KAPLAN UNIVERSITY

HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management

and Prevention

Stress Management
and Prevention
Program Resource
Guide

KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
Stress Management and Prevention Program
Resource Guide

By

Rebecca Eckstein

Kaplan University

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and

Prevention

09/21/2017

Table of Contents

UNIT 1 THE NATURE OF STRESS

Information to Remember ​4
Self-Assessment Exercises ​5
Journal Writing ​5

UNIT 2 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF STRESS

Information to Remember ​7
Self-Assessment Exercises ​7
Journal Writing ​7-8

UNIT 3 PSYCHOLOGY OF STRESS

Information to Remember ​11
Self-Assessment Exercises ​11
Journal Writing ​12-14

UNIT 4 PERSONALITY TRAITS AND THE HUMAN SPIRITUALITY

Information to Remember ​15
Self-Assessment Exercises ​15-16
Journal Writing ​16-20

UNIT 5 DEALING WITH STRESS: COPING STRATEGIES

Information to Remember ​22
Journal Writing ​23-25

UNIT 6 RELAXATION TECHIQUES 1: BREATHING, MEDITATION, AND

MENTAL IMAGERY
Information to Remember ​26
Self-Assessment Exercises ​27
Journal Writing ​27-29

UNIT 7 NUTRITION AND STRESS

Information to Remember ​31
Self-Assessment Exercises ​32

​UNIT 8 PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND ACTIVITY

Information to Remember ​33
Self-Assessment Exercises ​34
Journal Writing ​34-37

UNIT 9 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL ISSUES FOR MANAGEMENT AND

PREVENTION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Information to Remember ​38
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ​
REFERENCES

(This page intentionally left blank)​

Unit

1
Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are many definitions for
stress because it applies to more than one aspect of
your life. Stress is wear and tear on your body, and
inability to deal with problems. You are not able to
control your emotions, you have loss of inner piece,
and it’s also known as a threat to all, the mind, body,
spirit, or emotions. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Mindfulness is allowing yourself
to be fully aware in the moment, without filters, and
judgement. Mindfulness can help you understand
what you are going through without even knowing
you are going through anything at all. It can teach
you to bring peace and love to yourself. (Stahl,
2010).
Key Learning Point: The Wellness Paradigm is Taking
full responsibility for your own health, integrating
balance, and harmony of the mental, physical,
emotional, and spiritual well-being, posits that the
whole is greater than the sum of the parts. When you
are well balanced, you are able to see more clearly,
and understand more wholly, how you actually feel,
and what you are actually going through. (Stahl,
2010).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Not all stress is bad stress. Being Mindful, taking
one moment at a time can benefit your whole well-
being. Stress comes in different forms, acute and
chronic, and can affect different aspects of one’s life.
(Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
According to Author Seaward (2015), there are a few
different types of stress. One being called Eustress, which
is a good stress, something you might experience when
you’re feeling “euphoria, or exhilarating.” Another type of
stress is called neustress, this is a neutral kind of stress,
which would be something like a natural disaster across the
world. The third type of stress is the bad stress that is
known as distress, and could be from experiencing
something devastating like a loss of someone close to you.
All of these stresses can be measured by either acute which
is a strong feeling of stress for a short period of time, or
chronic, which isn’t as intense but lasts longer.

“How Stressed Are You?”

Situation Start Midway End

Being a good Mom 7
Not making enough money 7
Long Distance Relationship 2
Running behind on assignments 8
Getting my daughter to eat 5
Being late 3

References
Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress: Principles and
strategies for health and well-being. Burlington, MA:
Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based
stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New
Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Unit

2
Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: If there is an unresolved emotional
issue, it can cause blocked energy, which can lead to
dysfunction of organs. This causes us stress without
even acknowledging it, and a slow downward spiral
until we can recognize and deal with it. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point: Our bodies are located in our
minds, not the other way around. Our minds control
our bodies, how we move, think, learn. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point: Immunity, stress, and disease are
interrelated. Under chronic stress, the immune
system is greater compromised. We are more prone
to sickness and disease. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Sometimes outside sources can cause us stress, or be our
stressors. We allow people, work, or things to affect us,
or stress us out without even knowing it. Sometimes
these things can bother us, without even knowing it.
Our anxieties come from the world, come from every
passing day, come from the food we put into our bodies,
and the oxygen we breath it. If we don’t have an outside
source to direct us or teach us how to cope with this
life, we will never survive. (Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
How is stress or anxiety about people affecting
your life?
​Stress can be found anywhere within one’s
life, and someone may not even realize how
stressed they are because they have stressors
one after another. Sometimes the people I
work for can make me anxious, sometimes
school makes me anxious, sometimes when
my daughter is crazy she makes me anxious. I
don’t let a lot of outside sources bother me
much. I am too busy to worry about people
that don’t mean anything to let them bother
me. But the people that are in my life, the
people I do love, I am worried about their
opinion of me.

How is stress or anxiety about work affecting

your life?
​I own a cleaning business, sometimes work
is booming, other times it not. I let the stress
of having enough jobs, bother me a lot. I let
the stress of worrying about income bother
me, being able to pay my bills on time, and
being able to purchase the things my daughter
want and need are very important to me. So, I
do let this stress me out, and cause me
anxiety, Feeling this way never really
accomplishes anything, if anything it makes
me antisocial, or depressed at times.

How is stress or anxiety about the world

affecting your life?
​I really try to stay away from the news
because it’s depressing the moment you turn it
on. There are not many positive aspects when
it comes to the news, so its determined to
make you sad. I generally just try to keep me
and Callie happy and taken care of, protected
and safe more then I let the world affect my
emotions. The fact that people are in that
world, you already don’t have control over the
situation, so what more can you do?

How is stress or anxiety about food and eating

habits affecting your life?
​I have had a lot of ups and downs with my
eating habits. I do great at times, and then
other times I do terrible. Nutrition is one of my
passions in life, so it’s depressing when I am
not able to be 100% with my habits. I eat a
pretty healthy diet, avoid things that bother
me, and am very conscious, if anything I under
eat more than anything else. I worry about my
weight, I exercise almost every day at the
gym, some might say I’m obsessive, but I
never thought that was a bad thing if it was
something healthy.

How is stress or anxiety about sleep and

sleeplessness affecting your life?
​I can’t remember the last time I had a
good sleeping pattern. My daughter is four
years old, I have stayed up nights with her,
worked over nights so I could be with her, and
have owned my own business while attending
college as a single mother. I have gotten used
to not getting a full night’s sleep, but within
the last few months, I have noticed that I wake
up multiple times throughout the night, and
have a hard time getting back to sleep. It’s not
even like I had a bad dream, or need to use
the bathroom, I just wake up to look at the
time and make sure I’m not late for what I
have to do that day. It affects my life.

How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack

of physical activity affecting your life?
​I am a 31-year-old, single mother to a 4-
year-old girl. I need my physical activity, so I
can keep up with her. I need my physical
activity because it helps me rid myself of some
stresses for a short period of time. Physical
activity helps me feel better about myself and
gives me energy. I have a good shot of going
to the gym at least 4 days a week or more, if I
can’t, I will work out at home to a video. If I
am unable to work out during a day, I am
generally more stressed out then a normal day.
​At the end of the day, I know I have work
ahead of me, so I am able to stay healthy. It’s
very clear to me, what I have been doing isn’t
working, and I am very excited learning new
techniques each week to cope with our stress.
A lot of things in my life are stressors, and
making decisions is my worse culprit. Looking
forward to a better day.

References
Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress:
Principles and strategies for health and
well-being. Burlington, MA: Jones &
Bartlett Learning.
Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A
mindfulness-based stress reduction
workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger
Publications, Inc.
Unit

3
Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Emotions; From fear to love.
According to Schweitzer, “Until you extend the
circle of compassion to all living things, you will not
find inner peace.” (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: As humans, we are unique to have
a large array of emotions, which is a gift, but comes
with a heavy price at times. Were the only species
that can become a slave to our own emotions, which
can stop us in our tracks. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The expression of all emotions is
considered healthy, because deny the ability to feel
and express any emotions suggests a serious
emotional imbalance. (Seaward, 2015).
Self-Assessment Exercise:
The more I have practiced yoga, the more peaceful
I feel, the less stressed I feel, the better I am able to
handle certain situations. Meditation and Mindfulness
have been very beneficial in my life, and I will continue
to practice due to the freedom it has given me in such a
short time. Meditation has been around for thousands of
years and has been proven to help many people, this
will be a part of any practice I begin, teaching others
how to be less stressed, and deal with the stress in other
ways. (Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
Meditation is a very important practice in
our lives, it helps us when we are stressed or
overwhelmed, but also helps keeps us
balanced with in our lives even when
everything is going well. There are so many
things good and bad that can affect our
thoughts, distract us, or put us in a dark place,
so having a peaceful mind is always beneficial.
Meditation has been practiced for a long time,
and has been proven to help all kinds of
people, in really bad times, and the most
amazing times.
​As I began the Five- Minute Mindful
Breathing, I tried hard to focus on something
calming so I could truly focus, so I imagined
breathing to the sound of crashing waves.
Once I felt like I had a rhythm, I was very
focused on my breathing, and tried to imagine
breathing healthy air in, and pushing out all
the dark and ugly. I was distracted a few times
with a few things that are going on in my life,
but always came back to my breathing.
​During the breathing, I felt myself wander
off about a potential new job opportunity,
because I had an interview today. Again, about
my daughter in general, but mostly about her
just starting school recently, which has been
pretty stressful. I also caught my self-thinking
about grades for both of my classes. Like I said
before, as soon as I drifted away, I was easily
able to come back. Once I was finished I did
feel more relaxed, like whatever happens with
any of those thoughts that popped up, they
would be taken care of.
​Because this was suggested, I used the
Eight Attitudes of Mindfulness while I was
cooking dinner the other night. As I sliced the
red potatoes into small square bites I noticed
all the starchy wetness it left behind on my
board. There is no real smell to a potato so I
took a small bite and it had a crunch to it, but
again that starchy flavor came into my mouth.
After I rinsed my board and started chopping
garlic I could smell the strong sent it put off.
As I was doing this, my four-year-old daughter
barely stuck her head in the kitchen and asked
why I was chopping garlic, with the
acknowledgement that the scent was spread
through into the living room. I had to stop and
giggle, thinking I must use a lot of garlic for
my daughter to know what it was before she
even saw it. I then sliced bacon into small bits
getting exciting, because it’s one of mine and
my daughters favorite tastes inside or out of a
meal. It left my hands, knife and cutting board
wet with its juices and almost sliminess.
​Once all of my ingredients were prepared
for this small side dish I went to work on
cooking the bacon and boiling the potatoes to
make them softer before I put them into the
frying pan. My daughter came into the kitchen
and before she got real close to the frying pan,
she stopped and took a deep breath through
her nose, and exclaimed, “I love bacon
mommy.” She has recently become a very
picky eater, so I have tried to add some her
favorites to dinner so she gives me less of a
headache on why she doesn’t like what she has
eaten for the last 3 years.
​I noticed as all of this was going on, even
after everything I had been through the last
few years, my daughter and I can rely on me
to always do everything I need to provide for
us. Even if it’s a struggle sometimes, there are
always clean clothes to be worn, a nice comfy
bed to lay down on at night, and food on the
table whenever we are hungry. It made me
proud, that although sometimes I may not see
my accomplishments they are all around me,
which brought me into compassion for myself.
​I have noticed lately that sometimes we
need to give ourselves credit for the things we
do, no matter how little or big they are,
especially if we have another human being
leaning on us to do it. When your depressed
and anxious, it’s really easy to not cook or
clean, but when you have another person you
have to care for, it doesn’t matter what state of
mind you are in. They still need to be cared for,
and if that doesn’t give one meaning in their
life, what will?
I really enjoyed these practices, because
for once, I wasn’t giving myself a hard time,
for once I was in the moment enjoying the
scents and smells that were coming from the
pan. The enjoyment my daughter and I
received from the scents. Being able to take a
few minutes to myself to clear my mind,
meditate and be able to think clearer, or even
just categorize all of the chaos in my head,
made it a little easier to bare, made me less
anxious, and more present with my daughter.
That’s all I really want for my life right now,
especially why my daughter is so young.

References
Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress:
Principles and strategies for health and
well-being. Burlington, MA: Jones &
Bartlett Learning.
Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A
mindfulness-based stress reduction
workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger
Publications, Inc.
Unit

4
Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human
Spirituality

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Personality is thought to be a fixed
entity, not subject to significant changes; however.
The most likely part of personality to change is
behavior. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Self-esteem is a crucial
cornerstone of personality. Low self-esteem attracts
stress; high self-esteem chases it away. Self-esteem
consists of four components: connectedness,
uniqueness, power (control), and models. The
strength or weakness of these components is highly
correlated with level of self-esteem. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Spirituality has proved elusive to
define because its essence seems to permeate
everything. Harmony with self, others, earth, and a
higher power is often considered a description of this
concept. Spirituality and religion are related, but
separate, concepts. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Isn’t it funny how sometimes we feel as though
we should go through or feel emotions. All of do, and
it’s okay, I’m learned that in such a short period of
time. You may at times feel frustrated, so the best
thing you can do it acknowledge it, and move through
it, address it, and conquer it. This goes for so many
emotions we go through on a daily basis, even happy
emotions should be expressed, be confident to be
happy for yourself, and know that everyone around
you is probably happy for you to.
Going through these emotions along is not the
answer. Being able to identify your emotions is key
into the way you are feeling, and how to handle it. I
found myself struggling with more emotions that I
even knew about, but had have learning that, I am
more able to notice when things aren’t right, and then
I right them. (Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
FEAR: apprehension, anxiety, distress, edginess,
jumpiness, nervousness, panic, tenseness,
uneasiness, worry, fright, feeling overwhelmed.

When I thought about these emotions as I read them,

the biggest ones that stood out to me in this category was
anxiety, and the feeling of being overwhelmed. These are
often emotions I can relate to, generally on a regular basis.
Since this class has begun, and I have been reading more
and more about myself, meditation, and even my
personality, it has been much easier to relate to these
emotions.
As mentioned in the book, it is true that we are taught
to suppress our emotions or feelings or to not allow them to
be identified, especially if they are unpleasant ones. It’s
okay to laugh and smile, but being angry and crying are
looked at as negative. It makes much more sense to me why
I have a hard time identifying the anxiety and stress, or
where its coming from.
​As I have come to notice, through my
personality, I am always on the go. I always
need to multitask, and sometimes when I’m
running behind I grow weary, and feel anxiety.
The issue is I don’t like letting people down,
and feel like I am doing so when running late,
or not being finished when I thought I would
be. I also have a full schedule with my
daughter and school on top of everything else,
so it makes me anxious I won’t finish
everything when it needs to be done. I think
being able to acknowledge this emotion is
almost more important than fixing it.

CONFUSION: bewildered, uncertain, puzzled,

mystified, perplexed, chaotic, foggy, or unaware.

When I think about the category of confusion, I often

feel the emotions chaotic, and maybe a little foggy. When I
go through my day, trying to accomplish everything,
sometimes my life feels chaotic, like I almost have no
control over it. The funny thing is I control my life, I have
no structure, and this is why my life is chaotic. I own a
business where I have complete control over what happens,
yet I let the control slip through my hands each and every
day because I have so much going on. Because of this I feel
foggy.
​Foggy is a sensation I get when I think
over my day and what I accomplished.
Sometimes I feel unaccomplished because half
of my day is a blur. Thankfully as suggested I
have started carrying my planner around more
often. This helps me to try and stay more
focused, check off my list, and look over what I
actually did throughout the day. This creates a
little less chaos through my day, which is very
much welcomed.

ANGER: aggravation, agitation, annoyance,

destructiveness, disgust, envy, frustration, irritation,
grouchiness, grumpiness, rage.

​ nger isn’t something that I thought that I

A
never felt. Not because I don’t get angry from
time to time, who doesn’t? Once I looked at
the list associated with anger, I realized I do in
a general way feel some of these emotions
daily, more often than not. Frustration comes
to me throughout my days do to much of the
other emotions I have. It comes from feeling
unaccomplished, or running behind. Learning
to cope with these emotions is what is
necessary for me so that I can feel less
frustration, and more accomplished.
​Irritation can literally come from driving on
a busy road, dealing with a cranky baby, or
even going into the grocery store. I often feel
impatient waiting, or when people drive like
idiots, because I always have so much going