Putting Stress in its Place

What is stress?

Stress: emotional and physical response to pressure.

Stress: an organism's total response to environmental

demands or pressures

Stress: interactions between persons and the

environment that are perceived as straining or exceeding

adaptive capacities or threatening well-being.

Who has stress in America?

• One million absences per day due to stress

• Nearly half have burnout impeding function

• Stress increasing for Millenials (18-33) – also

depression and anxiety

• One fourth of all the drugs prescribed in the United

States go to the treatment of stress.

We need some stress???

Causes of stress

• Survival Stress - "fight, fright or flight“

• Internal Stress - worrying

• Perfection syndrome

• Responsibility syndrome

• Environmental Stress - noise, crowding, work or family.

• Fatigue and Overwork - working too much or too hard

• Workload (46%), People issues (28%), Work/Life Balance (20%) Lack of Job Security (6%)

• Time management

• Arm disease Collect what

applies to you

People have different responses to stress

• We do not all interpret each situation in the same

way.

• Because of this, we do not all call on the same

resources for each situation

• We do not all have the same resources and skills.

Responses to stress differ by

Personality

Physical strength

General health

Self concept

Knowledge

Self awareness

Discuss with a few people near you:

“What gives me stress?”

Starting with self-awareness

Noticing stress

Stress doesn’t always look stressful

Psychologist Connie Lillas describes the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

• Foot on the gas – An angry or agitated stress response.

• Foot on the brake – A withdrawn or depressed stress response.

• Foot on both – A tense and frozen stress response.

Collect what

applies to you

Hans Selye (1907-1982)

• Published 1,700 research papers, 15 monographs and

7 popular books.

• Stressors are stressful whether good or bad

news, whether the impulse is positive or negative.

• “Distress” and “eustress”

Listening to your body language

Physical

• Heart rate and blood pressure increase

• Perspiration increases

• Hearing and vision become more acute

• Hands and feet get cold, because blood is directed

away from the extremities to the large muscles in

order to prepare for fighting or fleeing

• Breathing is fast and shallow Collect what

applies to you

Listening to your body language

Mental

• Being aware of internal “self-talk”

• Being honest about the situation

• Changing focused, negative thinking and self-

defeating thoughts to open, positive thinking and

intuitive creativity

Collect what

applies to you

Listening to your body language

Emotional

• Negative feelings

• Feeling abandoned or persecuted

• Displaced anger

Spiritual

• Losing heart

• Losing contact with beliefs and valuesCollect what

applies to you

• A tendency to sweat

• Back pain

• Chest pain

• Childhood obesity

Cramps or muscle spasms

• Erectile dysfunction

• Fainting spells

• Headache

• Heart disease

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)

• Loss of libido

• Lower immunity against diseases

• Muscular aches

• Nail biting

• Nervous twitches

• Pins and needles

• Sleeping difficulties

• Stomach upset

Effects on your body

Collect what

applies to you

• Anger

• Anxiety

• Burnout

• Depression

• Feeling of insecurity

• Forgetfulness

• Irritability

• Problem concentrating

• Restlessness

• Sadness

• Fatigue

Effects on your thoughts and feelings

Collect what

applies to you

• Eating too much

• Eating too little

• Food cravings

• Sudden angry outbursts

• Drug abuse

• Alcohol abuse

• Higher tobacco

consumption

• Social withdrawal

• Frequent crying

• Relationship problems

Effects on your behavior

Collect what

applies to you

Influences on your stress tolerance level

• Your support network

• Your sense of control.

• Your attitude and outlook

• Your ability to deal with your emotions

• Your knowledge and preparation

Collect what

applies to you

Who’s in Charge?

• Awareness

• Mind, body and spirit work

together

• How you see yourself

What happens in times of stress?

• You don’t breathe

• You don’t think

The secret weapon

• Breathing

• Relaxing tongue and jaw

• Through your toes

• Other ways

• Counting

• Consciously measuringCollect

what you

will do

• Black out

• Talk to self – and to

others

• Order vs. Chaos

• Exercise, walking

• Fantasy

• Laughing

• Meditation

• Arts, Music

Other weapons

Collect

what you

will do

What will you do differently?

Discuss with others

Have a stress free day!

Thank you for listening