Stress management - notes PDF

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 What is stress and stress management? Stress - Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline.

stress management - Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces numerous physical and mental symptoms which vary according to each individual's situational factors. These can include physical health decline as well as depression.

 Causes Of Stress 1. Financial Problems According to the American Psychological Association (APA), money is the top cause of stress in the United States. In a 2015 survey, the APA reported that 72% of Americans stressed about money at least some of the time during the previous month.1 The majority of the study participants reported money being a significant source of stress, with 77% feeling considerable anxiety about finances. Signs of financial stress may include: -Arguing with loved ones about money -Being afraid to open mail or answer the phone -Feeling guilty about spending money on non-essentials -Worrying and feeling anxious about money

2. WorkAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans now spend 8% more time at work compared to 20 years ago, and about 13% of people work a second job. At least 40% report their jobs are stressful, and 26% report they often feel burned out by their work The signs of work-related stress can be physical and psychological -Anxiety -Depression

-Difficulty concentrating or making decisions -Fatigue -Headache -Heart palpitations -Mood swings -Muscle tension and pain -Stomach problems

3. Personal Relationships There are people in all of our lives that cause us stress. It could be a family member, an intimate partner, friend, or co-worker. Toxic people lurk in all parts of our lives and the stress we experience from these relationships can affect physical and mental health. There are numerous causes of stress in romantic relationships and when couples are constantly under pressure, the relationship could be on the risk of failure. Common relationship stressors include: -Being too busy to spend time with each other and share responsibilities -Intimacy and sex are become rare due to busyness, health problems, and any number of other reasons -There is abuse or control in the relationship -You and your partner are not communicating -You and/or partner are consuming too much alcohol and/or using drugs -You or your partner are thinking about divorce

4. ParentingParents are often faced with managing busy schedules that include a job, household duties, and raising children. These demands result in parenting stress. High levels of parenting stress can cause a parent to be harsh, negative, and authoritarian in their interactions with their children. Parenting stress can also decrease the quality of parent-child relationships. For example, you may not have open communication so your child doesn’t come to you for advice or you and your child may argue often. Sources of parenting stress may include being lower-income, working long hours, single parenting, marital or relationship tensions, or raising a child who has been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder or developmental disability.

 Symptoms Of Stress Emotional symptoms of stress include: -Becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody -Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control -Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind -Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, worthless, and depressed -Avoiding others

Physical symptoms of stress include: -Low energy -Headaches -Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea -Aches, pains, and tense muscles -Chest pain and rapid heartbeat -Insomnia -Frequent colds and infections -Loss of sexual desire and/or ability -Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and feet -Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing -Clenched jaw and grinding teeth

Cognitive symptoms of stress include: -Constant worrying -Racing thoughts -Forgetfulness and disorganization -Inability to focus -Poor judgment -Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side

Behavioral symptoms of stress include: -Changes in appetite -- either not eating or eating too much -Procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities -Increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes -Exhibiting more nervous behaviors, such as nail biting, fidgeting, and pacing

Importance Of Stress Management – If we start to live with a high level of stress, it impacts on our mental equilibrium as well as physical health. We detract from a healthy lifestyle and even a high amount of stress hampers our productivity level also. The ultimate purpose of our life is to enjoy a balanced life with timely work, healthy relationships, relaxation, and fun. That is why, effective stress management is important to handle our stress level efficiently when it occurs, that we can think clearly, perform our professional role productively and relish healthy life. it helps in following ways 1. Enables you to motivate employees better Stress affects the morale of employees and hence their performance in the workplace. It not only affects the individual but the business also. Stress demotivates your employees which causes an increase in absenteeism and employee turnover. By using good stress management skills you can boost your employee morale which motivates and keeps them focused on their jobs and performance.

2. Improves productivity in a stressful situation When the employee morale is high and remains intact with the workplace relationship. It improves employee productivity. By using good stress management skills, there will be very little chance of customer complaints or poor decision making even in the most stressful situations.

3. Enables you to lead people in tough times When employees feel stress they look to you for guidance and direction. Some of the employees may seek help from you by discussing their issues one to one. By using good stress management skills and identifying the stressful issues correctly, you will be able to lead in tough times.

4. Reduces chances of workplace conflicts Conflict at the workplace is very common and occurs due to differences in opinions, personalities and increased levels of stress. It breaks the relationships and weakens the overall culture. However,

effective stress management skills prevent such distractions, builds teamwork and make everyone’s life easier.

5. Health Stress is found to be a component to heart disease, diabetes, ulcers, impotence and a decreased sexual drive. Stress can cause emotional eating and a lack of motivation or energy to exercise and maintain healthy behaviors. Managing your stress can mean a longer, happier and healthier life.

6.Relationships When you are stressed, your relationships will most certainly be impacted. It's difficult to spend time with loved ones when you are overwhelmed by stress. One is more likely to fight or argue as a response to their own stress rather than communicate effectively with their partners. Relationships suffer if stress remains unmanaged.

 Stress Management Skills Include: In the process of stress management, it is our skill to find the source from where the stress begins; in order to prevent the stress from occurring at the outset, we should follow some strategies. But the strategies of stress management varies from person to person based on individual’s stressors. There are various stress management techniques that can implement to handle the stress effectively. Some approaches that address stress physically and psychologically and helps to develop the skill of resilience. here are some useful stress management skills :1. Time Management: Time limitations can elicit stress in people’s lives. Work schedules sometimes become overloaded which causes some individuals to feel overwhelmed. In order to manage this kind of situation, one can make a plan of priorities to do the work accordingly. This will help to reduce the stress and even a manageable schedule which can complete within the time frame.

2. Self-limitations: Knowing your own limitation and to perform your work accordingly helps to alleviate the unnecessary stress. Creating your own boundaries is essential for healthy stress-free living. Boundaries mean we create some internal rules for ourselves to take care of our well-being. Sometimes it is good not to involve in any kind of racing thoughts which may also aggravate stress. It is suggestible to deviate your mind from that kind of thought and involve yourself with some activities which give relaxation and refreshment to your mind.

3. Friendly social network: Sometimes a supportive network of friends and relatives help to face the challenging situation with stability and less stress. Their encouraging words and listening ears become supportive.

4. Healthy Diet: A healthy balanced diet gives fuel to the body and mind function; it helps us to cope up with any stressful situation. Reducing the consumption of alcohol, caffeine, and sugar is a proven way of decreasing stress or anxiety. If our body gets proper nutrients, stress can likely occur in our everyday life.

5. Exercise: Maintaining a consistent routine exercise is a sign of following a healthy lifestyle. Exercise helps our body to reduce tensions and relax muscles.

6. Meditation: Use the techniques of deep breathing, breathing exercise, yoga, yogic sleep, meditation to control our physical and mental being. Meditation helps to calm down our body and mind to awaken our inner power.

7. Sleep habit: Adequate sleep is necessary to rejuvenate ourselves. It is helpful to boost our immune power and also increases mental alertness, memory, and concentration.

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