Introduction to Stress Management
Summary
TLDRIn this stress management and wellness workshop, psychologist LuAnn Helms from Utah State University introduces six key parts to address stress. She discusses identifying personal stressors, recognizing stress symptoms, and the importance of self-awareness. Helms emphasizes the role of the fight-or-flight response in daily stress and the necessity of triggering the relaxation response. She encourages participants to list their stress-reducing activities, highlighting the benefits of exercise, social support, and humor, and previews upcoming sessions on relaxation skills.
Takeaways
- 📚 The workshop is structured into six parts, focusing on understanding and managing stress, practicing relaxation skills, and developing a wellness plan.
- 🧘 Identifying personal stressors is crucial for effective stress management, as it helps in preparing and practicing skills to mitigate stress before events occur.
- 🤔 There are various sources of stress including environmental, interpersonal, physiological, and intrapersonal factors, which are internal stressors.
- 🚨 Recognizing symptoms of stress is important, as they can manifest in behavioral, emotional, and physical ways, and can indicate when stress levels are rising.
- 🏃♂️ Exercise can be a powerful tool for stress management, as it helps to utilize the body's fight-or-flight response in a positive way.
- 🎵 Music can be used as a form of relaxation, with playlists designed to induce calmness or confidence.
- 👂 Having a support system and engaging in healthy communication with friends can provide emotional support and different perspectives on stressors.
- 😴 Sleep is a critical component of stress management, as lack of sleep can exacerbate stress levels and affect overall well-being.
- 📝 Writing down tasks or creating a to-do list can help in organizing and tackling overwhelming workloads, making stress more manageable.
- 😄 Humor is a valuable stress management technique, as it can trigger a positive mood and provide a mental break from stress.
- 🌿 Engaging in activities such as spending time in nature, meditation, yoga, or interacting with animals can offer relaxation and reduce stress.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the stress management and wellness workshop presented by LuAnn Helms?
-The workshop focuses on managing stress through six different parts, which include discussing stress, practicing relaxation skills, sharing cognitive behavioral and emotional skills, and developing a wellness plan together.
Why is it important to identify personal stressors instead of comparing them with others?
-Identifying personal stressors is important because it allows individuals to be more prepared for their specific stress triggers and to practice stress management skills effectively, rather than dismissing their stress because it doesn't affect others in the same way.
What are intrapersonal stressors as mentioned in the script?
-Intrapersonal stressors are factors within an individual that create stress, such as personal thoughts and emotions, as opposed to interpersonal stressors which are stresses between people.
How can recognizing the symptoms of stress help individuals?
-Recognizing stress symptoms allows individuals to understand when they are becoming stressed, enabling them to take proactive steps to manage their stress levels before they become overwhelmed.
What is the fight-or-flight response and how does it relate to stress?
-The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that prepares the body to either confront or escape a perceived dangerous situation. It is related to stress as it is triggered by stressors, causing physical and emotional changes that can be detrimental if activated too frequently without actual danger.
Why is it beneficial to rate stress levels on a scale from 1 to 10?
-Rating stress levels helps individuals to be aware of their current stress state and to identify when they need to employ stress management techniques to prevent stress from escalating to unmanageable levels.
How can exercise be an effective stress management technique?
-Exercise is effective because it helps to utilize the body's fight-or-flight response in a positive way, releasing tension and providing physical benefits that counteract the negative impacts of stress.
What role does a support system play in stress management?
-A support system provides individuals with various people they can turn to for different needs, such as venting, gaining perspective, or taking a break from stressors, which is crucial for emotional well-being and stress reduction.
Why is humor considered a great stress management technique?
-Humor can trigger a positive mood change, providing a mental break from stress and promoting a more relaxed state, which is beneficial for overall stress management.
How can writing down tasks or creating a to-do list help with stress?
-Writing down tasks or creating a to-do list can make overwhelming workloads seem more manageable by breaking them down into smaller, actionable items, providing a sense of accomplishment as each task is completed.
What is the potential downside of using avoidance as a stress management technique?
-While avoidance may temporarily reduce stress, it can lead to increased stress in the long run if it prevents addressing the root causes of stress or results in neglecting important tasks.
Outlines
😀 Introduction to Stress Management Workshop
The video script introduces LuAnn Helms, a psychologist from Utah State University, who is hosting a stress management and wellness workshop. The workshop is structured into six parts, starting with a discussion on stress and its management, followed by practicing relaxation skills, learning cognitive behavioral and emotional skills, and culminating in developing a wellness plan. The script highlights various personal stressors such as balancing school, work, finances, and relationships, emphasizing the importance of recognizing individual stress sources to manage stress effectively. It also touches on different types of stressors, including environmental, interpersonal, physiological, and intrapersonal factors.
😟 Understanding Stress Symptoms and the Fight-or-Flight Response
This paragraph delves into the symptoms of stress that individuals may experience, such as being short-tempered, feeling overwhelmed, forgetfulness, and avoidant behavior. It also discusses physical symptoms like headaches, back pain, and emotional responses like crying easily. The fight-or-flight response is explained as a natural protective mechanism that prepares the body for danger, which can manifest as cold extremities, shallow breathing, and suppressed immune system. The script points out that this response is often triggered in modern society not just by physical danger but also by stressors like tests and external stimuli like news alerts. The importance of managing this response to avoid chronic stress and its negative effects on memory, health, and behavior is highlighted.
🏃♂️ Techniques for Managing Stress and Anxiety
The script explores various techniques to manage stress and anxiety levels. It suggests rating stress on a scale from 1 to 10 to gauge one's current stress level. Activities such as playing the piano, listening to music, running, and talking to friends are mentioned as effective ways to reduce stress. The benefits of exercise in combating the physical effects of the fight-or-flight response are discussed, as well as the value of having a support system. The paragraph also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in managing stress and the potential benefits of stress management in terms of time saved and improved well-being.
😌 Strategies for Reducing Stress and Enhancing Well-being
This paragraph offers a range of strategies for reducing stress, including using humor, maintaining support systems, ensuring adequate sleep, and engaging in physical activity. It also suggests writing down tasks to manage workload and using relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga. The script encourages viewers to observe their own reactions to different stress management methods and to incorporate effective ones into their routine. It concludes by advising viewers to make a list of activities that help reduce their stress and to practice relaxation skills in the upcoming parts of the workshop.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stress Management
💡Wellness Plan
💡Relaxation Skills
💡Cognitive Behavioral Skills
💡Fight-or-Flight Response
💡Interpersonal Stressors
💡Intrapersonal Stressors
💡Stress Symptoms
💡Avoidant Behavior
💡Relaxation Response
💡Performance Anxiety
Highlights
Introduction to the stress management and wellness workshop by LuAnn Helms, a psychologist at Utah State University.
The workshop is structured into six parts covering stress discussion, relaxation skills, cognitive behavioral techniques, and developing a wellness plan.
Identifying personal stressors is crucial for effective stress management.
Differentiating between environmental, interpersonal, physiological, and intrapersonal stressors.
Understanding that stressors are often learned behaviors and can be unlearned.
Recognizing personal stress symptoms such as short temper, forgetfulness, and avoidance behaviors.
The impact of stress on physical symptoms like headaches, back pain, and emotional responses.
The fight-or-flight response as a natural protective mechanism and its modern-day triggers.
Chronic stress can lead to health issues and impaired memory and concentration.
The importance of managing stress to prevent burnout and improve overall well-being.
Stress can be beneficial in moderation, but chronic stress needs to be managed.
Learning to rate stress levels on a scale from 1 to 10 for self-awareness and management.
Techniques for reducing stress levels, including playing music, exercise, and talking to someone.
The role of humor and support systems in managing stress.
The effectiveness of writing down tasks and creating to-do lists to alleviate stress.
Encouragement to observe personal stress-reducing activities and incorporate them into daily life.
Upcoming parts of the workshop will focus on practicing relaxation skills.
Transcripts
hi I'm LuAnn Helms a psychologist in
Utah State University Counseling and
Psychological Services
welcome to the stress management and
wellness workshop this workshop consists
of six different parts the first part
will be discussing stress and different
ways to manage it parts two three and
four we'll be practicing a wide variety
of relaxation skills in part five I will
share with you cognitive behavioral and
emotional skills and then in part six we
will develop a wellness plan together so
what are some things that stress you out
just test balancing school and family
balancing school and family I was just
going to say pretty much the same thing
balancing school balancing work running
out of money also dating and balancing
schools rough stuff for me so balancing
different demands maybe the dating and
different relationships Oh giving
presentations might be something to
stress someone out so one of the things
with stress management is knowing what
your sources of stress are for you as an
individual so not compared to other
people know if you can own what your
stresses are then you can be more
prepared for them and you can know to
practice skills to get your stress level
down before those different events in
your life so not thinking about well
this shouldn't stress me out because it
doesn't seem to stress them out focusing
on this is my personal stressor and
there are a variety of different sources
of stress and so you might look up here
and notice a few different things that
come to mind so in addition to school
and some of the different demands
there's different environmental
stressors we also have interpersonal
stressors physiological stressors and
then one thing that some people don't
think about is intra personal stressors
so interpersonal stressors are stressed
between people and intrapersonal
stressors are factors within us that
create more stress so as you glance at
this and
don't have to say which ones can you
maybe think of some of these things
relate to some of these okay so and this
is just a small list the nice thing
about the interpersonal stressors is
these are ways of thinking that are
mostly learned and so you can unlearn
them okay so in addition to knowing what
your sources are you also want to know
you know how do you know you're stressed
how you know you're getting there so
what are some of your symptoms of stress
I get really snappy like was my roommate
or with my friends like I don't have
very long fuse okay so being really
short and snappy
okay I start feeling overwhelmed with
little things as well so things that
normally don't stress me out so
stressing me out
okay so kind of things on your plate
kind of caused you more stress than they
do normally yeah okay build up and I
have a tendency to miss those little
things entirely just I don't remember to
do them because I'm focused on the big
things that I got to get done okay so
some things you forget about all right I
know I'm stressed when I started
participating in avoidant behavior like
playing video games or watching movies
or sleeping in just I can tell that I'm
avoiding important things that I need to
do because I'm stressed out about it
yeah so there are kind of a lot of
different behavioral symptoms that
people have shared for me I often get
headaches when I'm stressed out um I get
like pain in my neck or in my back
that's right can I carry attention I
think so some back pain other physical
symptoms I might cry easier things will
just get to me more emotionally yeah so
knowing how our maybe body and our
behavior and our emotions tell us that
we're stressed out so kind of knowing
that we're getting there so if this is
the list could be like 10 times longer
than this but here are some common
things are there any that you kind of go
oh yeah that's me - Oh what might be a
few that you're like oh okay
I get really accident-prone like I'll
stub my toe or hit my knee on something
and just be really absent-minded I think
when I'm stressed out or I've a lot to
do yeah so we might be thinking about
all the stuff we have to do and not pay
attention and walk into things or
problems sleeping okay
so sleep difficulties I progressed in a
quite a bit hey yeah I think that hey if
I don't do it now I'm okay now but it
just builds up the stress yeah so with a
lot of the behavioral stuff anything
with some of the physical things yeah I
think that sure like the trouble
concentrating one is I'll think about a
million things at once or I what I won't
be able to hold my attention as much as
I normally would okay yeah I eat eating
yeah yeah
so stomach issues are sometimes common
when we have stress problems sometimes
people eat more and sometimes people
don't feel hungry at all
yeah so part of our symptoms are related
to the fight-or-flight response and I
won't go into a lot of details but
basically our body is wired to protect
it from danger so it's a protective
mechanism that if I'm out on a hike and
I see a mountain lion the
fight-or-flight response gets triggered
and my body prepares to fight or flee
the situation and so the blood goes to
major muscle groups and out of our
extremities and that's why when people
are stressed sometimes their hands and
feet are cold
so our breathing gets really shallow and
our pupils dilate all these different
chemicals are being released it for
Paris to fight or flee the muscles get
tense and when that happens
digestion slows because who cares about
digesting your food if you're about to
get it attacked by a lion no so that's
why sometimes people have stomach
problems probably why I get headaches is
because you get muscle tension hey and
another thing that happens is our immune
system is suppressed because who cares
about fighting off our germs if I'm
about to get attacked by a lion and so
sometimes people are stressed and then
they get sick so
it also has a challenge with our memory
if I'm about to get attacked by a lion
who cares if I can recall the names of
the presidents though so one thing is
just knowing that that's a natural
response to protect us from danger
fortunately we're hardly ever in
physical danger occasionally things
happen where we are but the
fight-or-flight response actually gets
triggered over and over again throughout
our day in our society even though we're
not about to get attacked by lions so is
that like when I'm going in to take a
test and my mind just completely goes
blank
is that like yeah what's happen if I've
studied a lot yeah so it makes it hard
to recall the information that you want
to recall so that's a good example - the
test isn't going to kill you so it might
feel like that and maybe you're having
thoughts like I can't do this thoughts
that I'm in jeopardy and so a lot of
times we're not actually being attacked
by the lion but our thoughts are
triggering the fight-or-flight response
and then there's things outside of us
that are trying to trigger it like the
news tries to trigger it you know it
says things like something in your house
can kill you find out 11:00 what it is
you know so outside of us we're always
getting these messages to watch out and
the challenge with that is we need to
work on the fight-or-flight is
constantly being triggered with our
thoughts and with external stimulus we
have to work on triggering the
relaxation response because people
aren't walking around telling us relax
so we have to tell ourselves and we have
to work on triggering that relaxation
response and calming that down a little
bit because the chronic fight-or-flight
can really wear us out can I ask you
something real quick
so is it I mean it sounds like it's kind
of the same thing that happens when you
get up to perform if you get performance
anxiety yeah you get early nervous it's
the same thing yeah okay so say because
I like it so oh yeah so if I'm up here
and I'm getting nervous and I'm thinking
I can't do this or what if I make a
mistake then that flight or flight is
going to get triggered a little bit and
the challenge with it too is that it
wears us out and a lot of times when it
comes to stress management people think
well I don't have time for stress
management
I don't have time to take care of myself
or I don't have time to maybe take a
ten-minute break so but the thing to
remember is if you don't take time for
stress management it'll cost you more
time in the long run so if you don't
take time and you go go go and then you
crash because you've gotten sick because
you haven't take time for stress
management and you've worn out your
immune system now has anyone ever been
sick for finals so that's what issue you
know sometimes two people will be
anxious and they'll study and study and
in four hours they're all anxious trying
to study well if they would have took a
half an hour for some stress management
and then studied for two hours they
might have retained more information and
so it makes this not think so straight
and then another huge issue is sometimes
when we're stressed out we have a short
fuse and we behave in ways that we
regret we say things we wish we didn't
we do things that we wish we didn't and
that takes a lot of time to feel guilty
about that to think about that to try to
repair it so that does take a lot of
time in our life and so if we take more
time just for taking good care of
ourselves and keeping our stress at a
manageable level we will save time in
the long run but you have to really be
invested into doing this and with the
fight-or-flight I mean it's meant to
protect ourselves so having some stress
can be a helpful thing it's just having
too much too often that we have to
manage we don't want to not have stress
we don't want to not have anxiety
sometimes but we do want to have it at a
level that we can manage so one of the
skills is we want to be able to rate our
stress level so using the sources of
stress and symptoms of stress knowing
where you're at at any given moment on a
scale of 1 to 10 so 10 being your most
stressed out and 1 being very calm so
right now in this moment since I'm
presenting and that's one of my sources
stress I'd say I'm about a seven that's
pretty high for me so if you don't mind
maybe giving yourself a number in this
moment between one and ten six six like
a four okay a five probably about a
three okay so knowing that there's
variability and not comparing yourself
to other people checking with yourself
and reading that now most of the time
people think you know I was just going
along and the stressor happened whatever
that is let's say a test and boom my
stress went up but really what typically
happens is maybe I had a really cruddy
breakfast and I didn't get a good
night's sleep and my roommate said
something I wish they didn't and I
thought about the test and I thought I'm
going to blow it and then the test
happens and you don't have very far to
go so the skill of knowing where you're
at at any given moment and then having
techniques to just bring it down a notch
or two and having a variety so there
isn't one thing that you use that that
takes you from a nine to a two just
keeping your fuse as long as possible so
you're less likely to get to an eight
nine or ten and a nine or ten for some
people that's a panic attack or maybe
you're you're can't believe the words
that are coming out of your mouth
because you're so stressed out or maybe
you freeze you can't think straight so
knowing where you're at at any given
moment so what are some of the things
that you do to decrease your stress
level to bring it down a notch or two I
like to play a piano take a break to go
play your piano that's something that I
love or just listen to music yeah I have
a list on my ipod it's like a relaxation
list that I'll use that's a great idea
so using music we can have playlists to
help us feel confident or relaxed an
empowerment list so making a playlist of
different songs that will trigger the
mood that you want more of and then play
music too is a great activity other ways
that people I'll go on a run
and just exercise and try and get out
and just let it go away
huh so running why we running be helpful
when it comes to the fight-or-flight
response
wouldn't it like get rid of it
physically if you're having a physical
reaction to it then you could do
something physical maybe to to try to
get rid of it or help it yeah so what
are the reasons that exercise is so
helpful for anxiety and stress is
fight-or-flight prepares us to do
something physical and when we exercise
we're actually taking that system to
fruition so in addition to all the great
benefits of exercise in helping to build
confidence in helping to manage anxiety
and depression it's good for our body
and fight-or-flight is kind of wearing
out our body doing some exercise helps
us to bring that to fruition having some
physical activity and it doesn't you
know maybe you can't go for a long run
and right before presentation maybe
doing a few push-ups or some squats or
something to get that energy out
sometimes is really helpful other things
that people do
I think another thing that a lot of
people do is just talk to someone talk
to a friend that's something you can do
maybe like right before presentation or
something you can call a friend and be
like hey a little nervous let's just
talk for a little bit yeah I do that
sometimes yeah so having a good support
system is really important I'm having
maybe a variety of people to talk to and
knowing in your support system that you
might have different people for
different things like my friend Jack
might be a great person for me to vent
to but my friend maybe Jill might be
good for a different perspective so and
knowing or this other friend might be
great for just going to a movie or
having fun with and taking a break from
the things that are stressing me out and
so trying to have a support system where
you do have a variety people to turn to
and and don't expect people to be really
what they're not so if I have a friend
that you know every time I call wants to
cheer me up by telling jokes and I
really need a shoulder to cry on maybe
that's not the best person to call and
so kind of figuring out what I need when
it comes to support systems so in
support systems and maintenance of them
are pretty challenging at times but
working on having healthy relationships
and healthy communication with my
support system yeah other things like to
sleep okay times if I'm really feeling
stressed I go to bed I wake up feeling a
lot better I don't know if that's good
or bad
yeah yeah so I'm not thinking about it
good or bad but maybe observing it a
little bit as far as does this help me
is it effective and it may be that
you're not getting enough sleep and you
actually do need more sleep and so it
would be effective or if you're just
avoiding because sometimes if we avoid
too much we don't work through those
feelings and we end up causing more
stress so in some situations it could be
a good technique and in other situations
may be not so helpful yeah yeah like
I'll watch a movie or TV show or
something with
friends and sometimes I feel like not as
stressed afterwards but other times I
feel more stressed later on so I don't
know kind of thing saying if that's yeah
or not paying attention yeah I mean
movies are often like music to that they
could trigger a different mood and so
you deciding what kind of mood you want
to trigger now so when it comes to
stress management a great technique is
humor and so if there is a movie that
makes you laugh or cheers you up and
gives you a break in that way but if
you're already feeling really down maybe
you don't want to watch Old Yeller and
stay there or something so paying
attention to that how those movies make
you feel and you might even have as part
of your toolbox of stress management
things certain movies that you pull out
every once in a while that maybe make
you feel relaxed or empowered or hopeful
any other things that people do I've got
something else when it's my workload
that's stressing me out and I feel like
I have too much on my plate writing it
down writing down what I need to do
either making a to-do list or getting it
on my calendar helps me feel like I've
gotten something done and then it helps
me organize it so that I could tackle it
because if it if I just have it all
piled up then sometimes it just feels
too overwhelming to actually start it
but I know that once I start it I can
definitely do it so as long as I just
you know write it down figure out what I
need to do first then that helps me feel
just a little bit less stress yeah so
writing a list prioritizing crossing
things off and being able to kind of
chunk it down because sometimes we feel
overwhelmed when we're thinking about
all of it and if we can chunk it down
and say okay what's first what piece can
I do and taking care of it one piece at
a time so so there is a wide variety of
things that we can do in thinking about
maybe time in nature does anyone use
meditation or yoga or know people to do
some toe in the counseling center we
have animals because petting pets and
being around pets or watching children
play there's a variety of things that
sometimes can be helpful so we've talked
about knowing what your sources and
symptoms
our being able to rate your stress level
and then figuring out for yourself what
are variety of things to bring it down a
notch or two so what I would encourage
you to do is to make a list kind of spy
on yourself and observe the things that
kind of bring it down and then figure
out how you sprinkle more of that into
your life and in parts two three and
four we'll practice some relaxation
skills thank you
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