 Coping With Stress Chapter 18 Notes Day 1

Understanding Stress  The best way to gain skill in stress management is to learn about stress.  Meaning of stress – stress is sometimes described as a helpful part of living. For example, it could cause you to run faster in a race.  More people talk about stress as a negative force.  Stress is your body’s response to physical and psychological demands made on it.

Understanding Stress  Stress makes you feel tense inside  Stress is your body’s response to physical and psychological demands made on it.  Stress is a mental process that shows itself through physical symptoms  It occurs as you feel threatened or expect discomfort  Your reaction to stress determines how harmful a stressful situation is

Reactions to Stress  As you experience stress, glandular responses are triggered.  Increased heartbeat  Faster pulse rate  Muscle tenseness  Increased perspiration How you react to a stressful situation depends somewhat on your personality. Stress is caused by your perception of a situation, not the situation itself. Different persons react different ways to the same situation. What is stressful to me, may not be stressful to you.

Managing your Stress  Your skill in managing stress certainly affects the way you react to stressful situations.  You can develop personal skills in stress management to improve the way you react to stress.  Everyone uses defense mechanisms to deal with stress.  Although some defense mechanisms may relieve stress, they will not usually remove the causes of stress.  Instead, the defense mechanisms change a person’s perception of the real situation to decrease the stress.

Causes  There are 2 types of stress:  Self-imposed  Situational

Self-Imposed Stress  When you impose unrealistic expectations on yourself, self- imposed stress occurs.  Caused entirely by your own thought processes.  No stress from the outside comes in contact with you.  Examples: a student that wants straight A’s, an athlete who must be on the best team, a spotless home, etc  **These goals are not wrong, but if they are unrealistic, they become stressful

Self-Imposed Stress  Self-imposed obligations often cause stress.  This may happen when you take on projects, accept deadlines, and agree to do tasks that are difficult to complete.  In these situations, remember you are the person who obligates yourself.

FEARS and Stress  Many fears an worries cause self-imposed stress.  Mental health authorities believe the fear of losing love is one of the greatest causes of stress.  Many people are also afraid of failure.  They feel they must succeed according to standards set by themselves or by people important to them

Situational Stress  Stress caused by events that happen to you or around you is called situational stress.  This type of stress involves external conditions.  Situational stress often involves other people.  You become upset when your little brother and sister comes into the room while you are trying to study.  Another example might be when you hear your parents argue.

Situational Stress  Sudden or unpleasant changes also cause stress.  For example, a sales executive is ready for a busy workday with tightly scheduled appointments. When her car will not start, she experiences a stressful reaction.  Ay situation that threatens a person’s basic needs is stressful.  Although people differ, most will react when their needs for love, security, sense of worth, status, or approval are threatened.

Life conditions that are stressful  Family conflicts and violence, broken homes, crowded living conditions, poverty  Hostile and delinquent neighborhoods, high-class and competitive neighborhoods  Lack of love in the family and among peers, lack of friends, peer rejection  Failure in studies, athletics, friendships, dating  Intense motivation or pressure to succeed, unfair competition, no chance to succeed  Poor basic skills in reading, math, spelling

Life conditions that are stressful  Physical disabilities and developmental abnormalities  Excessive outside activities  Inconsistent discipline  Physical development and new requirements of maturation  Unstable environment