Stress Seminar

1
Stress Seminar

• Thursday 3rd February 2005
• Dr. Jane Gallacher

2
Stress!

• What is stress ?
• Cause or effect ?
• How does it affect us ?
• What can we do about it ?

3
What is stress?

• The confusion created when ones mind overrides
  the bodys basic desire to choke the daylights
  out of some idiot who desperately deserves it !!

4
Stress the good, the bad and the unavoidable!

• Good stress
• Birth
• Fight and flight
• Performance
• Focus
• Adrenalin rush

5
Stressors

• Too busy
• Not enough hours in the day
• Not valued
• Ill health
• Relationship problems
• Unemployment
• Money worries
• Concern for someone

6
Stress the good, the bad and the unavoidable

• Unavoidable
• Fear
• Pain
• Unknown
• Loss
• Illness
• Bereavement

7
How does stress affect us?
8
Physical effects
poor concentration
9
BIODOTS

• Violet very relaxed
• Blue calm
• Turquoise relaxing
• Green involved
• Yellow unsettled
• Amber Tense
• Black very tense

10
Emotional effects

• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Lack of interest
• Lack of enjoyment
• Poor concentration
• Fears
• Panic

11
Behavioural effects

• Avoidance of people
• Irregular eating / sleeping habits
• Disinterest in sex
• Irrational behaviour
• Misuse of alcohol
• Reduced personal awareness
• Irritable / fidgety

12
Stress work - life balance !
life

work
13
Stress force/area

• Causes harm when our resources or reserve (area)
  to manage stress become undermined or the
  pressures themselves (force) become too great in
  either intensity or frequency.

area
force
14
Supports

• Not alone
• Talk to someone
• Look at the issues
• Worries vs. problems
• Finding solutions to problems
• Resources
• Asking for help is wisdom not failure

15
How to beat stress

• Biofeedback
• Assertiveness skills
• Exercise
• Supports
• Stress diary
• Time management
• Expressing emotion
• Relaxation

16
Biofeedback

• Monitoring your bodys state of tension or
  relaxation.
• Increasing your body awareness.
• Learning to modify your physical state via
  relaxation techniques.

17
Assertiveness

• Developing skills to enable expression of needs,
  opinions, feelings and beliefs in a direct,
  honest and appropriate way.
• 3 steps
• ? Active listening
• Express what you think / feel
• Say what you would like to happen

18
Assertiveness

• Does not involve
• Being completely passive
• Being aggressive
• Being manipulative

19
Exercise

• 20 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week e.g.
  brisk walk
• Benefits
• Releases endorphins, increases O2 flow ?
• Speeds up metabolic rate ?
• Lowers BP and protects the heart ?
• Builds bone and muscle?

20
Supports
21
Stress Diary

• Daily / weekly journal
• Rating events in stress terms
• Identifying patterns of behaviour
• Identifying themes of worries
• Listing stresses ? problems
• Problems often have solutions

22
Time management

• Review priorities regularly
• Share tasks / delegation
• How do you spend your time?
• Make lists
• Do unpleasant tasks first
• Be realistic / pace yourself
• Take regular short breaks

23
Expressing emotion

• Emotion is natural
• Appropriate expression is healthy
• Avoid internalising it
• Be yourself
• Own your feelings
• Laughing is good for you

24
Relaxation

• Noise Awareness ?
• Environment ? ?
• Recreation ? ? ?
• Time alone ? ?
• Sleep??
• Caffeine reduction

25
Stressed?

• To be or not to be ?