RELAX…... Don’t Stress It! Stress and Time Management Strategies to help you survive life’s unexpected gifts Presented by - Johanna Hahn, Extension Agent Virginia Cooperative Extension City of Newport News

What is Stress? Stress is the individual’s attempt to make the physical and/or emotional adjustment required by the situation. Stress is not the cause - but rather it’s the effect.

3 Components to Stress: 1. The environment or stressor 2. One’s personal appraisal or perception of the stressor; and 3. Based on this appraisal, the emotional and physical arousal or response…how the body reacts.

Pressure - Refers to those things in daily life that create problems and require some sort of adaptation or response. Stressors - Those parts of the environment that we consider grounds for becoming personally anxious!

Is Stress Bad? Stress gets us going. Do you want a stress-free life? Good versus bad stress - do you know the difference? Can you think of 3 stressful situations? Were they “good” or “bad” stress?

Hans Selye - pioneer of stress management Says - “not all stress is distress…Complete freedom from stress is death.” The Stress Response: how we react emotionally & physically.

Common Symptoms are: Your heart begins to race Your hands grow cold and clammy & they tremble You begin to perspire You become alert and ready for whatever action is needed for your safety. “Fight Or Flight”

In Stress Management, The goal is to reduce or eliminate the debilitating physical and emotional changes that occur during this third stage of stress, either changing the environment or how we see it, or by helping the body to handle stress more effectively.

Group Exercise: Individually list the sources of stress in your life. As a group we’ll look for similarities and possible solutions.

Changes in Society 1. The change from rural to urban living. 2. The change from self-sufficiency to dependence on others. 3. The change from permanence and security, to mobile, transient life situations. 4. The change from isolation to being world citizens. 5. The change from physically active occupations and lifestyles to relatively sedentary ones.

Social Readjustment Scale Circle the events which you have experienced in the last 12 months. Then total the numbers up for a Grand total. Score: probability of illness within 2 years less than 150 LOW 150-199 30% 200-299 50% 300 or more 80% If you were to do this a year from now, there’s a good chance the total would be different.

Emotional Stressors Time Stress Anticipatory Stress Situational Stress Encounter Stress

Effects of Stress: Alarm reaction Resistance stage Exhaustion stage

Secondary killers related to Stress Alcoholism Drug addiction Smoking Tranquilizer addiction Overeating Suicide

Danger Signals of too much Stress: General irritability, becoming either unusually aggressive or passive. Pounding of the heart Accident proneness Trembling, nervous tics Tendency to be easily startled Grinding of the teeth Insomnia Frequent need to urinate

Danger Signals of too much Stress: Indigestion Headaches Premenstrual tension Pain in back or neck Either loss of appetite or excessive appetite Nightmares Hair loss These are simple indicators that you may need to take action relating to one of three stress reducing options...

Coping With Stress Skills: You can choose to remove yourself from a pressure situation. You can re-engineer the situation to reduce or eliminate the pressure. You can teach yourself to react less intensely to pressure situations.

Choose one or more of the following: Clarify your values. Keep breathing…and exercise! Watch what you eat and don’t eat excessively. Create and use personal support systems. Learn to let Go.

Seek Variety: New experiences, plan for changes of place and pace. Seek to make your workplace less stressful. Maintain optimism: realistic thoughts, reachable goals, avoid negativism - “poor me.” Don’t be hassled by small things. Take responsibility for yourself.

Let’s Hear from YOU! Tell us your stress busters Do you see stress in the children? Tell us ways you teach/instruct the children on appropriate ways to relieve stress. Coping skills - when you know stress is unavoidable…. Remember to keep breathing!!