1. Bellwork:
List five situations that you think cause teens to feel stressed. Next to each item, write down why you think that particular situation is a source of stress for teens.

2. Stress in Your Life
Stress is the reaction of the body and mind to everyday challenges and demands.
How much stress you feel depends in part on your perception of events that cause stress.
One way to manage stress is to change how you perceive and react to events that cause it.
Stress can have positive or negative effects.

3. What Causes Stress? A stressor is anything that causes stress.
Psychologists have identified five general categories of stressors:
Biological stressors (ie – illness, disability, injury)
Environmental stressors (ie – poverty, pollution, crowding, noise, natural disasters)
Cognitive, or thinking, stressors (ie – way you perceive a situation or how it affects you and the world around you)
Personal behavior stressors (ie – negative reactions in body and mind caused by engaging in risk behaviors)
Life situation stressors (ie – death of pet, separation or divorce of parents, trouble in relationships with peers)

4. The Body’s Stress Response
Two major body systems, the nervous system and the endocrine system, are active during the body’s response to stressors.
The response occurs in three stages:
Stage 1: Alarm (mind and body go on high alert)
Stage 2: Resistance (if the stressor continues, your body adapts to the rush created by alarm and reacts to the stressor)
Stage 3: Fatigue (with prolonged exposure to a stressor, the body is affected and loses its ability to adapt to the situation and fatigue, either physical, psychological, or pathological, sets in)

5. Stress and Your Health Physical Effects Headache Asthma
Mental/Emotional and Social Effects
Headache
Asthma
High Blood Pressure
Weakened Immune System
Upset Stomach
Muscle Aches and Tightness
Ringing in Ears
Edginess
Frustration
Crying
Difficulty Concentrating
Mood Swings
Not Eating/Overeating
Changes in Sleep Patterns
Risks of Substance Abuse
Compulsive Talking

6. Identifying Personal Causes of Stress
The first step in stress management is to identify the causes of the stress.
Is any of the following causing you stress?
Life Events (can include getting a driver’s license; graduation; moving/relocating; additions of family members by marriage, birth, or adoption; major illness; parents’ divorce/separation)
Physical Stressors (can include pollution, excessive noise, physical injury, lack of rest, drug use, and excessive dieting/exercise)
Daily Hassles (can include time pressures, too many responsibilities, deadlines, and conflicts with fellow students)

7. Ways to Manage Stress Plan Ahead Get Adequate Sleep
Get Regular Physical Activity
Eat Nutritious Food
Eat regular meals.
Limit “comfort” foods.
Limit caffeine.
Avoid Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drugs

8. Stress-Management Techniques
Stress management skills are skills that help an individual handle stress in a healthful, effective way.

10. Stress – Management Tips
Suck on a peppermint/cinnamon.
Take deep breaths.
Keep a positive outlook.
Seek out support.
Redirect your energy.
Exercise.
Laugh out loud.
Relax.
Indulge in a favorite.