Stress and Stress Management

Stress refers to event that are percieved as challenging, damaging or threatening to ones
physical or psychological well-being. These events are reffered to as stessors and the
way people respond to them called strees respond.

There are four type s of conflict:

1. Approach-approach conflict –occurs when a person needs to choose between

two options that are both attractive.
2. Avoidance-avoidance conflict- occurs when a person needs to choose between
options that he or she finds both unpleasant.
3. Approach-avoidance conflict- occurs when a person needs to choose between
options that have both positive and negative consequences.
4. Multiple conflict- occurs when they are more than two options.

In order to deal the frustrations, conflicts, and stress people sometimes use unconscious
strategies called defense mechanism to cope with the pain and deal with anxiety.

Types of Stress and Stress Relief Techniques

1. Acute Stress
Acute stress is the type of stress that throws you off-balance momentarily. This is
the type of stress that comes on quickly and often unexpectedly and doesn’t last
too long, but requires a response and shakes you up a bit, like an argument with
someone in your life, or an exam for which you don’t feel sdequately prepared.

These stress relievers can help you to relax and more quickly recover from acute
stress:
 Breathing exercise- great for acute stress because they work quickly
 Cognitive reframing- learn to change the way you look at the situation to
manage your stress levels
 Progressive muscle relaxation- like bresthing exercise, PMR will give you
a moment to regroup and calm down
 Mini-mediation- take breathing exercises a step further with this quick, 5-
minutes mediation techniques to calm-down in the moment

2. Chronic stress
 Chonic stress is the type of stress that tende to occur a regular basis. These type
of stress may leave you feeling drained, and can lead to brownout if it’s not
effectively managed.

The following long-term habits can help you to better manage general stress that
you may feel from the chronic strssors in your life:
 Exerxise regularly- exercise and stress management are closely linked for
several reasons
 Maintain ahealthy diet- fueling your body well can help with overall stress
level because your entire system will function better
 Cultivate supportive relationship- having a solid support system is a
crucial coping mechanisms
 Meditate regularly- while quick meditation are great for dealing with acute
stress, a regular meditation practice will help build your overall resilience to
stress
 Listen to music- music can act as a wonderful, stress reducing backdrop
to everday tasks

3. Emotional Stress
The pain of emotional stress can help harder that some other type of stress. That
stress that are comes conflicted relationship tends to bring a greater physical and
stronger sense distress than the stress that comes from being busy at work.

Here are some ways to manage emotional stress:

 Write in a journal- thre are some different journaling strategies to try, all
with benefits
 Talk to a friend- learn about the several different types of social support
kfriends can offer you
 Listen to music
 Practiced mindfullness- help keep you rooted in the present moment
 Talk to atherapist

4. Battling Burnout
Burnout is the result of a prolonged chronic stress of situation that leave people
feeling a lack of control in rheir lives.

The following strategies can help you to come back from a state of burnout or
prevent it entirely:
 Take some time off- if you never take your vacation time, heres why you
should start
 Get more laughter into your life- laughter can lead into overall health and
bring joy into your day
 Indulge in hobbies- dont wait until your life calm down to engage in your
hobbies
 Get more enjoyment out of your current job- if you landed in a job you
dont love, all is not lost. Learn how to make your job fulfilling
 Make your weekends count- learn how to bring some of your weekend
into your week for less stress