EQ: How does stress affect a person? EQ: What are some effects of stress? EQ: How can I cope with stress in a healthy way?

Unit 1: Mental Health Stress Anxiety Depression

 Your body’s physical response to a demanding situation!  Researchers define stress as a physical, mental, or emotional response to events that causes bodily or mental tension.  Simply put, stress is any outside force or event that has an effect on our body or mind. Stress

 Acute: short term, manageable- caused by daily events  Episodic Acute: often self-inflicted, comes from being too busy or demanding of oneself  Chronic: long term exposure to stressors such as terminal illness or family problems Types of stress

What is a stressor? -Something that causes stress

 Distress  Eustress Types of Stressors

 Negative stressors  Continues without relief  Immediate and intense  Causes anxiety or concern  Can be short- or long-term  Feels unpleasant  Decreases performance  Can lead to mental and physical problems Distress

 Fight or flight:  body responds with energy  Quick reflexes  Strength you may need to respond  Senses enhance  Heart rate and breathing rate up  Freeze:  body sees no way to escape  muscles are unable to respond  may pass out  Mentally remove themselves from their bodies Distress responses

 Positive stress  Alert  Focused  Energized  Motivates, focuses energy  Is short-term  Feels exciting  Improves performance Eustress

Signs/Symptoms

 Acute stress disorder-  response to a traumatic event  Lasts a month or less  Post-traumatic stress disorder-  Response to a terrifying event  Lasts over one month Stress Disorders

 Building RESILIENCY: the ability to recover from hardship and other stressors  Unhealthy ways….  Healthy ways…. How do we cope?

 Guided imagery  Progressive relaxation  Journaling  Snowball fight  Cleaning  Coloring  Candy  Laughter Coping Techniques

 Definition: fear, nervousness, or excitement about what might happen  Worry Anxiety

 Stress  Mental condition  Physical condition  Drugs Causes of anxiety

 Feelings of panic, fear, and uneasiness  Problems sleeping  Cold or sweaty hands and/or feet  Shortness of breath  Heart palpitations Anxiety symptoms

 An inability to be still and calm  Dry mouth  Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet  Nausea  Muscle tension  Dizziness Anxiety symptoms

 Panic Attacks  Phobias  Social Anxiety Disorder  Separation Anxiety  Performance Anxiety  Hoarding  Obsessive/compulsive disorder Anxiety disorders

 1. Public Speaking  2. Spiders  3. Heights  4. Crowds/leaving home  5. Enclosed spaces Common Phobias

 6. Death  7. Social Situations  8. Injections  9. Flying  10. Germs Common phobias

Things to drive your OCD crazy:

 NOT a personal weakness  NOT a character flaw  caused by a problem in brain functioning  A type of mental illness  sometimes hereditary Anxiety Disorders are…..

 Deep breathing  Relaxation Techniques  Therapy  Medications  Positive thinking Coping with anxiety

 List 3 signs/symptoms of OCD  List 2 healthy coping mechanisms  List 1 other anxiety disorder Ticket out the door:

 Definition: feeling sad, blue, down in the dumps.  Everybody feels depressed sometimes, but severe and long term depression is an indicator of a mood disorder Depression

 Genetics  Certain medications  Stressful life events (abuse, conflict, etc)  Grief  Serious Illness  Hormones  Substance abuse Causes of depression

 Major depression  Seasonal affective disorder  Post-partum depression  Bi-polar disorder Depression Disorders

 A brain disease  Something that can happen to anyone  NOT a sign that someone is going crazy  Very common  A very serious disease  Treatable  Nothing to be ashamed of Major Depression is….

 Feeling sad, may break into tears without knowing why  Feeling tired all the time  Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness  Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism  Insomnia, or excessive sleeping  Irritability, being easily upset Depression symptoms

 Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable  Overeating or appetite loss  Persistent aches or pain, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment  Difficulty concentrating of making decisions  Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts Depression symptoms

 Nutrition  Exercise  Counseling  Medication  How to cope:

 A permanent solution to a temporary problem. Suicide

 Why do people consider suicide?  Escape  Depression  Do not necessarily want to die  Those who are more at risk:  Suffering from depression  Engaged in substance abuse Suicide

 Talking about suicide or death  Talking about “going away”  Referring to things they wont be needing  Giving away prized possessions  Talking about feeling hopeless or guilty  Pulling away from friends/family  No desire to do things they used to enjoy Warning signs of suicide:

 Trouble concentrating  Changes in eating or sleeping habits  Self-destructive or risk-taking behavior (drinking, cutting, etc)  Gathering weapons  Suddenly happy Warning signs of suicide:

 Teen suicide prevention  Reach out- preventing teen suicide Video

 Talk to them  Ask “Are you thinking about suicide??”  Tell an adult that you trust ASAP  SUICIDE  Listen, Do not judge  Encourage them to talk to a professional  If it’s a crisis, call 911 …do not leave the person alone If you know someone is thinking about suicide:

 Don’t worry about invading their privacy, it is not a test of friendship, but a cry for help.  Take the signs seriously And….

 If you are having thoughts of suicide:  talk to a trusted adult  SUICIDE or 911 Getting Help