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KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and
Prevention
Stress Management and
Prevention Program
Resource Guide


KAPL AN UNI VERS I TY
Stress Management and Prevention
Program Resource Guide
By

Jakia Iverson-Mason

Kaplan University

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

9/26/13




Table of Contents
U N I T 1 T H E N A T U R E O F S T R E S S
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
U N I T 2 T H E B O D Y A S B A T T L E F I E L D
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
U N I T 3 F E A S T O R F A M I N I N E
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
U N I T 4 O N E P L A N E T U N D E R S T R E S S
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 5 U N D E R S T R E S S : W H A T N O W ?
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 6 A G E L E S S W I S D O M O F M E D I T A T I O N
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 7 S I G H T , S O U N D , A N D B O D Y W O R K
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing


U N I T 8 T H E W E L L N E S S M A N D A L A
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 9 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A N D
P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
U N I T 1 0 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A N D
P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N







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Unit 1: The Nature of Stress
Information to Remember:
In most cultures stress is considered to be the loss of control. Stress can be real or even imagined.
Allowing prolonged stress can make you hallucinate.
Modern society faces vastly different challenges than one hundred years ago. In this day and age
children have stressors as well as adults. When our great grandparents were living this was almost
unheard of.
Unmanaged reactions to stress were a more dangerous risk factor for cancer and heart disease than
either cigarette smoking or high cholesterol foods. Stress is a silent killer. Allowing stress to go
unmanaged is very dangerous. It can lead to a number of health problems.

Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 1.6 The Wellness Paradigm Revisited; Exercise 1.7College Students Daily Stressors Survey
This survey was great because it showed exactly what things you have going on in your life that
stress you out. It not easy to understand why you are stressed out all of the time but when you write
it down things become very clear.

Exercise 1.1. Are You Stressed?; Exercise 1.5 Personal Stress Inventory This survey asked a
multitude of questions and some of them are very personal. I am adding this to my resources
because I think everyone could benefit in a positive way from taking this short survey.
Unit
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Unit 2: The Body as Battlefield
Information to Remember:
How the immune system works: The immune system has the ability to recognize each and every one
of your bodys cells. Though the cellular makeup of our bodys system may be very confusing, if
there is anything foreign in our bodies it is automatically rejected.
Emotional stress can suppress the immune system making it hard for your body to fight off any
bacteria that may cause you to get sick, such as viral infections or other airborne diseases. The mind
is said to influence the immune system, and that emotional distress can change resistance to certain
diseases.
Stress is often described as wear and tear on the physical body. Any organ can be a target to include
hair, skin, blood vessels, joints, muscles, stomach, or colon etc. In some cases several organs can be
targeted at the same time. Some people are lucky enough to only have one organ targeted at one
time.
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 2.2 Immediate, Intermediate, and Prolonged Stress Effects.
This exercise was to show what effects one could face or is already facing if stress goes untreated for
long periods of time. I added this to my resources because this exercise was very beneficial.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 3.3 My Health Profile
This exercise was very helpful because if you did go to the doctor and get all of the answers you may
have been surprised. I didnt get a change to do the whole physical, but what I did get done was very
educational.
Unit
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Unit 3: Feast or Famine
Information to Remember:
Both anger and fear are considered to be healthy survival emotions, when they are used specifically
for their intended purpose. The expression of either of these emotions allows a release of feelings,
also known as catharsis.
When humans encounter emotions that are unhealthy or connected to unresolved anger, on a
physiologic and emotional level two options are available.Fight or Flight. Anger is the fight
response, and fear is the flight response.
In an effort to protect one from harm the ego sounds the alarm of imminent danger for mental,
emotional, and physical threats. The tricks that the ego plays on the mind are known as cognitive
distortions or defense mechanisms.
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 5.1 Anger: Recognition Checklist
The recognition checklist was great because it listed common things that people may think of as
normal, but happen to be anger issues. Ignoring anger problems could manifest into something very
painful.
Exercise 5.4 Anger: The Flight Response
The fight or flight exercise was excellent to add to my resources because I was able to understand
what my body was doing whenever it is under stress. Great information!
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 4.1 The Psychology of your stress.
This exercise is to examine the origin of your stress. It helps to identify what you are doing to cause
stress in your life.
Unit
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Unit 4: One Planet Under Stress
Information to Remember:
Overpopulation occurs when a populations density exceeds the capacity of the environment to
supply the health requirements of an individual, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
For instance; 97 percent of the water that is available to us is saltwater. Humans cannot consume
saltwater so on 3 percent is available for consumption.
There is a global trend in people having and wanting smaller families, but in poorer settings thats not
quite the case. In fact in the sub-Saharan Africa where there are lots of illnesses and over populated
areas they have one of the fastest climbing population in the world.
The financial turmoil of the last two years has dealt a blow to the expectations we had reducing
poverty.
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 7.5 Your Personal Value System
This exercise was added to my resources in order to see what order your values were in. This
exercise also assessed personal values and goals.
Exercise 7.6 Your Meaningful Purpose in Life
The meaningful purpose in life exercise made it easy to assess what you thought about yourself.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 6.1 Under the Gun: Stress and Personality
This exercise was added to my resources because it gave examples of what to do under pressure and
it helped to understand why people act the way that they do when they get stressed.
Exercise 6.2 Stress-Prone Personality Survey
Unit
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This exercise was very intriguing because it broke down different personality types depending on
what you chose as an answer.


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Unit 5: Under Stress: What Now?
Information to Remember:
Low self-esteem always produces tension. A person who doubts her own worth is in constant
danger of being put under unbearable tension. A few ways to incorporate reframing and being
optimistic is to become aware of your thoughts and feelings, match negative thoughts with positive
thoughts, identify your positive attributes, and count your blessings!
Positive affirmation are words or phrases that we say to ourselves to keep our mind centered rather
than drifting toward negative thought processes.
The higher the position of authority, the greater the laugh. Different types of humor Parody (self-
parody) Making fun of yourself without lowering self-esteem, Satire: Written of dramatic form of
humor, Slapstick: Physical farce (The three Stooges), Black humor: Flirtatious brush with death
(M*A*S*H), Absurd/nonsense humor (Far Side Cartoons)
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 15.1 The Time-Crunch Questionnaire
This questionnaire was added to my resources because I was impressed by the amount of knowledge
that I gained from answering these questions. It is a great tool to learn about procrastination.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 8.1 Reframing: Seeing a Bigger, Clearer Perspective
This journal writing was added to my resources because I liked the fact that it showed the bigger
picture. It showed how we should look at things vs. our current train of thought.
Exercise 9.1 Value Assessment and Clarification
The value assessment and clarification exercise was to understand that what was important now may
not be important later. It also showed that some material things were very important in life.
Unit
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Unit 6: Ageless Wisdom of
Meditation
Information to Remember:
Relaxation can be defined as the absence of tension in muscle groups and a minimum or absence of
inner chatter in our minds. Dyspnea, or the sensation of difficult and uncomfortable breathing, is
one of the most often reported symptoms of respiratory diseases. Battling for breathing produces
anxiety, which creates muscle tension. A person doesnt realize in what muscles they are holding
tension.
When it comes to relaxation there are several ways to promote inner peace/ and or relaxation.
Visualizing a place where you were once happy or a dream of a future that you may daydream about
can be very helpful. Sounds can also tame the wild beast that may be driving you crazy. Listening to
music that has sounds of tranquility such as jazz, meditation music, and new age music are just a few
off of the sound therapy list that can be used for relaxation.
Sense of Smell; depending on the way that one may feel different scents can be soothing to them. If
a person is stressed out the smell of lavender, roses, and orchids can be very calming. Peppermint,
rosemary, and allspice can diffuse an upset person as well. Another thing that can be positively
distracting is the smell of food; of course this scent should be used in moderation.
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 18.3 Bridging the Hemispheres of Thought
Bridging the Hemisphere of thought was a great exercise because it shows how to think in a positive
manner. It also explains how to pretty much connect thoughts with living.
Exercise 20.2 Three Short Guided Visualizations
This exercise examined several different visualizations that are common in daily living.

Unit
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Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 17.1 Dolphin Breath Meditation
This exercise was a favorite because meditation is very hard to do for me. Being able to meditate and
visualize things within you only as a visual knowing that its not literal.
Exercise 18.1 Too Much Information
Too much information was a great exercise because it was very informative. I added this to my
resources because it is an excellent source of relaxation methods.


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Unit 7: Sight, Sound and Body Work
Information to Remember:
The use of conscious intention as a key part of creative visualization can empower the human mind
by directing images on the screen of the minds eye
For visualization CO have the greatest effect one must detach the ego from the outcome and simply
let what happens, happen. The unconscious mind only has one time zone; it only understands the
right now.
When someone mentally goes over something positive in their minds it becomes life. The same goes
for speaking this into existence. Under the name of mental training athletes should rehearse their
events again and again in their mind to gain an edge over their competition.

Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 27.2 Nutritional Eating Habits
This short assessment was to evaluate how healthy a person really is. I put this in my resources
because it is a great tool to assess what you are putting in your body not just exercising.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 27.1 Stress related eating behaviors
This exercise helped to pinpoint if someone is an emotional eater. It also helps to expose whether
one does not eat enough when they are stressed or upset about something.


Unit
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Unit 8: The Wellness Mandala
Information to Remember:
In everyday life this philosophy translates to the concept of going with the flow of things you
cannot control, rather than wasting or depleting your personal energy. This philosophy is known as
Tai Chi. Tai Chi originated in Asia. It has been around since the ancient cultures of Asia. There is a
life force of subtle energy that surrounds and permeates us all.
Exercise doesnt have to be that hard or time consuming. All humans to include animals need
regular physical exercise to promote balance and integrity of our physiological systems.
Cortisol a steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex, involved in carbohydrate metabolism
and the stress reaction
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 28.1 Physical Exercise: I chose to add this exercise to my references because it goes into
detail as to why a human should get at least the recommended amount of exercise.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 28.2 My Body My Physique: This exercise is a great addition to the reference section
because it asks questions about your body that we may think of daily but never admit. It also shows
that there has to be change in order to get realistic results.
Unit
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Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Professional
Life
Information to Remember:
Hobbies are proven to reduce stress. Having something to do that is fun takes your mind off of
things that may be stressful. People who have hobbies tend to be less stressed than people who work
all day without any personal time.
Resiliency and flexibility are essential qualities for rising and adapting to the continual challenges in
todays world, where the frequency of change is so great that an increasing number of individuals are
developing symptoms of stress and emotional imbalance as well as other negative conditions.
Forgiveness is a coping skill that no one has ever mastered. Depending on what the degree of pain is
inflicted on a person dictates the time it will take to heal and forgive. Sometimes this step never
happens.
Resources: Exercises:
Exercise 27.3 The rainbow diet: This exercise is about vibes that are associated with different foods.
Research suggests that the active ingredients give them their color. There are lots of exciting learning
facts in this exercise.
Tools: Journal Writing:
Exercise 1.7 College Students Daily Stressors: This exercise gives you a list of stressors for the
college stressors. It gives a scale numbered 1 being the lowest stressors through 5 being the highest
stressors.
Unit
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Unit 10: Applying Stress: Critical
Management to your Personal Life
Information to Remember:
Meditation is a great way of attempting to relieve stress. Listening to meditation music is also a great
way to relax. It shows how a person can be one with nature and themselves.
Creating a s
Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Personal Life
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Resources: Exercises:
List the title (s) of Exercise (s) selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>
Tools: Journal Writing:
List the title (s)of Journal Writing (s)selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>
Unit
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Additional Information
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