PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH 11

SECOND GRADING
MODULE 3
TOPIC: MANAGING YOUR STRESS

I. INTRODUCTION

Teen stress is an important, yet often overlooked health issue. As a teenager, your
teen years are marked by rapid changes. Most teens face stress from puberty such as
changing relationships with peers, new demands of school, safety issues in the
neighborhood, and responsibilities to their families.
Stress is a reaction of the body and mind to unkind or challenging life
incidents such as tense feelings, worry, and discomfort. The imbalance between the
demand from the environment and the person’s ability to cope can trigger feelings of
anxiety. Some responses like being irritated, frightened, or anxious can cause
headaches or stomachaches. In this module, you will learn how to manage and prevent
stress in your life.

II. OBJECTIVES

At the end of the module, you are expected to:

 explain the causes and effects of stress.

 classify the common reactions during stressful situations.
 identify causes, signs, and responses to stress; and
 practice ways to manage stress.

III. CONCEPT SUMMARY

 Stress is the reaction to stressors and causes risks to an individual’s comfort.

Eustress is a positive stress which promotes growth, while distress is the
common negative stress that causes poor performance.

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  Stressor mostly comes from major life changes, physical surroundings, and
everyday problems. It also originates from pressures from decisions in life and
conflicts with other individuals.
 Stress can be managed through minimizing stressors, relaxing, doing exercise,
resting, and having a good sleep. Coping mechanisms or strategies are a great
help to counter stress.

IV. BRIEF DISCUSSION

1. Concept Development / Learning Tasks

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE STRESS

 Eustress (positive stress). It promotes growth and accomplishments and

stimulates you to go on.
 Distress (negative stress). It often causes poor performance.

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF STRESS

A stressor is an event or situation that causes stressful situations, which are

seen as a risk to the well-being of a person. The body responds to stress by
secreting hormones that prepare the body to respond to the situation. These cause
anxiety that affects an individual’s health behavior and life. Stress affects our
health and can be classified:

 Acute stress. It is the most common form, which arises from recent, past,
and foreseen difficulties.
 Cumulative stress. It is a series of stress that has build-up. Several
individuals ignore the sign early and end up accumulating them.
 Chronic stress. It is a form of stress that is recurring. It is prolonged stress
that is dangerous and can lead to severe health problems.

SOURCES OF STRESS
 Major Life Changes. Most stressors are key life changes that influence an
individual’s family and social life. These stressful changes threaten one’s
sense of security and self-esteem. Examples include the death of a loved
one, losing a job, etc.
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  Everyday Problems. The stress or “hassles” we encounter every day or
occasional petty incidents are part of this group. Examples of these
stressors include dressing concerns, misplacing, or losing things, too many
things in mind, or physical appearance.

 Physical Surroundings. The immediate surrounding affects the level of

day-to-day stress (crowded transportation in going to school or workplace,
street walks with foul odors or unbearable weather conditions). Noise is
also one of the overlooked factors causing stress especially if you are
residing near airports, train trail tracks, or factories with loud machines.

 Other Stressor. Involving teenagers include worrying about their future,

conflicts, and disagreements with family members, friends, and other
people, among others. Sometimes, teenagers who cannot manage their
issues resort to alcohol and prohibited drugs.

STRESS SIGNALS
 Feelings: nervousness, bad temper, fear, irritability, shame
 Thoughts: self-criticism, trouble concentrating or making decisions, poor
memory, anxiety about the future, recurring thoughts, fear of failure.
Common Reactions Experience during Stressful Situations

Physical Signs Emotional Signs

 Muscle tension  Anger, irritability

 Headache  Impatience
 Pounding heart  Nervousness
 Shortness of breath  Forgetfulness
 Increased sweating  Inability to
 Skin rash concentrate
 Grinding teeth, nail  Negative worrying
biting  Excessive worrying
 Dry mouth  Loss of interest
 Excessive  Self-criticism
perspiration  Frequent crying
 Frequent illness  Anxiety or edginess
 High blood pressure  Irritability
 Fatigue

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 Behavioral Signs Psychological Signs

 Loss of appetite  Constantly irritable

 Overacting with other people
 Drug abuse  Feeling of being a
 Sleep problems failure
 Restlessness  Difficulty in making
 Hurrying and talking decision
to fast  Loss of interest in
 Criticizing others other people
 Reckless behavior  Having a hard time to
 Fidgeting concentrate

SOURCES OF STRESS OF TEENAGERS

 school demands and frustrations

 negative thoughts and feelings about self
 changes in their body
 problems with friends and/or peers at school
 unsafe living environment/neighborhood
 separation or divorce of parents
 chronic illness or severe problems in the family
 death of a loved one
 moving or changing school
 taking on too many activities or having too high expectations
 financial problems within the family

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THE GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME
 Alarm Stage. It is the phase where the brain deciphers the distress and
instantly deals with it. This is also known as “fight or flight.”

 Resistance stage. It is the process where the stress is resolved after

meeting its demands then the body goes back to normal afterward.

 Exhaustion stage. It develops when stress recurs until it becomes chronic

and reaches this final stage. Stress level peaks and plateaus then develop
health risk that causes high blood pressure, stomach, and heart problems.

APPROPRIATE STRESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

 Manage stressor. An important approach to minimizing stress is to less

stressors. Stressors cannot be eliminated but it can be avoided. Being
burdened with too much work could be prevented by prioritizing and time
management.

 Rest and Sleep. A very helpful way of reducing stress and relieving
tension is having a good amount of rest and sleep. Grown-ups normally
need seven to nine hours of comfortable sleep every night. It also helps to
take a 15 to 30 minutes’ daytime nap. Stress and exhaustion are best
countered by a sound and telexed body.

 Exercise. Exercising naturally relieves the body from the effects of stress.
An aerobic workout stimulates hormones, wears down tight muscles, and
gives a nicely tired but stress-free condition.

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 Use relaxation methods in coping with stress. Numerous types of
relaxation methods can be done to counter the adverse effects of stress.

Progressive relaxation. It uses the body’s feedback mechanism in

reducing muscle tension, a common indicator of stress. It is essential
to learn and practice exercises that can relax.

Deep breathing. It tells the brain to calm down and relax, relieving
the stress.

Meditation. It is a technique that temporarily “tunes out” the world,

disregards outside disturbances, and provides inner peace. A relaxed
physical and mental state wipes out accumulated stress.

Visualization (creative imagery). It uses imagination to relax and

reduce stress (creating a pleasing imagination in your mind).

COUNTERPRODUCTIVE COPING STRATEGIES

Coping is defined as the “capacity to respond and recover from
something stressful” (WHO 1999). Coping is the conscious response to
psychological stress in an attempt to balance mental and emotional
conditions.

COPING STYLES
 Adaptive coping. It involves direct confrontation and prevention of
stress.
 Maladaptive coping. It is a counterproductive mechanism that
includes the use of alcohol and drugs.

Researchers differentiate coping styles into broad categories

depending on which part of the stress response is targeted (stressor,
emotional response)

 Problem solving or instrumental coping. It focuses on approaches

that tackle the problem to reduce stress of a particular situation.
 Emotion focused coping. It deals with nurturing the emotional
health through the stressful period.

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  Active coping strategies. It comprises the recognition of the
stressor to lessen its adverse consequences.
 Avoidant coping strategies. It ignores the issue or deny the problem.

COPING STRATEGIES

 Time Management requires planning a schedule a head and sticking

with it.
 Sharing and talking about problems with someone, a friend, teacher, or
family member to relieve stress.
 Using adrenaline raised energy for simple task like cleaning the house
or the car redirects how the body reacts from stress.
 Being at ease lying or sitting down while emptying the mind with
upsetting ideas, listening to gentle music, or imagining being in a quiet
place can relieve stress.
 Having a good laugh with friends or family, watching different movies, or
going to funny places after a stressful day.

Here are some specific coping strategies that you can adopt:

 Humor. Look at the funny side of a problem. “Positive reframing” is believed

to relief small flops.
 Seek support. During a stressful event, support from family members or
friends keep emotional health balance.
 Problem-solving. It is helpful mechanism that aims to pinpoint the source
of the problem an determine solutions. This is often helpful in work
conditions.

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 Physical recreation. Regular exercises like yoga, meditation, and
muscle relaxation are helpful in handling stress.
 Adjusting expectations. Accepting different results of situations in life
may help in adjusting the stress associated with any given change or
outcome.
 Venting. It is an expecting type of coping technique by voicing out strong
sentiments with friends or family. Moderate venting can be beneficial but
pondering the negative may end up to edgy relations over time.

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