Stress Management

PSD-2 (SP-21)
 Definition of Stress
Stress: In a medical or biological context,
stress is a physical, mental, or emotional
factor that causes bodily or mental tension.
Stresses can be external (from the
environment, psychological, or social
situations) or internal (illness, or from a
medical procedure). Stress can initiate the
"fight or flight" response, a complex
reaction of neurologic systems.
 Causes of Stress
What are sources of stress in your life?
 Stress may result from daily hassles
 Stress may result from major life
events
 Stress may result even from welcome
life events (e.g., promotion, marriage)
 CHANGE is a major source of stress
 Harmful Effects of Stress
 Illness - Infections, cancer progression,
high blood pressure, obesity, IBS,
Insomnia, over eating/under eating,
heart disease, ulcers etc.
 Fatigue - That may lead to mistakes,
injury or death
Harmful Effects of Stress
 Useful Stress
 Stress can be helpful when it motivates
us to accomplish a task.
 Symptoms of Stress
1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Cognitive [The act or process of knowing/
perceiving]**

4. Behavioral [The actions or reactions of a person or

animal in response to external or internal stimuli]
** [The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding
through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses processes such
as attention, the formation of knowledge, working memory, judgment and
evaluation, reasoning and "computation", problem solving and decision
making, comprehension and production of language]
 1. Physical Symptoms of Stress
 muscle tension
 headache
 fatigue
 sleep problems
 gastrointestinal problems
 high blood pressure
2. Emotional Symptoms of Stress
 Irritability [Irritability is a feeling of agitation. When you’re
irritable, you become frustrated or upset easily. You might experience
it in response to stressful situations]
 Arguing
 Anxiety [ A medical condition marked by intense apprehension or
fear of real or imagined danger]
 Depression [Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent
feeling of sadness and loss of interest and can interfere with your daily
functioning]
 Lack of enjoyment
 Mood swings
 Suicidal thoughts
 Homicidal thoughts
3. Cognitive Symptoms of Stress
 Inattention
 Distractibility [A condition in which the attention of the
mind is easily distracted by small and irrelevant stimuli]
 Forgetfulness
 Confusion [Confusion is a symptom that makes you feel as if
you can’t think clearly. You might feel disoriented and have a hard
time focusing or making decisions.]
 Poor concentration
 4.Behavioral Symptoms of
Stress
 Social isolation
 Work problems
 Conflicts with coworkers, friends, and
loved ones
 Unhealthy habits - overeating, alcohol
misuse, nicotine use, caffeine misuse,
workaholic
 Conflicts with peers, disregarding rules
 Stress Coping [Handling]
 Eliminate avoidable causes of stress

 Handle unavoidable causes of stress

more effectively
 Avoidable Causes of Stress
 Nicotine
 Alcohol
 Overeating
 Caffeine
 Sleep problems
 How to Approach Unavoidable
Stress??
1. Try specific[Precise] stress
management techniques

2. Change your outlook[Attitude] on

how you view stress
 1. Specific Stress Management Techniques
 Talk to someone (friend, chaplain[A member of
the clergy employed to give religious guidance],
mentor[Advisor], Family Service Center
counselor
 Create a support network of friends
 Schedule fun activities - Noncompetitive
hobby, reading, music, sightseeing
 Schedule down time when you have no
other activities planned
 Introduce spirituality into your life
 1. Specific Techniques (cont.)
 Volunteer to help someone - your life will feel
meaningful
 Aerobic Exercises (Biking, running, walking,
swimming, aerobics) at least 30 minutes three
times a week - improves mood and mental
alertness and relieves tension
 Un clutter your brain - Keep an appointment
book; write down tasks and prioritize them
 Allow extra time (Begin 10 minutes earlier) for
all events
 1. Specific Techniques (cont.)
 Review your calendar and list of tasks daily
 Prioritize your tasks
 Tackle difficult or irksome tasks first
 Have an agenda for meetings - develop time
limits for each agenda item
 Avoid taking office work home
 Work efficiently - you do not have to
complete all tasks perfectly
 Make a “plan of attack” and set milestones
2.Change Your Outlook on Stress
 When you feel stressed - take a break,
breathe slowly, walk around
 View life as a challenge or opportunity to
excel - and not as a crisis
 When something goes wrong - think …..the
situation could have been worse
 Live life “one day at a time” - do not dwell
on past mistakes, worry about the future, or
wait (miserably) for future happiness
 2. Change Your Outlook (cont.)
 Learn to enjoy the simple pleasures of life
 Do not wait for others to make you happy
 You cannot control how you feel - but you
can control what you do with those feelings
and how long you keep them (example:
when you are angry, do something ; which
bring ‘FUN’ after 30 minutes)
 Find the positive ‘SIDE’ of every situation
 2. Change Your Outlook (cont.)
 Stop wasting time worrying - develop a
plan to approach the problem and do
something
 Be prepared to wait – carry a book to read,
a portable cassette player, or hobby
materials
 Be on your guard of “The grass is always
greener” syndrome before you leave your
current situation
 Always have a fall back/back-up plan
 Faulty Thinking Causes Stress
 Catastrophe Sizing - Anticipating a terrible
outcome; over exaggerating the importance of a
situation[Catastrophe : An absolute failure, often in
humiliating or embarrassing circumstances]
 “I can’t stand it” - Deciding that you cannot
handle a situation, without trying.
Alternative: “I can handle this!”
 “Should” statements
e.g. “I should always be happy”
Alternative: “I’m human. I am allowed/can
make mistakes or have a bad day….and its OK”
 Faulty Thinking (cont.)
 “Beating yourself up” about past mistakes
that you cannot change
 Worrying about situations over which you
have no control, or cannot change
e.g., “If only I had 6/6 vision”
 Over generalizing - viewing one negative
event as predicting a never-ending pattern
of defeat
e.g., “My friends dumped me. I will never
have friendship again!”
 Faulty Thinking (cont.)
 Emotional reasoning - Thinking, “I feel it,
so it must be true.”
e.g., “I am anxious today, so something
terrible will happen!”
 Personalizing - Blaming yourself for
something that is/was not your fault
 Fairness fallacy - Becoming angry when
something in your opinion disappoints you
because you think, “life is supposed to be
fair!”
 How to Correct Faulty Thinking
 Recognize your faulty thought patterns

 Replace irrational ideas with more

accurate and realistic ideas
 Anger Management
 You can choose to control how you express
your anger (others won’t respect you if you
curse, yell, or use violence)
 Speak calmly when disagreeing
 If you are about to lose control - Count to
“10” slowly, breathe deeply, and walk away
if necessary
 Anger Management (cont.)
 Set limits on how long you choose to
be angry - then do something nice for
yourself
 When you disagree with someone,
stick to the present issue (and avoid
dredging up past hurts)
 Criticize someone’s behavior, not their
character
 Relaxation Techniques

 Slow deep breathing

 Progressive muscle relaxation
 Guided imagery
 Slow Deep Breathing
 Inhale slowly through your mouth or nose
for 5 seconds, while allowing your stomach
to push out
 Without pausing, exhale slowly for 5
seconds, and tell yourself to relax
 Perform this techniques for at least 5
minutes whenever you feel stressed, angry,
anxious, overwhelmed, or unable to sleep
 Progressive Muscle Relaxation
 Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down
 Practice slow deep breathing for
several minutes
 Then, tighten and relax each major
muscle group in turn (you may choose
to relax each muscle group twice)
 Guided Imagery
 Practice slow deep breathing for
several minutes
 Then, practice progressive muscle
relaxation
 Finally, imagine yourself in a pleasant,
relaxing setting (example, the beach)
 Use all of your senses to observe your
surroundings
 Cont’d

BLANK
Some Interesting Examples
Some Examples
 Deduction
1. Japanese Psychiatrist Akiyoshi Kitaoka
2. For determining the state of mind
3. If you look at these images and they
appear to be still; you are relaxed.
4. If moving slowly; Mid stress
5. And faster moving around, HI-STRESS
Anatomy : Hand
Anatomy : Hand
Anatomy : Hand
Anatomy : Hand
Hands Body Connections For Massage of Entire Body Areas
Hands and feet Body Connections For Massage of Entire Body Areas
Foot Message Examples
 Cont’d

Stress Relieving Body Exercises

Stress Relieving Body Exercises

Few Techniques
 Last Word
There’s a WEBSITE where you just type in your
emotions and current feelings, such as if feeling
ANGRY, ANXIOUS, DEPRESSED,
CONFUSED, EXCITED etc.
This WEBSITE will give you relevant AYAT or
SURAH or DUA that correlates with it.

www.sujood.co
www.sujood.co
www.sujood.co