Transcript Stress Management and Coping

Stress Management and
Coping
Karlene Cunningham
Outreach Coordinator
Auburn University Psychological Services
Center
Overview
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What is Stress?
Signs and Symptoms of Stress
Coping with Stress
Rethink Your Stressors
Other Helpful Tips
When You Can’t Cope
Suggested Books
What is Stress?
• Stress is the emotional and physical strain
caused by our response to the environment.
What is Stress?
• When stress is seen as a stimulus it’s a stressor
▫ Stressors can be internal
 Lifestyle
 Personality characteristics
▫ Or External
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Environmental
Social
Familial
Occupational
Stressors
• What are some current examples of stressors in
the graduate school environment?
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Thesis/Dissertation
Financial Demands
Deadlines
Productivity Demands
Social Demands
Family Demands
What is Stress?
• When stress is viewed as a response it’s
considered distress
• Distress can manifest itself as
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Behavioral signs
Physiological signs
Affective (feeling) signs
Cognitive (Thinking) signs
Signs and Symptoms of Stress
• Physiological signs
▫ Gut responders (nausea,
ulcers, GI problems)
▫ Respiratory responders
(shortness of breath,
wheezing)
▫ Muscular responders (neck
aches, chest pains)
▫ Vascular Responders
(Tension headaches)
• Behavioral signs
▫ Heightened arousability
(startle response)
▫ Irritability
▫ Restlessness
▫ Disorganization
▫ Change in sleeping pattern
▫ Change in eating
▫ Substance use/abuse
Signs and Symptoms
• Affective Signs
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Irritability
Depression
Anxiety
Hypervigilance
• Cognitive
▫ Catastrophising
▫ Poor Concentration
▫ Disorganization
Signs and Symptoms
• Your health both influences and is effected by
your level of distress
▫ Stress impacts your immune system
 Catching the cold during finals
 Hypertension, cancer, heart disease
What is Coping?
• Process of managing the discrepancy between
the demands of the situation and the
available resources.
• Ongoing process of appraisal and reappraisal
(not static)
• Can alter the stress problem OR regulate the
emotional response.
How do you Cope?
• What are some ways you currently cope with
stress?
• Typical (and sometimes harmful) strategies
include
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Procrastination
Anger/irritability
Depressive behavior
Cigarette, alcohol or substance use
Better Coping Strategies
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Relaxing (not escaping)
Improving eating habits
Sleep
Exercise
Rethink your stressors
Relaxation
• Protecting time for yourself is key to managing
stress
• Short relaxation breaks help to relieve built up
tension
▫ Robot/Ragdoll
▫ Deep breathing
▫ Meditation
Improving Eating Habits
• Eating better will help your body function better
overall
▫ Drinking more water
▫ Consuming less caffeine (sorry)
▫ Vitamins
Sleep….
• Get more SLEEP!
• When you’re sleep deprived your body does not
function at optimal levels.
• This can lead to clouded thought and feeling
overwhelmed because you can’t think straight.
Exercise
• It improves blood flow to your brain
• It also causes the release of chemicals called
endorphins.
▫ These give you a feeling of happiness and
positively affect your overall sense of well-being.
Rethink Your Stressors
• How you perceive a stressor greatly influences
how much distress you feel.
• High levels of stress is usually associated with
thoughts such as:
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“I can’t do this.”
“There is not enough time.”
“What is the perfect answer?”
“It may be a mistake.”
Rethink Your Stressors
• When evaluating a stressor you should:
1. Open up to all of the possibilities and visualize
each one.
2. Banish vague fears.
3. Let go of the idea of a perfect answer.
4. Trust yourself and take action.
Other Helpful Tips
• Study & work effectively
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Have a personal work space
Minimize distractions from others
Set a mood for completing tasks
Try to handle one thing at a time
Other Helpful Tips
• Money management
▫ Major source of stress
▫ Budget needs vs. wants
▫ Avoid impulse buying (retail therapy)
Other Helpful Tips
• Build strong interpersonal relationships
▫ Develop good relationship skills
▫ Conflict resolution
▫ Listening skills
When You Can’t Cope
• Mental health professionals can help when you
feel you can’t cope.
• There are places on campus where you can seek
help:
▫ AUPSC: 844-4889
▫ Student Counseling Center: 844-5123
▫ Crisis Hotline 821-8600
Suggested Books
• Groves, D., (2004). Stress Reduction for Busy
People: Finding Peace in an Anxious World
• Covey, S. R., The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People
• Davis, M., Eshelman, E.R. & McKay, M. (2008)
The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook
(5th edition)