Coping with Stress in Middle and Late Adolescence - Personal Development for Senior High School

Summary

This lecture addresses coping with stress during middle and late adolescence, defining stress as a reaction to stimuli that disrupt well-being. It distinguishes between positive stress (eustress) that can enhance performance and negative stress (distress) leading to burnout. The speaker advises identifying stressors and managing stress through healthy coping mechanisms like relaxation techniques, time management, and seeking support, while cautioning against unhealthy coping methods like substance abuse.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Stress is a reaction of the mind and body to stimuli that disturb our well-being and equilibrium.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Athletes use 'load management' to cope with stress, and students should also find ways to manage their stress loads.
• 🚨 Stress can lead to psychological problems or mental health concerns if not managed properly.
• 🌡 The body's stress response involves hormones like cortisol, which can cause damage if stress is chronic.
• 🤔 Viewing stress as a stimulus helps us identify stressors and understand our body's reaction to challenging situations.
• 🔄 Stress can be relational, prompting us to reassess and re-evaluate situations, which can change our feelings and behaviors.
• 💪 There's a helpful type of stress called 'eustress' that can motivate and improve performance.
• 😴 Prolonged stress can lead to distress, characterized by fatigue, exhaustion, and burnout.
• 🚫 Unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, and gambling can exacerbate stress and lead to more problems.
• 🌟 Healthy coping skills include creative imagery, seeking social support, relaxation activities, and time management.

Q & A

What is stress?

Stress is a reaction of the mind and the body to a stimulus that disturbs the well-being or state of calm or equilibrium a person experiences.

Why is it important to manage stress?

Managing stress is crucial because excessive stress can lead to psychological problems or mental health concerns that may require professional intervention.

What are stressors?

Stressors are stimuli from the environment that cause stress, such as life-threatening or life-changing situations.

How does stress affect the body?

Stress affects the body by causing physical reactions like feeling weaker or less capable than normal, which is why athletes need rest and load management.

What is the role of cortisol in stress?

Cortisol is the stress hormone that elevates during stress. While short-term elevation is normal, prolonged exposure to stress and high cortisol levels can lead to permanent brain damage.

What is PTSD and how is it related to stress?

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition often experienced by soldiers after battlefield exposure. It involves elevated cortisol levels and can result in permanent brain damage, particularly in the hippocampus, affecting learning and memory.

How can changing one's perspective on stress be beneficial?

Changing one's perspective on stress can help by allowing a person to reassess and re-evaluate the situation positively, which can change the way they feel and behave, reducing the damaging effects of stress.

What is the difference between eustress and distress?

Eustress is a positive type of stress that occurs when one is excited or challenged and can lead to improved performance or personal growth. Distress, on the other hand, is prolonged stress characterized by fatigue, exhaustion, and burnout, which is detrimental to one's well-being.

What are some common stressors mentioned in the script?

Common stressors include school demands, separation anxiety, future concerns about college life or relationships, family expectations, health and body image concerns, and bullying.

How is the 'stress bucket' analogy used to explain stress management?

The 'stress bucket' is an analogy where the bucket represents one's stress level. Stressors fill the bucket, and coping skills are the faucets that release stress. Unhealthy coping skills can increase stress, while healthy coping skills help manage and reduce it.

What are some healthy coping skills for managing stress?

Healthy coping skills include creative imagery, seeking social support, relaxation activities like progressive muscle relaxation and breathing exercises, creating a comfortable space for reflection, time management, and maintaining a balanced diet with regular exercise.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Understanding Stress in Adolescence

This paragraph discusses the concept of stress during middle and late adolescence. Stress is defined as a reaction of the mind and body to stimuli that disrupt well-being and equilibrium. The speaker recalls previous discussions about the sources of stress, such as financial matters, family problems, and relationship issues. The paragraph emphasizes that stress is not just a mental reaction but also a physical one, affecting athletes' performance and necessitating rest and 'load management.' The speaker also highlights the importance of identifying stressors and managing stress to prevent psychological problems and mental health concerns. The discussion introduces two perspectives on stress: as a stimulus and as a reaction to challenging situations, with the latter involving the stress hormone cortisol.

05:00

🔄 Coping with Stress and Its Relational Aspect

The second paragraph delves into how stress can be managed and the relational aspect of stress. It suggests that reassessing and re-evaluating stressful situations can lead to positive outcomes, as changing one's thinking can change feelings and behaviors. The speaker stresses the importance of recognizing controllable events and personal capabilities to handle stress. The paragraph introduces different types of stress, including eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative stress), and warns against prolonged exposure to stress, which can lead to conditions like burnout and PTSD. The speaker uses the metaphor of a 'stress bucket' to illustrate how stress accumulates and how coping skills can help manage it.

10:02

💪 Developing Healthy Coping Mechanisms

The final paragraph focuses on developing healthy coping skills to deal with stress. It warns against unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drug use, excessive alcohol consumption, and gambling, which can lead to more problems. The speaker suggests various healthy coping strategies, including creative imagery, seeking social support, engaging in relaxation activities, creating comfortable spaces for reflection, managing time effectively, and maintaining a balanced diet and exercise routine. The paragraph concludes with a reminder to take care of mental health and well-being and to avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Keywords

💡Stress

Stress is defined as a reaction of the mind and the body to a stimulus that disturbs a person's well-being or state of calm. In the video, stress is discussed as a common challenge faced during adolescence, stemming from various sources such as financial matters, family problems, and relationship issues. The script uses the example of increased stress levels during online classes compared to vacation times to illustrate this concept.

💡Stressors

Stressors are environmental stimuli that trigger stress responses. They can be life-threatening or life-changing situations. The script mentions that even positive life events like college graduation can be stressors because they bring new challenges and changes, which require adaptation.

💡Coping Skills

Coping skills refer to the strategies and mechanisms people use to manage and reduce stress. The video emphasizes the importance of developing healthy coping skills, such as relaxation techniques and time management, instead of relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms like substance abuse or excessive alcohol use.

💡Eustress

Eustress, or positive stress, is a term used to describe stress that is perceived as challenging and exciting, leading to a state of high energy and focus. The video uses the example of pre-game excitement or the focused energy felt during exams to illustrate how eustress can motivate and enhance performance.

💡Distress

Distress is characterized as prolonged or excessive stress that leads to negative outcomes such as fatigue, exhaustion, and burnout. The script warns against the dangers of distress, particularly in academic and work settings, where it can lead to disinterest and loss of motivation.

💡Cortisol

Cortisol is a stress hormone that, when elevated, can indicate the body's response to stress. The video explains that while short-term elevation of cortisol is normal, chronic stress leading to prolonged cortisol exposure can result in permanent brain damage, particularly affecting the hippocampus, which is crucial for learning and memory.

💡PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition often experienced by individuals, such as soldiers, who have been through traumatic events. The video uses PTSD as an example of how chronic stress can lead to severe mental health issues, where memories of traumatic events can cause ongoing distress and physical changes in the brain.

💡Load Management

Load management is a strategy used by athletes to manage stress by controlling the amount of physical and mental exertion they experience. The video suggests that students can apply similar concepts to manage their academic and personal stress by balancing workloads and ensuring adequate rest.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic fatigue and loss of interest in one's work or studies due to prolonged stress. The script discusses burnout as a severe consequence of distress, where individuals may no longer want to engage in activities they once enjoyed, such as going to work or school.

💡Stress Bucket

The stress bucket is a metaphor used in the video to illustrate how individuals accumulate stress over time. It suggests that using healthy coping skills can help 'empty' the bucket, while unhealthy coping mechanisms can lead to more stress. The video encourages viewers to fill their bucket with positive strategies to manage stress effectively.

💡Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques are methods used to reduce stress and promote relaxation, such as progressive muscle relaxation and breathing exercises. The video suggests that learning and practicing these techniques can be a part of a healthy coping strategy to manage stress levels.

Highlights

Coping with stress in middle and late adolescence involves addressing financial, family, and relationship issues.

Stress is defined as a reaction of the mind and body to stimuli that disturb well-being.

Stress can be both mental and physical, affecting one's sense of calm and equilibrium.

Athletes use 'load management' to cope with stress, which can also be applied to students' lives.

Excessive stress can lead to psychological problems or mental health concerns requiring professional help.

Stress can be viewed as a stimulus, a reaction to challenging situations, or a relational process.

Stressors are environmental changes that trigger stress responses.

Cortisol is the stress hormone, and prolonged exposure to stress can lead to brain damage.

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is an example of the damaging effects of chronic stress.

Stress can be positive (eustress) or negative (distress), with prolonged stress leading to burnout.

Common stressors for students include school demands, separation anxiety, and future concerns.

Family expectations, health issues, and social life concerns are also significant stressors.

The 'stress bucket' analogy is used to illustrate how stress accumulates and can be managed.

Unhealthy coping skills like drugs, alcohol, and gambling can exacerbate stress.

Healthy coping mechanisms include creative imagery, seeking social support, relaxation activities, and time management.

Maintaining a balanced diet and regular exercise are also effective stress management techniques.

The importance of taking care of mental health and well-being is emphasized.

Transcripts

all right hello everyone for today we

are going to talk about

coping with stress in middle and late

adolescence and if you watch our

previous lecture

we talk about the different sources of

stress and we talk about the different

challenges in life

that you face specifically in the

adolescence and

just to recall some this can include

financial matters this can include

family problems relationship problems

and these problems produce stress

okay so today let's talk about how do we

define stress

and how do we attempt to deal with it

so when we say stress in general it is a

reaction of the mind and the body to a

stimulus that disturbs the well-being

state of calm or equilibrium the person

meaning before you felt those problems

you are not that stressed you are not

feeling the stress that you are feeling

now

but ever since you started experiencing

the challenge in your life

you are more stressed than ever for

example

your life was less stressed during the

vacations but

when you started attending online

classes then you experienced or you felt

more stress

and stress is not just a reaction of the

mind it's also a reaction of the

body hence sometimes when you're

stressed you feel as if

your body is weaker than normal you feel

as if you're not so physically capable

that's why athletes who are exposed to a

lot of games

a lot of events they need to rest from

time to time

that's why some athletes they have what

we call load management

so in order for them to preserve their

energy there are some there are certain

times wherein they are not allowed to

play

or they choose not to play and that's

their way of protecting themselves so as

students we need

also to have our own load management for

us to be able to handle the stress that

we are going through

right now because it is a challenge not

just your mind but also

to your body and if there's too much

stress then it may lead

to a psychological problem or to a

mental health

concern that needs professional

intervention so let's talk about that

now now let's look at the two let's look

at the different ways in viewing stress

and the first one is stress as a

stimulus

what is a stimulus when we say stimulus

these are changes in the environment

that brings about a response for example

when you feel it's cold it's a stimulus

that signals you

to protect yourself from the cold

temperature

so same goes with stress stress may be

caused by

situations that may be life-threatening

or life-changing

so not all stress are products of

life-threatening situations sometimes we

can also be stressed by life-changing

situations

for example even college graduation

is considered stress even though it's a

happy event

because after you graduate in college

you will face a lot of new challenges

or you may experience difficulty in

transitioning

and those stimuli from the environment

those are what we call stressors

so it's important for you to identify

the stressors

that make you feel stress all right

other than that

stress is the way the body reacts to

challenging situations so it's not just

in this perspective we view stress as a

reaction

to challenging situations and that can

be physical that can also be

psychological for example

when you are being challenged

cognitively what you do is that you try

to make yourself

better or you're trying to perform

better for example during exams

or if you are exercising you're putting

some stress on your body

that's why it's being challenged so we

respond

by trying to adapt by trying to change

our performance

so that we can deal with stress take

note that the stress hormone is known as

cortisol

it's normal for you to have elevated

cortisol from time to time

however it's not healthy to be exposed

to stress

for a long period of time because it may

result to permanent brain damage

here's an example there's a mental

health condition called

ptsd and what is ptsd that's

post-traumatic stress disorder

meaning um this happens typically among

soldiers

after the experience in the battlefield

and then they go home

even though they're no longer in the

battlefield they can still remember

their experience as if it's happening in

the present

they have elevated amounts of cortisol

resulting to permanent brain damage

particularly in the hippocampus okay

and that's the part of the brain in

charge of learning

and memory so we don't want to be

exposed to stress

for an extended amount of time so we

need to learn how to manage the

stress stress is also relational

so stresses when a person experiencing

stress takes a step back to look at the

situation

that is causing stress and assesses it

meaning

if you are stressed it allows you to

reassess the situation re-evaluate the

situation

instead of looking at it negatively you

may take a look at it positively

because by changing your thinking

you're also changing the way you feel

and the way you behave

perhaps it's necessary for you to adapt

a positive way of appraising the event

so that it will not be a damaging event

okay it's important for you to know that

there are events that you can control

it's important for you to be reminded

that you have the capability to go

through this situation

instead of simply dealing with the

stress or sometimes it's important for

you

to take a step back and reflect first

before you attempt to do something

with the stressful situation now i'm

going to talk about the different types

of stress

okay and it's wrong to say that all

types of stress

are not helpful because there is a

helpful type of stress

and let's look at this when you are not

yet stressed you are

calm sometimes you are bored sometimes

you are excited

but if you are excited that it means

that you are entering

the stress threshold for example you

have a game or you're going to work out

in the gym

then you are excited and now when you

are now working out for example when you

are now running or when you are now in

the exams

at first you feel energized you feel

focused or you feel

challenged and that's what we call

eustress or positive

type of stress that's why they are

people who are proud that

they were able to conquer their stress

and it makes them a better person

because not all types of stress are bad

sometimes stress is there to challenge

us and to make us

better however if you're exposed to

prolonged stress then that's no longer

good because that's no longer eustress

but rather it's

distress and when we say distress that

is characterized by fatigue you're tired

exhaustion and burn out and we don't

want people to experience burnout

specifically in school

or at work because if you experience

burnout then

you're not just tired of what you're

doing you also lose interest

in your career or at school for example

you no longer want to go to work because

you feel what we call burn out

and we don't want you to experience that

now let's talk about how can we deal

with stress

remember from our previous discussion

here are the common stressors

school demands or so many requirements

for example in online learning perhaps

you don't have the right resources

or selecting a school or college okay

remember that we have our guidance

counselors

who can help us with this career choice

sometimes they will assess our strength

for us to know

what are the courses that will fit our

personality

that's one of that's one of the ways

they would help us also here we have

separation anxiety

for example you have to study somewhere

else but your parents are in another

location

if you are an adult you would think that

your child will be separated from you

for a long period of time

that is very stressful that's why people

get home sick

also you may be stressed and thinking

about your college life in the future

or maybe you are stressed about romantic

relationships or the lack of

it here are other sources of stress

family definitions and expectations for

example

in one family they might say that all of

us should be doctors or all of us should

be lawyers or you're going to be the

first doctor in the family that's

very stressful to the side of the

student we also have health concerns

body image concerns we also have social

life concerns and related to that is

bullying

especially in schools there are a lot of

people

feeling the negative effects of bullying

not just when they are in school

but also in their lives in the future

so it might have a permanent effect on

the way that you see yourself so it's

important for you to know that

to know that you should not be defined

by these bullies but rather

you should have a stable self concept

and do not listen to what other people

are telling are saying about you

especially if they only point out the

negative side

of your characteristics in order for me

to

illustrate how we deal with stress let

me let me make use of this stress bucket

so basically all of us we have our own

stress buckets

some of us our buckets are empty but for

most of us our buckets are almost

full but some of us are able to deal

with the stress

and make it manageable so how can we use

the stress bucket here

so look at this what fills our stress

bucket

that can be interpersonal stress for

example your family

academic stress or environmental stress

for example you're living with

difficult housemates or you are

struggling to focus in your studies

because

um the people you're living with do not

allow you to

to have a time for yourself to study so

this

is our stress level the water in the

bucket

in order for you to manage that we have

to use these faucets at the bottom

and we call them coping skills in other

words

you need to learn how to use your coping

skills

so that you'll be able to release some

stress from your body

to reduce the amount of water or stress

in your stress bucket however

sometimes we are dealing with too much

stress that our coping skills are not

enough

that's why we make use of unhealthy

coping skills

and what are these unhealthy coping

skills this may be drugs

excessive use of alcohol sexual

activities

pornography gambling etc

you just think that they make you happy

but in reality your behaviors are

leading to more

problems that's why there are arrows

going from this

faucet back to the top of the bucket why

you just think that it's helping you

deal with stress

but even though you're forgetting your

problems

you don't realize that because of your

behaviors

you will face more problems that's why i

want you

not to make use of unhealthy coping but

i want you to develop healthy

coping skills

so what are the common coping mechanisms

that are healthy so let's not make use

of drugs of substances

of sexual behaviors or pornography or

any other unhealthy coping but rather

learn how to make use of these coping

skills for example

conduct creative imagery of the problem

which means that sometimes you need to

take a step back

and reflect what is this problem trying

to tell me

for example my parents shouted at me

think about it

why is the why did that happen is there

a problem with you

maybe they are facing issues that's why

they are displacing their

problems upon you so maybe it might help

if you ask them about their personal

life

mom dad are you okay because i noticed

that you have been so mad

lately and i'm the one feeling those

difficulties

especially when you get mad at me or

seeking group or social support this

may come from your family or this may

come from your parents

we may also have some relaxation

activities

progressive muscle relaxation breathing

exercises

if you want to learn more perhaps your

mental health professional in your

school

can help you learn some relaxation

activities

especially if things are going out of

hand

also you can create a more comfortable

situations for example you can have a

quiet

corner at your house where in if someone

is in the quiet corner

no one can talk to that person and allow

that person to reflect

that is how you make a comfortable

situation

and make your home a place wherein you

can share to each other

what you are feeling without without

being judged

learn to manage your time as well so

sometimes

we are stressed because we we no longer

have boundaries between academic life

and personal life especially for those

who are very hard working

so you need to learn you don't have to

be a slave to either your schooling

or to your work okay we need to find a

balance

between our demands and the well-being

of our students

and also eat nutritious food as well as

exercise because those things will help

not just physically but also

psychologically so those are the coping

skills that i want you to learn about

from this lecture

and i hope that from now on you'll be

able to manage your stress

in a healthy way and do not engage in

unhealthy coping mechanisms remember

take care of your mental health and your

well-being that's

it thank you