1. Chapter 3 Managing Stress: Restoring Mind–Body Harmony

2. Managing Stress: Restoring Mind–Body Harmony
Learning Objectives
Define the terms stress, stressor, eustress, and distress.
Describe the environmental, mental, and emotional components of stress.
Describe the physiological components of stress.

3. Managing Stress: Restoring Mind–Body Harmony
Learning Objectives (continued)
Describe four ways that stress causes illness.
Define problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
Explain how college students can manage overload and practice time management and test anxiety.

4. Managing Stress: Restoring Mind–Body Harmony
How Stress Occurs
How Stress Contributes to Illness
Managing Stress
College Student Stress
Time Management
What You Can Do About Stress
Emotional Component of Stress
Factors Affecting the Experience of Stress
Physiological Component of Stress

5. Test Your Stress Smarts
6 questions

6. How Stress Occurs
Stress occurs as a result of the interplay of environmental situations and life events and the mental, emotional, and physical reactions.

7. How Stress Occurs Environmental Component of Stress
Stressors: situations and events that bring about stress.
Harm-and-loss situations: stressful event caused by death or by loss of property.
Threat situations: perceived or interpreted as potentially causing harm or loss.
Challenge situations: major life transitions that are opportunities for growth.
Positive challenges create eustress; negative challenges create distress.

8. The Components of Stress
BODY
FUNCTION
THINK
FEEL

9. How Stress Occurs Mental Component of Stress
The appraisal of a situation as absolutely or potentially damaging to one’s physical or psychological well-being or a threat to one’s survival.
Believing that one’s personal resources are insufficient to overcome the threat to one’s well-being.

10. How Stress Occurs Emotional Component of Stress
Consists of unpleasant emotions that arise from one’s appraisal of a situation as harmful or threatening and one’s resources for protection as limited.

11. Factors Affecting the Experience of Stress
Predictability—knowing a stressful situation will occur.
Personal control—those who believe they can influence the course of their lives will have less stress than those who believe they are not in control.
Belief in outcome—those who believe things will improve experience less stress than those who believe things will get worse.
Social support—having someone to talk to and believing they can help.

12. TED talk KELLY MCGONIGAL How to make stress your friend 14:28
Exit note - make a personal reaction comment about the video

13. How Stress Occurs Physiological Component of Stress
These are automatic physiological responses to real or imagined situations that are considered damaging or threatening.
Examples:
Flight-fight-or-freeze response
Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis

14. How Stress Occurs Flight-Fight-or-Freeze Response
A defensive reaction that prepares the organism for conflict or escape by triggering hormonal, cardiovascular, metabolic, and other changes.
The response activates coordinated discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, portions of the parasympathetic nervous system, and of hormones (especially epinephrine).

15. How Stress Occurs Flight-Fight-or-Freeze Response (continued)
Emotions arise in the limbic system, and a subsequent physiological response is mediated by the hypothalamus.
Freeze response includes loss of skeletal muscle tone (creates predator disinterest), drop in blood pressure (reduces blood loss if injured), and tightening of the larynx (prevents vocalization).

16. How Stress Occurs Flight or Fight Response Elevated heart rate
Elevated blood pressure
Constricted blood vessels
Dilated pupils
Alert, aroused state
Liberation of glucose and fatty acids for quick energy

17. Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
Stressful Thought
Corticotropin releasing
factor
Adrenocorticotropic
Hormone
Cortisol (the stress hormone) prepares
Body for fight or flight

18. How Stress Occurs Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
A coordinated physiological response to stress involving the hypothalamus of the brain and the pituitary and adrenal glands.
Stressful thoughts activate secretion of corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) from the hypothalamus.
CRF stimulates release of ACTH from the pituitary gland.

19. How Stress Occurs
ACTH stimulates releases of cortisol from the adrenal glands.
Cortisol helps provide energy for responding to stress.
Extended cortisol release suppresses the immune system. (just as long term use of steroids does)

20. How Stress Contributes to Illness
Causes the mind to become exhausted, worn down, and damaged.
Weakens immunity.
Motivates unhealthy behaviors in an attempt to deal with stress.

21. How Stress Contributes to Illness
General adaptation syndrome
Stress weakening immunity
Unhealthy behaviors
Posttraumatic stress disorder

22. The Stress - Illness Relationship

23. General Adaptation Syndrome
Prolonged stress produces a characteristic response called the general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
Activation of GAS can lead to profound changes in vital body organs.
Three phases: (continue to next slide)
Stage of alarm
Stage of resistance
Stage of exhaustion

24. How Stress Contributes to Disease
1. Stage of alarm: a person’s ability to withstand or resist a stressor is lowered by the need to deal with the stressor, no matter what the stressor is.
Ex: less likely to deal with a new stress, because already dealing

25. How Stress Contributes to Disease
2. Stage of resistance: the body adapts to the continued presence of the stressor by producing more epinephrine, increasing alertness and blood pressure, and suppressing the immune system; if prolonged, the ability to resist is depleted. Ex: increased risk of developing an illness

26. How Stress Contributes to Disease
3. Stage of exhaustion: When the ability to resist is depleted, the person becomes ill; this can take months or years to occur.
Ex: eating disorder, sleep problems

27. General Adaptation Syndrome
less likely to deal with a new stress, because already dealing
increased risk of developing an illness
sleep problems

28. How Stress Contributes to Disease
Emotions from stress change physiology:
Impairment of heart and immune function
Stress hormones binding to immune system cells and altering their functions
Cortisol

29. How Stress Contributes to Disease
Trying to modify stressful emotions can foster unhealthy behaviors:
Smoking
Drinking alcohol
Other drug use
Not engaging in health-promoting activities like:
Regular exercise
Proper nutrition
Sufficient sleep

30. How Stress Contributes to Disease
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious, long-lasting, psychological condition produced by stress.
PTSD results from stress caused by involvement in war, living through a natural disaster, rape, physical assault, life-threatening illness, or any other traumatic experience.

31. PTSD Diagnosis is based on the following symptoms:
Flashbacks to the traumatic event or recurrent thoughts and dreams about the experience
Persistent avoidance of cues that symbolize the traumatic event
Difficulty sleeping, outbursts of anger, being hyper alert and easily startled
Little interest in daily activities, feeling cut off from others, a sense of having a limited future

32. Life Changing Units Accumulation of 300 LCUs w/in 6 months Or
500 LCUs w/in 1 year
Increases risk of illness or injury

33. Let’s find out how to Manage Stress
Choices Magazine Presents: How to Deal with Stress 3min
Replace stressful ways of living with beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that promote peace, joy, and mind–body harmony.
Eat properly; stretch and exercise regularly; get sufficient sleep; limit alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption; and take quiet time.

34. Managing Stress Problem-Focused Coping Problem-Focused Coping = ACTION
Believing that a stressful situation is changeable and making and attempting a plan for change. Even if a change is not possible, believing it to be possible lessens stress.
Problem-Focused Coping = ACTION
Things you can do:
Limit or eliminate interaction with the stressor.
Alter your perception of a stressful situation.
Change beliefs and goals.
Have confidence in your ability to lessen stress.
Seek social support.
Reduce physical tension.
Keep your sense of humor.

35. Managing Stress Emotion-Focused Coping = FEELING
Believing that a stressful situation is not immediately changeable and adopting an attitude that lessens anxiety and brings comfort.
Things you can do:
Ease your mind.
Let go.

36. Managing Stress Denial / Distancing / Giving Up
Believing that a stressful situation is not amenable to change, and rather than accepting that reality, one chooses not to think about it, to undertake escapist activities, or to become fatalistic and helpless.

37. • Understand your feelings. • Find ways to relax.
Positive Ways to Cope with Stress
• Make healthy choices.
• Get support.
• Understand your feelings.
• Find ways to relax.
• Keep a sense of humor.
• Take action when you can.
• Resolve or eliminate the source of stress.
• Identify how to prevent stress in the future.

38. College Student Stress
1 Overload
Things to help:
Plan ahead.
Keep a to-do list.
Clarify intentions.
Prioritize tasks.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Schedule downtime.
Sleep.
Don’t “just do it.”

39. 2 Time Management Things to help: Perform a time audit.
Be energy efficient.
Resist multitasking.
Control interruptions.
Tame any tendencies toward perfectionism.
Understand any tendencies to procrastinate.

40. 3 Test Anxiety Things to help: 7 Tips To Beat Exam Anxiety 4:36min
Realistically appraise the importance of the exam.
Remind yourself that focusing on the grade will distract you from learning the material.
As part of test preparation, give yourself periods of quiet time in which to relax and visualize yourself taking the test.
Get your materials together ahead of time.
Get a good night’s sleep.
Stop worrying.
Realize that test taking is a skill and only partially shows your abilities.
7 Tips To Beat Exam Anxiety 4:36min