...three different types of stress an individual may experience, which are acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. My seven-day stress journal relates to the acute stress symptoms. Acute stress symptoms include the following listed, but not limited to: emotional distress, muscular problems, headaches, stomach, gut and bowel problems, sweaty palms, dizziness, and high blood pressure. The stress journal assignment was to be completed consecutively in a seven-day period. I carefully recorded any stressors or hassles experienced throughout the day. I observed physical, cognitive, and emotional responses to the stressors and briefly wrote about my coping mechanisms. I also recorded the time of the first stressor and how long the stress responses continued after the stressors ended. My stress journal is an insight on how inadequately I deal with stressors. Throughout...
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...Stress Management Plan When I was gathering resources for my first stress portfolio, one picture left a deep impression. It says: “there are only two times I feel stress: day and night.” Yes, stress exists along with our whole life; it may seem that there is nothing that we can do about stress. The homework and exams will keep coming, there is endless study and work in the day, and our career and family responsibilities will always be demanding. However, the good news is that stress can be managed. The simple realization that you are in control of your life is the foundation of stress management. Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, emotions, schedules, and the way you deal with problems. Stress is not always bad. Eustress can be beneficial; however, more times we are suffering from distress which causes health consequences, affecting the immune, cardiovascular and neuroendocrine and central nervous systems, and takes a severe emotional toll. For this stress management plan, I’ll go through five main aspects which are nutrition, exercise, rest and sleep, relaxation, and developing hobbies to help manage daily stress. Nutrition Stress and nutrition have always been linked. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress. Eating well through the day is my first stress dealing strategy. Start right with breakfast. There are a lot of times I do not feel hungry or do not have enough time to cook a nutritious breakfast in the morning...
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...Running head: STRESS REDUCTION 1 Reducing Stress to Avoid Nursing Burnout Ashley A. Dean University of Louisiana at Lafayette STRESS REDUCTION 2 Stress Stress is our body’s reaction to a stimulus that triggers our primal “fight or flight” response. This response causes a hormonal dump of adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream that enables our bodies to react quickly to perceived danger. These hormones cause us to become more aware of our surroundings and able to make quick decisions and movements. This “acute-stress” reaction is a good thing but continued or chronic stress over long periods of time can cause detrimental effects to your body as the body never returns to homeostasis. Chronic high levels of cortisol and other corticoids can cause a decline of your immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses. Additionally, they increase your body’s resistance to adrenaline that is also at higher levels under chronic stress (Bryant). If we do not reduce stress then there is a very great danger of becoming burned out. First described in the 1970s by the American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger as the consequences of severe stress and high ideals experienced by people working in “helping” professions (Informed Health Online. (2013). Burnout is a special kind of job related chronic stress that results in a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion where you derive little or no enjoyment in your career and begin to doubt your ...
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...Stress Management Why do people stress and what is stress you may ask? Why do people experience many feelings while they stress? Well I am here to let you know how stress is formed and the disadvantages of stress. I will inform you on how you can manage your stress and keep yourself healthy. Stress is the response of the body to the demands of daily living. Think about the demands you have on your everyday living. There are sources or causes which are called stressors that give demands that cause changes in the body. A stressor can be physical, mental, emotional, social, and even environmental. Stressor responses can be negative or positive. The positive stressor is Eustress, this is a healthy response. Eustress only means that you are not hurting yourself but being active and getting and adequate amount of sleep when you are trying to accomplish something. Distress is the negative response; it is harmful and produces negative results when you are trying to accomplish a goal. There are three stages of stress. The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which is a series of changes that occur in the body when stress occurs. The first stage is the alarm stage of GAS in which the body gets ready for action. During this stage adrenaline starts to rush, in which the hormones that help your body get ready for emergency. Second is the resistance stage of GAS in which the body attempts to regain balance and return to normal. The final stage is the exhaustion stage, in which there is wear...
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...outside lives and assign a great deal of work, Americans experience higher levels of stress. People experience some sort of stress in their everyday lives, whether in the form of eustress or distress. The stressors that people try to grapple with can have various affects on physiological, emotional, and cognitive health. Daily hassles have a more significant impact on health than high stress situations. In this paper, I will discuss the most common stressors I encountered over the course of two weeks, my physiological, emotional, and cognitive reactions, and coping strategies I used and could implement in the future. Physiological Stress Themes: Focusing on my physiological reactions during this 14-day period, I realized that I struggled with severe tension headaches due to the numerous stressors I faced on a daily basis. I felt this dull pain on all sides of my head, neck, and shoulders; these headaches would last almost the entire day usually unless I took ibuprofen, which would only help mildly....
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...Managing stress involves determining the certain stressors that can trigger your stress. According to Glanz et al (2008), stressors are demands made by internal or external environment that disrupts balance. These stressors can especially increase the stress level in a person which can increase a person’s risk in developing health complications. My health behavior is my inability to handle stress. There are a few triggers that can cause me to stress out almost every day. Those stressors are: school, work, and family obligations. According to Glanz et al. (2008), stressful experience are construed as person-environment transaction, and how external stressors can impact the way a person handle stress through appraisals, primary and secondary appraisals. Stress have impacted my life for the past few months, and have affected my overall health. The most frequent problems I have crossed path with multiple times that have elevated my stress level is juggling to balance the work-school life. Working a stressful 9 hour a day job, and then coming home to catch up on school readings and homework leads to lack of sleep. I am constantly struggling to make sure that all essay and homework are done and turned in on time. It’s hard when you don’t get to spend all day working on homework. In addition, I have a family that I love, and spending time with them is very important to me, so I try to get all my work done before the weekend so I can spend Saturday and Sunday with them. However, there...
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...Stress “Stress is the body’s nonspecific response to a demand placed on it.” Selye (1956) Stress is not a reaction to any one specific thing or situation, it can manifest at any time. Some stress is good for us; a certain level of pressure can help you prepare for such things as work and day to day challenges. Although over an extended period of time, stress can cause physical and psychological harm. Selye describes these types of stress as eustress and distress. Stress is both a biological and psychological reaction to a given situation or threat. The stressor triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response. Once we judge a situation as being stressful, the hypothalamus is activated, and our body releases hormones such as adrenalin, which increase our heart rate and blood pressure so that more oxygen and glucose can get to the muscles. We also breathe faster and sweat more to cool these muscles down. All of these reactions prepare you to take action to deal with a possible threat, Cannon (1932). Over a prolonged period of time, it is not difficult to see the negative effect this response can have on the body. For example hypertension which raises the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and kidney failure. The body’s immune system is also suppressed making it more vulnerable to infection. There is some evidence that prolonged stress may lead to insulin dependent diabetes in people who are prone to the condition, as it brings about changes in blood sugar levels. According...
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...Can there be a stress-free mammographer? We go along through life, so many things to do, so little time, we find there are times that stress is Inevitable. Many stressors we deal with daily. We all encounter stress in so many ways; you can be strolling down for a leisurely walk and a car passes over a puddle and splash, you are drenched with dirty water. You are out of milk, so you run to the store and go to the checkout line and you forgot your wallet. You take the day of for your mammogram, and you are running late, and then they tell you need to reschedule. ? Having a BAD day. How would you react to these situations? Would you blow up? Would you just say, oh well, it is what it is? So many stressors...
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...School Should Start Later I think that kids need a break from school, because this generation is full of stress and I think that one of the main reasons is because of school. At least once a week like Fridays we should have a shorter day in school. I have a couple of reasons why we should have a shorter day on Friday and some expert opinion on why we should start later. What CNC says about stress in school. CNC says that Young people experience stress at a high rate, and females more than males, an extensive Associated Press/MTV survey shows. A similar divide exists in terms of fears and safety: Girls and young women are less likely to feel safe in their neighborhoods and in school. The source of stress changes as we get older, the survey...
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...about my day to day life. Time management and stress management seems to be the issue that I have, and I think everyone has this issue. We can never find away to schedule something so important, because when we do, something always has to interfere with our scheduling. That seems to be my problem, being in the military requires a lot of time and energy, besides my mother, who has Alzheimer’s, and school. With all this, stress becomes a factor in my life, juggling and balancing my life for everyone. I know at the end, it will all be worth the hard work and determination. Prioritizing, is a concept we use to time manage to reduce stress, our life to fit in our daily schedule, but along the way we meet obstacles that cause us to take detours or have us pause our life for another day. And those are the problems I face everyday, having to make changes and rescheduling causing stress. These are the same problems that I face each day and would like to solve; Time management and stress management. I believe these two go hand in hand, and if one finds the ability to follow a few simple steps, we can all achieve the success that will come after. Developing a research strategy to follow will aid in finding an effective solution to these issues that many face each day. “Effective time management is a primary means to a less stressful life”, (Mayo Clinic, 2004).Time management is essential to living life and being happy, while having the stress level down and under control. After days of researching...
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...Stress is a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. A small amount of stress “acute stress” can be exciting which will keep us active and alert. Long-term stress is chronic stress which can have detrimental effects on one’s health. Individuals cannot control the stressors in our world but we can alter our reactions to them. Psychologists have found stress is an interesting topic for many years. The constant research and findings has allowed them to treat individuals with mental health issues while teaching them to reduce stress. The Stress, Portrait of a Killer video has opened my eyes to all levels of stress and the impact stress will take on our health and bodies. This video surprised me with stressors that I don’t even think about from day to day even though I experience them. One being traffic jams, I actually saw myself setting in the vehicle hitting the stirring wheel as the man did in the video. Seeing this, seeing me and knowing I am in traffic jams daily, I am going to take the steps to not be upset when I am sitting there or someone cuts me off in order to cut in line instead of waiting their turn. I also found interesting the fact that one can tell the different level of stress people are experiencing as they drive through neighborhoods. Middleclass vs. Poverty neighborhoods show a great difference in stress and ultimately will take its toll on an individual’s health. Young children who grow up in poverty would have the stress...
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...getting pissed and curl 150lbs with your body. It means to put a weight that you can honestly pump out some good, clean reps with strict form. Get your spotter to help you with a few extra reps. If you can get used to the "Pain of the Growth Zone", have your spotter spot you until he/she gets tired. The Intensity of this type of training is Awesome! You may also consider getting a personal trainer. When you look for a personal trainer, you should look for someone who: can help you workout with more intensity, do adequate cardio, and most importantly, eat and supplement properly. Supplement Properly If you are going to supplement, supplement properly. You should ingest approximately 1 to 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. You should also eat a considerably large amount of calories. Remember though, that you should be getting most of...
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...of the medical staff has different ways of dealing with the stress that they have to deal with. Each has found their own way of dealing with the emotions that go along with a position that deals with patients that need that extra emotional support. They accomplish their emotions by focusing on the task at hand which is taking care of the patient and letting them know that they are there for them to help them both mentally and physically. Most medical staff employees, who deal with the type of trauma that these three individuals deal with every day, have to find their own way to deal with their emotions. You can’t go to work and look at your patients and show emotions, because those patients rely on you for support to help get them through every day by knowing that you are there for them. I believe that they do effectively manage their emotions, because none of them show their emotions in front of their patients. I know from experience that if you are someone who shows emotions easily and a situation arises and your emotions come out, it can make the situation difficult to get through. They keep their emotions to themselves and then let them out when they are not around the patients. People feel off of other people’s emotions, so you have to learn to separate your emotions. 3. Stress occurs when situations arise that challenges or threatens you and you have to find ways to handle those situations. Stress is something that can occur at any time or any place. You can...
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...Research Skills 3. Stress Management 8. Reading Comprehension 4. Understanding Technology 9. Math 5. Communication 10. Proper Etiquette How can you top five ranking skills help you in the classroom environment? * * My first top ranking skill that will help me in the classroom environment is time management. This to me is the most important top ranking skills, because time management is everything. What I mean is that when you are in a classroom environment you have to management your time properly, such like a daily routine so you know that, everyday at that time you are obligated to that time so that you know that part of your day is scheduled for your distance learning. Even though you had a hectic schedule and been busy all day, you know that you manage your time everyday around the same time so you don’t forget. A second top ranking skill is setting priorities, you have to know which of your priorities is first and that they are well taking care of before you can go head and continue with your day. You cannot plan to be in a classroom environment and have a whole bunch of priorities that needs to be taking care of. Priorities are very much important, such as making sure all your errands are done, an important doctor appointment, or taking your child to a very important school event. Priorities are very important, because they make your day less stressful and hectic free. Next comes stress management, everyone need to be stress free at times, and the...
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...Reduce Stress Levels? BPS Wellness Paper Individual Self-Study Write-Up Intro My identified issue is lack of sleep and high stress levels. I do not maintain a schedule that would allow for enough quality sleep. I am also experience stress levels that are high, and suspect that lack of sleep may be a source of some of this stress. I have difficulty falling asleep and occasionally staying asleep. As a result I am often fatigued and tend to crave high fat sugary carbohydrates and overeat on them, to maintain mood and energy. Research Question Can obtaining adequate amounts of sleep (between 8-9 hours of sleep) reduce stress levels? My hypothesis is in order to lower my stress levels I would like to obtain 8 hours of sleep with and monitor the effects of this on my reported levels of stress. My rationale is my mind and body are more rested therefore my perception of stress and my ability to handle stress would improve thereby lowering my stress levels(Minkel et al., 2012) Sleep deprivation is associated with higher cortisol levels and with an exaggerated cortisol response to a stressor. I have not been obtaining a regular 8 hrs of sleep per night and have been feeling stressed.(“10 Surprising Effects of Lack of Sleep,” n.d.) My plan is to see if obtaining at least 8 hours of sleep lowers my stress levels. Method: Over the course of 21 days upon rising I will record the number of hours of sleep I receive. I will record my level of stress at the end of the day using my...
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