Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Stress
Management and
Prevention
1
Program Resource
Guide
KA P L A N U N I V E R S I T Y
By
Heather Alaboudi
Kaplan University
HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention
Date of Assignment
Table of Contents
UNIT
THE
NATU RE
OF
STRESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNIT
THE
BO DY
AS
BATTL EF IEL D
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNIT
F EAST
OR
FAM IN INE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing
UNIT
ONE
PL ANET
UNDER
STRESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
UNDER
STRESS:
WHAT
NOW?
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
AGEL ESS
WISDOM
OF
M EDITATIO N
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
SIGHT,
SOUN D,
AND
Information to Remember
BO DY
WOR K
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
THE
WEL L NESS
M ANDAL A
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
APPLYING
PREVEN TIO N
TO
STRESS:
YOUR
CRITICAL
M ANAGEM ENT
AND
L IF E
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT
1 0
APPLYING
PREVEN TIO N
TO
STRESS:
YOUR
CRITICAL
M ANAGEM ENT
L IF E
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
ADDITI ONAL
AND
1
Unit
General adaptation theory was coined by Hans Selyne. It has three distinct
physiological phases in reaction to chronic stress: the alarm phase, the
resistance phase and the exhaustion phase (Seaward, 2009). Selye's general
adaption syndrome outlined the parameters of the physiological dangers of
stress(Seaward, 2009). His work laid foundation for the mind, body, spirit
attitude and the foundation for the utilization of relaxation techniques that
have the ability to intercept the stress response, thereby decreasing
susceptibility to illness and disease (Seaward, 2009).
Shelly Taylor hypothesized that men and women respond to stress differently.
She proposed the new theory for the female stress response, tend and
befriend. The tend and befriend theory states that women who experience
stress don't necessarily run or fight, but rather events and circumstances
(Seaward, 2009).
Resources: Exercises:
2
Unit
The Wellness Paradigm Revisited: Ageless wisdom tells us that the whole is
greater than the sum of the parts in terms of Health and Wellness, the whole is
made up of four components: mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Being a Health
and Wellness major this is an important issue for me that I truly take to heart.
I am trying hard to find balance again in my life. I have an amazing supportive
boyfriend and two great kids, but until my physical issues and pain are under
control I don't think I will find balance.
hormones for metabolic change.(Seaward, 2009). The glands that are most
closely involved with the stress response are the pituitary, thyroid and the
adrenal glands (Seaward, 2009).
Research conducted by endocrinologist Bruce McEwen indicates that initially a stressful encounter is
etched into the memory bank (so as to avoid it down the road), but that repeated episodes of stress
decrease memory by weakening hippocampal brain cells (Seaward, 2009). Chronic stress is thought
to wither the fragile connection between neurons in this part of the brain, resulting in brain
shrinkage (Seaward, 2009). To date, six sets of findings in humans should raise some worries:
Cushing's syndrome, Post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, repeated jet lag, normative
aging and interactions between glucorcorticoids and neurological insults (Sapolsky, 2004).
Resources: Exercises:
Physical Symptoms Questionnaire: Over the past seven days I have had many
tension headaches, muscle tension (neck/shoulders), I don't have much of an
appetite, yet I feel bloated, my mind races all nights with thoughts of money
problems and things that need to be done leaving me with little sleep and my
waking hours I feel constantly fatigued. I have had many dizzy spells and have
been very clumsy. But my Health Profile shows that other than the stress that
I am currently under, I am healthy.
My Health Profile: Health is so much more than the optimal functioning of our
physical bodies. To fully understand the mind-body-spirit connection, you must
3
Unit
realize that the body is actually the endpoint where unresolved issues of mind
and spirit collect, not the beginning. I included my health profile because it
was a good way to kind of work backwards. See what was maybe visibly going
wrong and then see if I could connect the dots to what was going wrong
inside to cause the outside health issues.
The Jonah complex is a term coined by Abraham Maslow to illustrate the fear
of not maximizing one's potential (Seaward, 2009). When people perceive that
they have failed at something, their confidence, and thus their self-value and
self-acceptance, decrease (Seaward, 2009). This can be a cyclical process,
paving the way for repeated failures (Seaward, 2009). A bad experience in the
past inhibits a person from attempting an identical or similar task again,
example marriage (Seaward, 2009).
Resources: Exercises:
Anger: The Fight Response. Anger is a survival emotion, it's the fight
component of the fight-or-flight response. Although feeling angry is within the
normal limits of human emotions, anger is often mismanaged and misdirected.
As a result, anger either tears us apart from the inside (ulcers) or promotes
intermittent eruptions of verbal or physical violence. Of the four distinct ways
in which people mismanage their anger, I tend to be an underhander. I use a
lot of sarcasm and tend to make things a lot worse before they get better. To
vent my anger I usually use exercise. I like to punch and kick my heavy bag or
go for a run. If it is too late at night for that I will just write in a journal in my
phone.
Fear This! Fear, like anger, is a very normal human emotion. Fear tends to be
a difficult emotion to resolve. Feelings of anxiety or fear can trickle down from
the mind to the body and wreak physical havoc from head to toe. Some of the
fears that top my list of stressors are: larck of money, not being able to find a
job, and not being able to get my kids to where they need to be (failure to be a
good mom). Seeing the difference between the stress that is due to anger and
the stress that is due to fear has helped me to figure out how to deal with the
different underlying causes.
4
Unit
Self-esteem is the sense of underpinning self-values, self-acceptance, and selflove; thought to be a powerful buffer against perceived threats (Seaward,
2009).
Low self-esteem is the common denominator in stress-prone
personalities (Seaward, 2009). When we place little or no value on our self, we
become quite vulnerable to the preceptors of stress (Seaward, 2009).
The Hero's Journey was Mythologist Joseph Campbell's classic template of the
human journey with three stages, departure, initiation and return (Seaward,
2009). Departure, the first step of any adventure is to leave your place of
origin (Seaward, 2009). Initiation, traveling down the road far away from
home, the hero is put to a test (Seaward, 2009). And return, at some point in
the journey, usually upon success with the initiation process, the hero must
return home (Seaward, 2009).
Resources: Exercises:
5
Unit
Your Personal Value System: We all have a value system, a core pillar of the
human spirit that is constantly undergoing renovation. Figuring out what my
value system looked like took me a good part of the week. After much
consideration I realized that happiness was the at the core of my values and
everything else supported that . I liked this exercise and found it important
because it really made me focus on what was important to me.
Under the Gun: Stress and Personality: I chose commitment in this exercise.
It was hard for me to sit back and realize that I do for everyone but me. I go,
go, go and when I do rest, my mind doesn't. My mind will start to worry as
soon as my body starts to rest. This shows me there are some things I need to
re-evaluate and work on.
By some estimates, there are more that 300 strategies to changing one's
behavior from less desirable to more desirable ones (Seaward, 2009). In 1982,
James Prochaska, who studied behavior changes, resulted in what has become
regarded as one of the premier models of behavior modifications, called the
stages of change. (Seaward, 2009). Prochaska and his colleague, Carlo
Diclemente, observed that by and large behavior change (particularly for
behavior of an addictive nature) is not a singular event but a process, if not a
skill (much like an athletic skill) that may take months or longer to master
(Seaward, 2009). What makes this approach unique is that he acknowledges
the aspect of relapse as a common part of the process and not failure unto
itself (Seaward, 2009). The six steps of this model are: Precontemplation
Stage, Contemplative Stage, Determination Stage, Action Stage, Maintenance
Stage, and Relapse Stage (Seaward, 2009).
The relationship between finances and stress has always been a dubious one,
and with the advent of credit cards, it became all too easy to spend what you
don't have (Seaward, 2009). All this makes financial debt a very common
stressor. Tips for financial freedom are: Make and follow a budget, live a
sustainable lifestyle, freeze your credit cards, keep a spending journal, see
each purchase as an investment, consolidate your debt, consider opening a
401 (k) or Roth IRA (Seaward, 2009).
The Time-Crunch Questionnaire: This was a survey based on the traits of the
codependent personality.
I scored a 41, putting me in the fair time
management skills category. I included this journal because working, being a
mom, and a student requires me to have not good, but great time management
skills. This questionnaire showed be that I have room for improvement and
where to start improving.
6
Unit
Resources: Exercises:
Too Much Information: Now that we are in the information age, we are
drowning in information. This is known as information stress. There are many
ways we can decrease the quantity of information we are barraged with
everyday and this exercise really made me step back and think about that.
I Have a Vision: The Art of Visualization: Visualization can be used to heal the
body by using your imagination to create a vision of restored health of a
specific organ or region of the body. This is important to me and something I
would like to get better at because of the chronic pain I have been in for the
past two years. I had a very hard time with A Mountain Lake, but Rainbow
Meditation really relaxed me. I still had a hard time with the visualization, but
hopefully with practice I will get it.
7
Unit
The relationship between nutrition, stress, and the immune system might be
best illustrated through the use of four dominos (Seaward, 2009). Domino 1:
Stress tends to deplete nutrients in the body (Seaward, 2009). Domino 2:
Current American lifestyles under stress do not promote or reinforce good
eating habits (Seaward, 2009). Domino 3: Some food substances are known
to increase sympathetic drive or other physiological responses that keep the
stress response elevated (Seaward, 2009). Domino 4: Many foods that are
processed contribute to cumulative effect of toxins (Seaward, 2009). The fall
of each domino increases the chance of health-related problems as a result of
the confluence of stress-prone eating habits (Seaward, 2009).
Under the most optimal conditions, stress can cause problems with the body's
ability to digest and absorb nutrients, thus impeding the availability of the
essential nutrients, particularly vitamins and minerals (Seaward, 2009). The
physiological system most seriously affected by a poor nutritional state is the
immune system (Seaward, 2009).
Under chronic stress conditions the
minerals chromium, copper, iron, and zinc become deficient (Seaward, 2009).
There are also four vitamins known to be greatly affected by chronic stress:
the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E and the vitamin B-complex (Seaward,
2009).
8
Unit
Although there are many kinds of exercise, exercise physiologists classify all
physical activity into two categories: anaerobic or aerobic (Seaward, 2009).
These two types of physical exertion nicely parallel the two aspects of the
fight-or-flight response as well as the emotions they elicit (Seaward, 2009).
Anaerobic exercise is defined as a physical motion intense in power and
strength, yet short in duration (Seaward, 2009). Theoretically speaking
anaerobic activity is the type of movement or exercise used in the fight
response (Seaward, 2009). Aerobic exercise is rhythmic physical work using
The following conclusions have been drawn regarding the immediate, shortterm and long-term effects of cardiovascular exercise as a relaxation technique
(Seaward, 2009). First, it appears that a single bout of aerobic exercise burns
off existing catecholamines and stress hormones by directing them toward
their intended metabolic function rather than allowing them to linger in the
body to undermine the integrity of vital organs and the immune system
(Seaward, 2009). Second, the training effect of aerobic exercise appears to
prepare the body for future stressful episodes by decreasing the level of
hormonal secretions when feeling of anger or fear manifest (Seaward, 2009).
Physical Exercise: As human beings we were never meant to sit behind a desk
for eight to ten hours a day. Human anatomy and physiology were designed to
find a balance between motion and stillness, stress and homeostasis, exercise
and relaxation. In this day and age, in which stress is at an all time high, our
bodies kick out several stress hormones, which if not used for their intended
purpose (to mobilize the body's systems for fight or flight), circulate
throughout the body and tend to wreak havoc on various organs and
constituents of the immune system. Physical exercise is considered the best
way to keep the physiological systems of the body in balance, from stress
hormones and adipose tissue to the integrity of bone cells and macrophage of
9
Unit
Healthy diversions are any activities that offer a temporary escape from the
sensory overload that can produce or perpetrate the stress response
(Seaward, 2009). As with most strategies, diversions offer either positive or
negative repercussions (Seaward, 2009). Positive diversions are those in
which the individual takes an active role in the escape process (Seaward,
2009). Active escapes are those that contribute to one's identity, character,
and self-esteem (Seaward, 2009). The best temporary active escape is said to
be a hobby (Seaward, 2009). Many people find that their time spent in the
pursuit of hobbies transfers to solutions for major life problems (Seaward,
2009).
Additional Resources
Pruter, I., & Heidenreich, P. (2009). Handbook of Stress : Causes, Effects and Control.
New York: Nova Science Publishers.
This book is a secondary source, it interprets and analyzes primary sources. It
goes in depth on the subject of stress and related topics such as eating
disorders, stress in athletes, stress from a developmental and vocational
perspective, reflective activity, stress in adolescence, caregiving stress, the
stress of poverty, emotional and behavioral problems after exposure to on going
terrorism and aerobic exercise as a relief to stress (Pruter & Heidenreich,
2009). Particular attention is focused on stress concepts and processes,
including stress exposure, stress generation, stress reactivity, and stress
sensitivity (Pruter & Heidenreich, 2009).
Babatunde, A. (2013). Occupational Stress: A Review on Conceptualisations, Causes and
Cure. Economic Insights - Trends & Challenges, 65(3), 73-80.
This article is a secondary source, it interprets and analyzes primary sources.
Given the complex nature of the concept occupational stress (also known as
work or job stress), it appears a daunting task reaching a unified definition of
work stress because of the acknowledged fact that a singular approach may not
be able to encompass the breadth of the phenomenon (Babatunde, 2013).
Smith, M., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2013, November). Stress symptoms, signs and causes.
Retrieved
from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm
This web page is a secondary source, it does a good job of interpreting and
analyzing primary sources. Stress is a normal response to events that make you
feel threatened or upset your balance in some way (Smith, Segal & Segal,
2013). This informative web page starts with what stress is and the fight-orflight response and goes into how you respond to stress. Psychologist Connie
Lillas uses driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people
respond when they are 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 (Smith, Segal & Segal,
2013) . The table on stress warning signs and symptoms is particularly helpful, as
is the remainder of the page which deals with how much stress is too much:,
causes of stress, effects of chronic stress, and dealing with stress and its symptoms.
Smith, M., & Segal, R. (2013, November). Stress management. Retrieved from
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm
This web page is a secondary source, it interprets and analyzes primary
sources. Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in
your life (Smith & Segal, 2013). To identify your true sources of stress, look
closely at your habits, attitudes, and excuses (Smith & Segal, 2013). Look at
how you currently cope with stress, start a stress journal. Take note of what
caused your stress, how you felt, both physically and emotionally, how you acted
in response, and what you did to make yourself feel better (Smith & Segal,
2013). There are healthier ways and unhealthy ways to deal with stress. This
web page gives some great healthier alternatives to dealing with stress.
Watchwellcast. (2013, May 23). Stress management strategies: Ways to unwind. Retrieved
from http://youtu.be/0fL-pn80s-c
This was a great short (about five minutes) animated video about strategies to
deal with stress management. This is a secondary source, it interprets and
analyzes primary sources. It has great quick stress management strategies like:
taking a hot shower, going for a run, having a treat (dark chocolate), or do some
cleaning (something small you can cross off your to-do-list). It gave some
techniques to relax before bed to help fall asleep and gave some breathing
techniques. It also suggested using smells such as a lavender candle or some
spearmint tea to calm down before bed. In short I think this was a great video.
Resources
Babatunde, A. (2013). Occupational Stress: A Review on Conceptualisations, Causes and
Cure. Economic Insights - Trends & Challenges, 65(3), 73-80.
Pruter, I., & Heidenreich, P. (2009). Handbook of Stress : Causes, Effects and Control.
New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Seaward, B. (2009). Managing stress principles and strategies for health and well-being.
(Sixth ed.). Sudburg, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Smith, M., & Segal, R. (2013, November). Stress management. Retrieved from
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm
Smith, M., Segal, R., & Segal, J. (2013, November). Stress symptoms, signs and causes.
Retrieved
from
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm
Watchwellcast. (2013, May 23). Stress management strategies: Ways to unwind. Retrieved
from
http://youtu.be/0fL-pn80s-c