Stress, Health, and Wellness

1. Stress, Health, and Wellness Chapter 14

2. Living with Stress • Most anything is capable of producing stress – • Stress is the physical and emotional response to events that threaten or challenge us • 3 main types of stressors • Cataclysmic events • Personal stressors • Daily hassles

3. Stress • Stress brings on physical ramifications • Heart beats faster • Breathing becomes more rapid and shallow • Produce more sweat • Our internal organs churn out a variety of hormones • These symptoms wear down our immune system and leave us open to disease • Heart disease, headaches, strokes

4. Handling Stress – Prepare • Ready yourself physically • The stronger your are physically, the less toll stress will take on you • Vigorous exercise produces endorphins – providing a natural feeling of happiness • Runner’s High • Exercise can help our bodies naturally cope with stress • Reduce caffeine intake • Deal with obesity

5. Handling Stress – Organize • Identify your stressors • School-related? • Relationship-related? • Work-related? • Just listing them will give you a sense of control and help you devise strategies for dealing with them

6. Handling Stress – Work • A variety of tactics can help you deal with your stressors: • Take charge of the situation • Don’t try to change the unchangeable • Try to improve the situation • Look for the silver lining • Use social support from friends and family • Relax • Meditation • Progressive relaxation • Escaping is not coping and it does not relieve stress

7. Handling Stress – Evaluating • How are your coping tactics working? • If one does not work, try another • Do not become paralyzed and unable to deal with the situation • Find the right combination of strategies to deal with the situation

8. Handling Stress – Rethink • Place stress in perspective • Don’t sweat the small stuff • Put your circumstances into perspective • Make peace with stress • A life with no challenges would be boring

9. Depression and Suicide • Usually, depression is a normal reaction to distressing circumstances • For some, depression is more than fleeting (longer than 2 weeks) and can leave them feeling sad hopeless, tired, and worthless • Major depression can ultimately lead to suicide

10. Depression and Suicide • Suicide warnings may include: • School problems • Self-destructive behavior • Change in appetite • Withdrawal from friends and peers • Sleeping problems • Signs of depression such as tearfulness or psychological difficulties such as hallucinations • A preoccupation with death, an afterlife, or what would happen “if I die” • Putting affairs in order • An explicit announcement of suicidal thoughts

11. Responding to Death and Grief • Death of a loved one is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life • Our reactions usually follow a typical pattern – • Shock, denial, reality of the death, enormous sadness, depression, and yearning for the loved one that has passed away • In time, we return to our lives and can even become as happy as we were before

12. Responding to Death and Grief • How to maintain your mental health and academic standing when a loved one dies: • Expect to feel intense grief and sadness, but know that it will not last forever • Talk to others about your feelings • Voice your recollections of the person who has just died • Let your college officials know of your situation

13. Keeping Well • Eating Right • Eat a variety of “whole” foods, including fruits, vegetables, and grains • Avoid processed foods • Avoid foods high in sugar and salt • Avoid high fat and high cholesterol foods • Don’t eat until you are stuffed • Schedule three regular meals a day • Be sensitive to the various contents of food • Beware of eating disorders

14. Keeping Well • Make exercise a part of your life • Choose a type of exercise that you like • Incorporate exercise into your life • Make exercise a group activity • Vary your routine • Get a good night’s sleep • Exercise more • Have a regular bedtime • Use your bed for sleeping and not as an all-purpose area • Avoid caffeine after lunch • Drink a glass of milk at bedtime • Avoid sleeping pills • Don’t try to force sleep upon yourself

15. Drug Use and Abuse • Nicotine • People begin smoking for a variety of reasons • Quitting is difficult, but not impossible. • Remain smoke-free one day at a time • Visualize the consequences of smoking • Exercise • Use nicotine patches or nicotine gum • Avoid being around people that are smoking • Use social support • Reward yourself • Join a quit-smoking program • Keep trying

16. Drug Use and Abuse • Alcohol • Widely used on college campuses • Is a depressant • 50% of male students and 40% of female students have engaged in binge drinking • Nearly 20 million people in the United States are alcoholics • Heavy drinking damages the liver and the digestive system

17. Drug Use and Abuse • Illegal Drugs • 1/3 of college students have admitted to using illegal drugs in the past year • Drug use has short and long-term health risks • Give thought to why you would want to escape from reality and why you would use drugs to do so • Consider the legal consequences of drug use • Random drug tests are frequently a part of the hiring process and of employment • Addiction presents a serious problem of always needing to obtain the drug to achieve the next high • Be observant of signs of addiction and seek help • College health services, counseling centers, mental health centers, drug treatment centers, government hotlines

18. Sexual Health and Decision Making • One in five people in the United States is infected with a sexually-transmitted disease • Avoid STIs by: • Knowing your sexual partner well • Preventing the exchange of bodily fluids • Use condoms • Be faithful to a single partner

19. Sexual Health and Decision Making • Avoiding Pregnancy • Abstinence is only 100% effective if you practice it 100% of the time • Birth control methods include: • Birth control pill • Implants • Intrauterine device • Diaphragms and cervical caps • Condoms or a cervical sponge • Injections or polymer ring • Sterilization • Emergency contraception • Withdrawal or douching (ineffective)

20. Sexual Health and Decision Making • Date rape • Forced sex in which the rapist is a romantic acquaintance • 1 out of 8 women on college campuses report having been raped • Rape is less about sex and more about power • Rohypnol, or “the date rape drug” is sometimes used • Date rape incidents can be reduced by setting limits, being assertive, understanding that no means no, communicating, and understanding that drugs and alcohol cloud judgment.