OVERVIEW FOR STRESS
MANAGEMENT
Stress adds challenge and opportunity in your life. Stress or
anxiety informs you that you may need to prepare for something important (e.g.,
study for an exam). However, too much stress can seriously affect your physical
and mental well-being. Recurrent physical and psychological stress can diminish
self-esteem, decrease interpersonal and academic effectiveness and create a
cycle of self-blame and self-doubt. It is important for your health to find the
optimal level of stress that you can learn to manage effectively.
1) The best way to cope with unhealthy stress is to recognize
when your stress levels are increasing. While we often think of stress as the
result of external events, the events themselves are not necessarily stressful.
It is the way each individual interprets and reacts to an event that produces
stress. For example, public speaking may be seen as routine for some people,
while others may see it as stressful.
Stress “signals” fall into four categories: thoughts
(cognitive), moods (emotions), behavior (actions), and physical reactions
(bodily responses). See the Stress Symptom Checklist that follows to assess your
level of stress.
(Source: Greenberger& Padesky
(1995). Mind Over Mood. New York: The
Guilford
Press.)
2) Sources of stress may be associated with negative as well
as positive events such as falling in love, preparing to study abroad, or buying
a car. A critical step in coping with stress is recognizing the stressors in
your life. These stressors may include the environment (e.g., noise, traffic,
commuting problems, crowded or disorganized classroom or living conditions), academic (e.g., deadlines, exams,
presentations, assignments, competition, conflict or disagreements with
professors or classmates), occupational (e.g., concerns about
selecting a major; conflicting demands of work, school and home; conflicts with
colleagues; working too many hours), financial (e.g., bills, debt,
inadequate income, change in financial state), social (e.g., loss of relationship; too
many demands on your time; not expressing your feelings, needs, or concerns;
relationship problems; interpersonal conflict; and lack of social support), physiological (e.g., lack of exercise;
poor nutrition; sleep disturbances; and illness), and changes (e.g., moving/transitioning;
beginning or ending of anything; and loss of a job or familiar surroundings).
After you have identified your level of stress and the sources of your stress,
you may apply stress management strategies that you have learned.
3) This booklet provides a list of POSITIVE STRATEGIES FOR
COPING WITH STRESS, RELAXATION AND STRESS MANAGEMENT USING ABDOMINAL BREATHING,
and 52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS. Remember, new skills require practice to be
effective.
4) For assistance, consider UNCW campus resources such as the
Counseling Center, Health Promotion Services, Student Health Center, CROSSROADS, University Learning
Services, and Campus Recreation. It is better to seek help before your stress
builds to excessive levels. For seeking help, sooner is better than later and
later is better than never.
1. Get
up fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will
be less stressful.
2.
Prepare for the morning the evening before. Put out the clothes you plan to
wear, pack up your books and notes, etc.
3.
Don't rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when library books are
due, etc. ("The palest ink is better than the most retentive memory." - Old
Chinese Proverb)
4.
Lying is stressful. If you know doing something is going to lead you to be
dishonest, then avoid doing it altogether.
5. Make
duplicates of all keys. Carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from
your key ring.
6.
Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home, and relationships
will be less likely to break down/fall apart if you address problems as they
arise.
7. Be
prepared to wait. A paperback book can make waiting in line almost pleasant.
8.
Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today;
whatever you want to do today, do it now.
9. Plan
ahead. Don't let the gas tank drop below one-quarter full; keep a well-stocked
"emergency shelf" of home staples; don't wait until you're down to your last bus
token or postage stamp to buy more; etc.
10.
Don't put up with things that work improperly. If your alarm clock, wallet,
shoelaces, windshield wipers-whatever-are a constant aggravation, get them fixed
or get new ones.
11.
Allow an extra 15 minutes to get to appointments.
12.
Limit the amount of caffeine in your diet.
13.
Always establish contingency plans, "just in case." ("If for some reason either
of us is delayed, here's what we'll do..." kind of thing. Or, "If we get split
up in the shopping center, here's where we'll meet..")
14.
Relax your standards. The world will not end if you don't clean your apartment
this weekend.
15. For
every one thing that goes wrong, there are probably 10, 50, or 100 things that
go right. Count them!
16. Ask
questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back directions, what someone expects
of you, etc., can save hours.
17. Say "no." Saying "no" to
extra projects, social activities, and invitations you don't have the time or
energy for takes practice, self-respect, and a belief that everyone, everyday,
needs quiet time to relax and be alone.
18.
Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep, or read without interruption? Allow
yourself to temporarily disconnect. Turn off your home phone, cell phone, pager,
etc.
19.
Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs translate into food,
water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference. Don't get attached to
preferences.
20.
Simplify, simplify, simplify...
21.
Make friends with non-worriers. If you want anxiety and worry, associate
with chronic worrywarts.
22. Get
up and stretch periodically when you sit for extended periods while studying or
at work.
23. Buy
a set of earplugs. If you need to find quiet at home, pop in some earplugs.
24. Get
enough sleep. If necessary, use an alarm clock to remind yourself to go to bed,
or schedule it in your planner.
25.
Create order out of chaos. Organize your home and workspace so you always know
where things are. And when you're finished using something, return it to its
place - you'll be less stressed when you haven't lost something.
26.
During stressful situations, people tend to breathe in short, shallow breaths.
This limits your body's oxygen supply and delivery and can easily increase
muscle tension. Check your breathing throughout the day-particularly before,
during, and after high- pressure situations. If you find your stomach muscles
are knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax all your muscles and take
several deep, slow breaths from your abdomen. Note, how when you're relaxed,
both your abdomen and chest expand when you breathe.
27.
Writing your thoughts and feelings down (in a journal or on paper to be thrown
away) can help you clarify things and can give you a renewed perspective.
28. Try
the following yoga technique whenever you need to relax. Inhale deeply through
your nose to the count of eight. Then, with lips puckered, exhale very slowly
through your mouth to the count of 16, or for as long as you can. Concentrate on
the long sighing sound and feel tension dissolve. Repeat 10 times.
52 Proven Stress Reducers
(Continued)
29.
Inoculate yourself against a feared event. Example: before speaking in public,
take time to review every part of the experience in your mind. Imagine what
you'll wear, what the audience will look like, how you will present, what the
questions will be and how you will answer them, etc. Visualize the experience
the way you would like it to be. You'll likely find that when you give the
actual presentation, you will be familiar with the material, and you will be
less anxious.
30.
When stress of having to get a task done interrupts actually getting
it done, a diversion may be just what you need (a voluntary change in
activity and/or environment).
31.
Talk it out. Discussing your problems with a trusted friend can help clear your
mind of confusion so you can concentrate on problem-solving.
32. One
of the easiest ways to avoid unnecessary stress is to select an environment
(work, home, leisure) that is in line with your personal needs and desires. If
you dislike desk jobs, avoid accepting a job that requires deskwork. If you
dislike gossip, avoid socializing with people who love gossip, etc.
33.
Learn to live one day at a time.
34.
Every day, do something you really love and enjoy.
35. Add
an ounce of love to everything you do.
36.
Take a hot bath or shower (or a cool one in summertime) to relieve tension.
37. Do
something for somebody else - but avoid taking on others' problems.
38.
Focus on understanding rather than on being understood; on loving rather than on
being loved.
39. Do
something that will improve your appearance. Looking better can help you feel
better.
40.
Schedule a realistic day. Avoid the tendency to schedule back-to-back
appointments; allow time between appointments for a breathing spell.
41.
Become more flexible. Some things are worth not doing perfectly, and some issues
are worth compromising on.
42.
Eliminate destructive self-talk: "I can't do this," "I should have," etc.
Exchange it for: "My goal is to complete "X" by completing these steps..."
43. Use your weekend as time
for a change of pace. If your weekdays are scheduled and predictable, build in
time for action and spontaneity into your weekends. If your weekdays are
fast-paced and full of people and deadlines, seek peace and solitude during days
off. Feel as if you aren't accomplishing anything at work? Tackle a job that you
can finish to your satisfaction on a weekend.
44.
"Worry about the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves." That's
another way of saying: take care of the todays as best you can, and the
yesterdays and the tomorrows will take care of themselves.
45. Do
one thing at a time. When you are with someone, be with that person and with no
one and nothing else. When you are busy with a project, concentrate on doing
that project and put aside other things you have to do.
46.
Allow yourself time, every day, for privacy, quiet, and introspection.
47. If
you are faced with an unpleasant task, do it early in the day to get it over
with; you will no longer have anxiety surrounding that task.
48.
Learn to delegate responsibility to capable others.
49.
Don't forget to take a lunch break. Try to get away from your desk or work area
in body and mind, even if it's just for 15 or 20 minutes.
50.
Forget about counting to 10. Count to 1,000 before saying anything that could
make matters worse.
51.
Have a forgiving view of events and people. Accept what you do and do not have
control over.
52.
Have an optimistic view of the world. Believe that most people are doing the
best they can.
BONUS: At the
end of the day, write down 5 things for which you are thankful - it might be
your English professor, your dog Charlie, or the clouds in the sky. Guarantee
you feel less stressed about your day afterward.
SMILE!! J
Adapted
from: The National Headache Foundation, 5252 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
60625
