values enabled me to overcome the situation (I AM & I
CAN)?
2.What external supports and resources did I access (I HAVE)?
3.What affirmative actions did I that brought about a positive
resolution (I ACT & WILL)?
4.What did I learn? How did I change?
• Write answers on metacards.
Resilience Defined

“is the human capacity to

face and rebound from
adversity strengthened and
more resourceful; to be
even transformed by the
challenges of life.”
(Grotberg, 1995)
Our Response and Legacy:

http://www.nutribuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Yoga-Pose-on-the-Beach1.jpg

Building Resilience
Resiliency and Wellness

Nurture the
Take care heart!
of the body!

Flex the
Set the mind!
spirit free!
Just do it!
Build Your Daily Resiliency Routine
• Select a combination of different resiliency-building activities and
resources (use the action planning worksheet.
• Build a daily routine around them.
• Commit and stick with it.
• Explore other activities as you wish.
• Change activities periodically to keep things
fun and exciting.
• Make these activities meaningful more by
sharing them with others..
• Form support groups to help spread the
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_er_Nmxnv4TM/TP54AZph4TI/AAAAAAAAArQ/
resilience around. LMHMCbSiPA0/s1600/hans.jpg

“A long, healthy, and happy life is the result of making contributions, of having meaningful projects that are
personally exciting and contribute to and bless the lives of others.”
― Hans Selye
 Mandala Meditation

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