2. Objectives Mind-body connection Assessment of stressors and stress reactions Experience stress management strategies Develop strategies to assist stress management and self-regulation

3. What is Stress? Assumptions: –1. Stress is ubiquitous –2. Stress can be both positive and negative –3. Stress is a result of both inside the body and outside the body factors –4. Everybody has the capacity to alter their stress reactions –5. The best way to understand the stress cycle is from an holistic approach (mind, body, environment) –6. Today’s world has more stressful stimuli than ever before.

4. The Nature of Stress Stress is a perceived demand or threat (Stressor) to our mind, body, spirit/value system, or emotions and its associated reactions in these same systems. Eustress is a term for positive stress—stimuli that push us to act, take on challenges, meet deadlines. Distress = Negative stress, dangers, seemingly insurmountable problems Too much stress, ineffectively coped with over a period of time, becomes problematic.

5. Non-Physical threats can create moderate fight or flight responses Threats in form of: Emotional Intellectual Social/Value system __________________ Stimulated by: Actual events Thoughts Imagination

6. Stressed Out! People can average 50 to 200 moderate F or F responses a day. Accumulated stress responses = Stressed Out.

7. Positive vs. Negative Stress

8. Fight or Flight Response

9. Symptoms of Chronic Stress Reaction (Examples) PhysicalCognitiveBehavioralEmotional Fatigue Poor attention/ concentration Change in activity Anxiety Grinding teethNightmaresLoss of appetiteGuilt HeadachesBlaming others Alcohol consumption Irritability Muscle cramps Poor problem solving WithdrawalUncertainty

10. Theories of Stress Popular views Non-specific demand for adaptation (Selye) State of anxiety when events exceed coping ability (Lazarus) Intricate phenomena including culturally defined concept on the human condition Inability to cope with real and/or imagined threats to mental/physical/emotional/spiritual well-being resulting in physiological and adaptive responses

11. Assessments PAC-CATS Health Behaviors: –https://assesshealth.ucs.ksu.edu/cs_survey/https://assesshealth.ucs.ksu.edu/cs_survey/ Stressful events hierarchy –http://www.spsu.edu/sis/psycho.htmhttp://www.spsu.edu/sis/psycho.htm Life style inventory –http://www.nationalwellness.org/testwell/index.htm http://www.nationalwellness.org/testwell/index.htm Kiersey Type Indicator –http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asphttp://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp