Stress and Depression

1
Stress and Depression

• Common Causes
• Common Signs and Symptoms
• Coping Strategies
• Caring Treatment Tips

2
What Is Stress?

• Stress is the way your body relates to lifes
  pressures.

3
What Are Some Common Sources of Stress?

• Situations in the home
• Parents separation or divorce,
• A new stepparent,
• A new brother or sister,
• A single parent household,
• Little or no emotional support,
• Neglect (personal needs not met),
• Abuse (physical or sexual)

4
What Are Some Common Sources of Stress?

• Situations in life
• Death of a loved one or friend,
• Moving to a new town or new school,
• Illness or hospitalization,
• Violence in the neighborhood, community, world,
• Natural disasters or other emergencies

5
What Are Some Common Sources of Stress?

• Situations at school
• Problems with friends,
• Gangs, threats from others, bullies,
• Competition,
• Popularity,
• Homework, grades, pressures to excel,
• No support for school work

6
Reactions to Stress

• Reactions to stress can be
• Short term
• Long term
• Extreme and life threatening

• Reactions to stress can affect a persons
• Physical health
• Emotional health
• Thinking
• Social activity

7
What Are Some Common Symptoms of Stress?

• Mental
• Difficulty communicating or listening,
• Lack of concentration,
• Memory problems,
• Difficulty making decisions,
• Disorientation and confusion,
• Loss of objectivity

8
What Are Some Common Symptoms of Stress?

• Feelings
• Frequent crying, show of emotions,
• Hyper-vigilance or excessive worry,
• Irritability, outbursts of anger, frequent
  arguments,
• Depression,
• Apathy,
• Denial,
• Anxiety or fear,
• Guilt,
• Grief

9
What Are Some Common Symptoms of Stress?

• Physical Changes
• Short-term physical reactions
• Oxygen
• Extra oxygen reaches the brain because the
  bronchioles dilate
• Endorphins
• Adrenaline
• Extra blood reaches the organs because the heart
  rate increases

10
What Are Some Common Symptoms of Stress?

• Physical Symptoms
• Effects on the Body Long Term
• Damage to the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous
  systems,
• People develop patterns of response,
• These responses may indicate need for corrective
  action to limit their impact.

11
What Are Some Common Symptoms of Stress?

• Change in behavior
• Increase or decrease in activity level,
• Substance use or abuse (alcohol or drugs),
• Decline in school performance, absenteeism,
• Avoidance of activities or places (isolation),
• Becoming accident prone,
• Inability to rest or relax,
• Blaming,
• Difficulty in giving or accepting support or
  help,
• Inability to experience pleasure or have fun

12
What Is Depression?

• Depression is a common and serious medical
  condition characterized by extreme sadness and
  loss of pleasure in life.

13
What Is Depression?

• Depression can lead to suicide.
• Depression can happen in anyones life.
• Any race
• Any social standing
• Any age 1 in 8 adolescents have some symptoms

14
What Causes Depression?

• Precise causes are not known.
• Biological - genetic factors
• Psycho - social factors
• Ex continued distress from any of the
  previously identified stressors,
• Ex distorted, negative thinking patterns

15
Contributing Factors for Depression in
adolescents

• Stressors such as fear of not meeting
  expectations of parents, teachers, others
• When things go wrong at school or at home teens
  may feel unsure of abilities or question how they
  fit in
• Facing choices about friendship, sex, alcohol,
  and drugs
• Facing conflicting messages from parents,
  teachers, friends and society

16
Danger Signs in Depressed adolescents

• When students
• Experience a humiliating or anxiety provoking
  situation,
• Show more than five major signs of depression for
  over two weeks (see student handout Signs of
  Depression),
• Demonstrate or verbalize suicidal thoughts,
• Increase risk-taking behavior,
• Show signs of personality changes,
• Seriously neglect self-care

17
Stress and Depression

• Continued stress can lead to depression.
• Continued depression can lead to suicide.
• Managing stress can prevent or reduce depression
  and suicide.
• It is important to manage both stress and
  depression.

18
Coping Strategies

• Coping with Stress
• There are many resources for stress management.
• Be aware of signs and symptoms of stress
• Take practical action to reduce the stress as
  soon as possible.
• Identify ways to manage / reduce source of
  symptoms
• Ex relaxation and meditation techniques to help
  with physical symptoms of stress,
• Ex discuss your thoughts and feelings with a
  responsible adult

19
Coping Strategies

• Coping with Depression
• Recognize the signs of depression.
• Remember that depression is not a sign of
  weakness nor is it something you can snap out
  of.
• Depression is a serious condition that needs
  medical attention.
• Depression can be successfully treated and the
  emotional pain can be relieved.

20
Caring and Treatment Tips

• Stress
• Offer to listen,
• Suggest a responsible person / resource to go to
  for help,
• Depression
• Offer to listen - show concern,
• Trust your instincts - alert an adult to your
  concern about a depressed person.

21
Extreme Stress

• Chronic or traumatic stress is potentially very
  destructive and can deprive youth of physical
  and mental health.
• If stress is extreme and not managed, some
  individuals may experience post traumatic stress
  disorder (PTSD).
• PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can occur
  following the experience or witnessing of
  life-threatening events.

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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vrfRB8yCEiLQlistPL
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