A take-home packet for anatomy, a five-page paper for English, and an algebra midterm are all due this week! You are so overwhelmed that you asked your boss at the café to cut your hours this week even though you just missed 3 days of work because of the flu. You still do not feel 100% and just want a good night’s sleep! Getting by with 4–5 hours of sleep a night is tough, and you are drinking way too much coffee. On your way to school today, you notice that your car is making a strange noise. You’ll have to get that looked at, but you don’t have the time or money to bring it to the shop anytime soon.
Let’s think about stress and what causes it. Stress is defined as the response to perceived threats or challenges resulting from stimuli or events that cause strain. For humans, these stimuli, or stressors, can cause psychological, physiological, and emotional reactions. So, stressors are the cause, and stress is the response. Stressors can be events, people, environments, or attitudes. Stressors can be daily hassles, conflicts, and major life events, such as getting married or having a baby. For some, stressors are chronic, such as like battling a long-lasting illness, living in poverty, or caring for a child with special needs.
The American Psychological Association investigates perceived stress among adults in the United States. Not only do they measure attitudes about stress, but they also identify leading sources of stress and common behaviors to manage stress.
to stress, including anger, fatigue
and feeling overwhelmed.
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
Dealing with persistent hassles, even if minor, can take a toll. Researchers developed a scale of daily hassles and uplifts to measure the degree to which we appraise situations as stressful . Are your stressors the same as most Americans'? Think about your own personal stressors in real life and answer the following questions, which make up the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.
Answer each question using the following scale: 0 = Never; 1 = Almost Never; 2 = Sometimes; 3 = Fairly Often; and 4 = Very Often.
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|---|---|
1. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly? |
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2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life? |
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3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed”? |
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4. In the last month, how often have you dealt successfully with irritating life hassles? |
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5. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were effectively coping with important changes that were occurring in your life? |
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6. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? |
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7. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way? |
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8. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do? |
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9. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life? |
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10. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things? |
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11. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that happened that were outside of your control? |
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12. In the last month, how often have you found yourself thinking about things that you have to accomplish? |
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13. In the last month, how often have you been able to control the way you spend your time? |
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14. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them? |
It can be stressful to be a student! How do you juggle all of your courses and assignments? How do you manage working in the café while taking classes? When things don’t go as planned, such as catching the flu and having car problems, it makes the stress even worse! Dealing with stressors can be challenging, but there are many ways to manage and reduce stress. These include good nutrition, physical exercise, and relaxation techniques.
With all that is going on, watch this video to guide you through progressive muscle relaxation. Even a few minutes of practicing this technique can produce dramatic reductions in stress levels and feelings of anxiety.
INSTRUCTOR: Now, bring your focus to your head and scalp. Take a deep breath and bring relaxing energy to this part of your body. Imagine the tension leaving your body and dissipating into the ground beneath you. Focus on your head and scalp now for a few moments and just breathe the tension out of you.
On your next breath, gently move your attention to your face and neck. Relax all the muscles in your face, the muscles in your jaws, the muscles in your neck that give your head support.
Many of us experience eye strain from too much computer use, so give your eyes some special attention now, and visualize relaxing all of those tiny muscles around your eyes. With your eyes closed, try cupping the palms of your hands over your eyes as you relax them. This may help release tension. Good. Let the breath carry away any stress from this part of your body.
Next, notice any tension you might be holding in your jaws by opening your mouth as widely as you can, holding, and then relaxing. Stretch out your jaw muscles and send any tension away from your body with each exhalation.
Now, gently move your attention to the back of your neck. This is another place that many of us hold tension, so bring your breath here and let it relax all the muscles in the back of your neck. Breathe into it and relax.
Now bring your attention to your shoulders and upper back. Let the breath relax this part of your body. And again, gently move any tension away from your body through the exhalation. Spend a few moments here and let go of whatever you might be carrying in this part of your body. Good.
Gently move your attention now to your arms, wrists, and hands. Move from your upper arms to your forearms, to your wrists, then to each of your fingers and thumbs. Pay particular attention to the places here that you might be holding tension from overuse of a keyboard, this may include your fingers, and more importantly, your forearms. Send relaxing energy through the breath to this part of your body, and let go of more and more tension with each exhalation.
Now, gently move your attention to your torso. This may allow you to bring more attention to your breathing as well. Just relax all the muscles of your body core, including your chest, your stomach, and any tension you may be holding in your middle and lower back. Just breathe peacefully and release any tension in these parts of your body. As you breathe and relax your torso, you begin to feel a profound sense of quiet and relaxation from within.
Continue moving your thoughts and energy through your body now, and gently bring your attention to your buttocks, pelvis, and hips. Notice any tension you may be holding in these sensitive parts of your body, and breathe a deep sense of relaxation into them. Continue to breathe into them as you deeply relax your physical being.
Move down to your legs now, focusing on your upper legs, your knees, and your lower legs. Let your legs completely relax. Breathe deeply as you release any tension you may be holding there. Feel a moment of deep gratitude for all of the places that your legs have brought you in your life. You may want to gently move your legs now from side to side, or even a gentle shake to help physically release tension and help them to relax.
Continue to move your attention down your body to your ankles, to your feet, then finally to your toes. Breathe deep relaxation into your feet, and, again, express gratitude for how your feet supported the rest of your body and help you to feel grounded and connected to the Earth. Flex and extend your ankles, feet, and toes, which may help you physically relax them. Continue to breathe deeply as you relax this part of your body.
You body is relaxing now from head to toe. Allow your entire body to fully relax into each breath you take.
Now that you have relieved some of your stress, note that there are both “good” stressors and “bad” stressors. Good stressors, such as getting married, having children, and planning vacations can lead to positive results and our reactions to such stress is called eustress. Additionally, as health psychologist Dr. McGonigal notes in the video below, stress can also be your friend.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: Stress, a common response to life's troubles. One survey finding one in two Americans reported feeling stressed in the past year. But what if there was a way to turn life's stresses into strengths?
KELLY MCGONIGAL: How you think about stress matters.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: Stanford researcher, and author of The Upside of Stress, Kelly McGonigal says that you can actually make stress work in your favor; making you smarter, stronger, and happier, if you learn to think about it the right way.
It's really about a mindset shift.
KELLU MCGONIGAL: You don't necessarily have to embrace the situation that's stressful, but you can embrace your capacity to rise to the challenge.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: McGonigal, pointing to a Harvard study, finding subjects who were told stressful feelings were beneficial before being put through a stressful public speaking exercise experienced fewer negative cardiovascular or physical effects. Now, McGonigal is teaching others just how to put that into practice.
KELLY MCGONIGAL: So tell me a little bit about the stress in your life.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: Like Laura Murray, a wife and mom of two young children. She's no stranger to life's stresses.
LAURA MURRAY: We start really early in the morning and are constantly running, and stress is just always there.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: McGonigal says, first, look at the symptoms of stress, like a pounding heart, as empowering. Next, channel your energy by asking yourself, what specific actions you can take to respond. And third, use stress as an opportunity to bond with others, either by sharing your troubles or helping them through theirs.
KELLY MCGONIGAL: Stress is basically a signal that something that you care about is at stake. Whatever you're feeling, even if it doesn't feel great, it's your brain and your body trying to help you.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO: Finding an upside to life's downers. For Good Morning America, Mara Schiavocampo, ABC News, New York.
3. Explain how we can reframe our handling of stress, according to Dr. McGonigal.
You learned to relieve stress by using the progressive muscle relaxation technique, but you still need to finish course assignments soon, get your car repaired (without the finances to do so), and still feel under the weather because of the flu. However, you do not feel as overwhelmed as you did, so you are making progress! You will often encounter stressors in life, but now you have some tools to help you deal with them.
What are some techniques that you can use the next time you feel stressed?