10/4/16

What is Stress?

Coping with
stress at College
MBBS 1 Life Skills
28th September 2016
Assoc Prof. Chiwoza Bandawe

What is Stress? Causes of stress

l “Stress, in essence, is a feeling of doubt
about being able to cope, a perception
that the resources available do not match
the demands made. When it persists,
stress can cause physical and
psychological ill-health and adversely
affect social functioning” Bonn &Bonn
2000
l Any change in the routine of our lives --
even welcome ones -- can be stressful,
both in terms of the way in which we
perceive them and in terms of the
increased incidence of physical illness
and death that occur during the
following 12 months
l There are Internal and External stressors

External Stress Internal Stress

l Study-related stress l Attitudes
l Interpersonal conflicts: Relationship or family l Thoughts
stress
l Self – image and self concept
l Balancing academics and social life
l Emotional well being
l Financial challenges
l Amount of sleep and rest
l Gossip
l Feelings of anger, fear and worry
l Daily hassles (queues, blackouts)
l Adjustment issues
l Lecturers!

1
 10/4/16

Social Adjustment Rating Scale Causes of college-related stress

l insufficie n t back-up long or unsociable hours

l Change in health of a family
member 44
l Pregnancy 40
l Sex Difficulties 39
l Gain of new family member
39
l Business readjustment 39
l Son or daughter leaving
home 29
l Trouble with in-laws 29
l Trouble with boss 23
l Change in work hours or
conditions 20
l Life Events Life Crisis Units
Death of spouse 100 l unnecessary bureaucracy and procedures
l Divorce 73
l competiti o n
l Martial separation 65
l Jail term 63
l Death of close family
l unrealistica lly high self-expecta ti o ns
member 63 (perfectio n is m )
l Personal injury or illness 53
Marriage 50 l inability to influence decision making
l Fired at work 47 (powerless n ess )
l Marital reconciliation 45
Retirement 45
l frequent clashes with lecturers

Mild, brief stressors Moderate Stressors

l Having to make a presentation l Work pressure into the night to meet a

l Assignments deadline
l Losing your keys l Preparing for an exam
l Electricity blackout l Persistent missing home
l Your mesho’s loud hip-hop music
l Frequent exiling

Severe, chronic, long-term

stressors

l Moving house, relocating to another town

l Financial difficulties

l Constant feelings of fear

l Health stress

l Family illness requiring hospitalisation

l Death of a close family member

2

Symptoms of acute stress
reaction
l Fast, racing, palpable heart beat
l Rapid breathing rate
l Blood pressure rises
l Dry mouth
l Tense muscles
l Racing thoughts
l Irrational fears and anxieties
l Sweaty palms
What are your stress signals?
l Feeling down or depressed
l Violent and out of control
l Short tempered
l Helplessness and inability to cope
l Poor concentration, mind going blank
l Sense of impending doom
l Easily startled or frightened
Burnout
10/4/16
Stress’ impact on your health
l Sexual and reproductive difficulties
l Fatigue
l Lowers immunity
l Increases alcohol and other substance usage
l Closely associated with depression
l Associated with insomnia
l Cognitive impairment: Memory loss, lack of
concentration
Pause for Thought
l Some people spend their time worrying and
fighting over what they have experienced.
l In the same period of time they could have
used the same energy to gain ten times what
they believe they have lost.
l “Is it worth my time to worry or put my
energy behind that? To what other use could
I put my time and the energy that I am
expending with now?”
What is Burnout?
l Being burned out means feeling empty,
devoid of motivation, and beyond caring.
People experiencing burnout often don’t see
any hope of positive change in their
situations.
l If excessive stress is like drowning in
responsibilities, burnout is being all dried up.
l This leads to cynicism, detachment,
hopelessness
3
 10/4/16

Causes of Burnout Stress vs. Burnout

l Setting unrealistic goals for yourself or l Stress l Burnout

having them imposed upon you. l Overengagement
l Disengagement
l Being expected to be too many things to l Blunted emotions
l Over reactive emotions
too many people. l Helplessness
l Urgency hyperactivity
l Working under rules that seem l Loss of energy l Loss of motivation
unreasonably coercive or punitive. l Anxiety disorders l Detachment
l Doing work that frequently causes you /depression
to violate your personal values. l Damage is physical l Damage is emotional
l May kill you
l Boredom from doing work that never prematurely l May make life seem not
changes or doesn’t challenge you. worth living

Strategies for preventing burnout STRESS MANAGEMENT TOOLS

l Accept your feelings

l Talk
l Acknowledge your needs
l Know your limits. Be realistic about how
much of your time and yourself you can give,
set limits, and communicat e those limits to
bosses, colleagues, family members, and
other people involved.

Stress Management Personal Stress Management

l We can’t always control the sources of l Stress management a process: Requires

stress in our life, but we can control time, self evaluation, re-evaluation to
establish what works for you. Accept set
how we deal with them. By learning backs. Be patient.
positive ways to manage stress, you’ll
l Identify major stressors or triggers in your
feel in charge of your life once again— life. Observe when and why you feel stressed
the very opposite of burned out.
l No one can stress you unless you allow them
to

4

Stress Management Tips
l Move in small manageable steps: food,
exercise, rest, recreation
l Concentrate on one or two main life areas at
a time. Don’t aim for life overhaul.
l Choose a point of focus, you don’t have to
tackle the most difficult stressor first
l Set specific reachable goals
Stress management lifestyle
l Assess your stressors. List on 1-10 scale
l Breathing exercises (Breath in, hold, release for
count of 4)
l Jacobson’s Progressive Muscular Relaxation
l The Awareness Exercise
l Self awareness: Notice when you next feel angry
and practice letting go
l Relaxed visualisation with full sensory
experience (see yourself at the lake)
10/4/16
“Wellness” Levels of Being
l Physical: Healthy diet, exercise, weight control
l Mental: Thinking and reasoning. Thoughts and
attitudes should ensure mental health
l Emotional: Feeling level through relationships,
full expression, avoiding negative emotions
l Spiritual: Inner being, soul or psyche, deeper
meaning, ethics, values, purpose of life
l uMunthu: Social, cultural or environmental
aspect
Our best thinking got us here.
l The problems that we face cannot be solved by
the same level of thinking that created them.
Albert Einstein
Jacobson’s PMR
l Progressive muscle relaxation (or PMR) is
a technique of stress management
developed by American physician
Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s.
Jacobson argued that since muscular
tension accompanies anxiety, one can
reduce anxiety by learning how to relax
the muscular tension.
5
 10/4/16

Tense muscles, relax Stress management lifestyle

l Pause in between activities
l Feet l Back,
l Calves l Arms: from your l When agitated slow down your speech
l Thighs hands, whole arms l Drink 8 glasses of water per day
l Legs, buttocks l Neck,
l Create a space for creativity and
l Stomach, Chest l Jaw and facial productivity: pictures, flowers
muscles
l Mini breaks every two hours, stretch
l Do an unpleasant chore and feel the
satisfaction

Stress management lifestyle Stress management lifestyle

l What is your life’s purpose on earth?
l Don’t waste time with “what if..” The past cannot be
changed
l Realise whose problem it is
l Write down feelings and thoughts, keep a journal
l Be aware that when others cause a reaction
in us it is the mirror effect in operation l Manage your time effectively

l Express yourself in your interactions with l Don’t make decisions when angry. Walk away, count to 10
others. “When you… I feel.. Because” and decide not to be angry

l Avoid taking things personally

l “We are human beings, not human doings”
Arien van der Merwe

Sleep Hygiene Tips

l Sleep as much as you need to feel rested; do

not oversleep.
l Exercise regularly at least 20 minutes daily,
ideally 4-5 hours before your bedtime.

l Avoid forcing yourself to sleep.

l Keep a regular sleep and awakening

schedule.