Module 10.pptx
- 1. Module 10 Stress and Anxiety Management
- 2. What is Stress and Anxiety?
- 3. Recognizing Your Stress & Anxiety It’s important to learn how to recognize your stress and anxiety levels. The most risky part of stress and anxiety is how easily increasing levels can sneak up on you. You get used to it and it starts to feel familiar, even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you. The signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety excess can easily be missed. The states of stress and anxiety affect your mind/body system, your reactions, and not everyone experiences it in the same way.
- 4. Signs & Symptoms of Stress & Anxiety Excess Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms Memory Problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only negative Anxious/racing thoughts Constant Worrying Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness/isolation -Depression/general unhappiness Aches & pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartrate Loss of sex drive Frequent colds Eating more/less -Sleeping too much/too little -Isolating yourself Procrastination/neglect responsibilities -using alcohol/drugs to relax -nervous habits (nail biting, pacing)
- 5. Some common causes of Stress & Anxiety • Some kind of challenging event or situation often triggers the stress and anxiety excess. A trigger often acts as a ‘last straw,’ since in most cases the stress and anxiety has been accumulating over some time.
- 6. A Significant Personal Loss A Significant Life Change Stimulants or recreational Drugs Anxious Self Talk Withheld Feelings Loss of a significant person through death/breakup, loss of job/loss of physical health. Getting married/ a baby/ going to college/ changing jobs/ a big move Too much caffeine, heavy drug use (meth/cocaine/ amphetamines, lsd) or withdrawal from sedatives/tranquilizers What you say to yourself on your own. An internal monologue. Very negative Holding in feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, or even excitement can add to free floating stress/anxiety. Lack of Assertiveness Absence of Self Care Practice Fast Paced Lifestyle Lack of Meaning or a Sense of Purpose Need to have an assertiveness when speaking about your issues. Underlying sense of insecurity. Usually brought on from childhood. Is it rushed? Fast paced? Or slow ? A self-care practice for managing your stress will help slow down when needed. Not having a real feeling of purpose in our everyday life.
- 7. 0-OK-ness: Feeling of well being and peace 1-Very Early Stress & Anxiety: Passing glimmer of stress & anxiety; feeling slightly nervous. 2- Early stress & Anxiety: Butterflies in gut; muscle tension; feeling moderately nervous 3- Low Stress & Anxiety: Feeling awkward but still in control; heart starting to beat more rapidly; slightly sweaty skin 4- Moderate Stress & Anxiety: Feeling uncomfortable or beginning to zone out; heart beating rapidly; muscles tightening; worry about maintaining control 5- High Stress & Anxiety: Heart pounding/irregular beating; constricted breathing; feeling dizzy/zoned out; feeling compelled to escape. 6- Major Stress & Anxiety: Great difficulty breathing; palpitations; dissociation; increasing fear in response/losing control 7-10- Extreme Stress & Anxiety: Symptoms of stress & anxiety magnified; fear of going crazy/dying; terror; obsession w/ escape
- 8. Depth Relaxation 1. Lowering of heart rate 2. Lowering of respiratory 3. Lowing of blood pressure 4. Greater alpha-wave brain activity 5. Lessening of analytical thinking 6. Lessening of muscle tension 7. Lowering of metabolic rate 8. Lowering of oxygen consumption
- 9. Visualization 5-minute visualization guided meditation on manifesting the life we want… A Practice of creating in your “minds eye” a fully detailed mental image of a calm and peaceful place. With eyes shut you may begin with visualizing small details and work up to a whole picture from top to bottom.
- 10. Diaphragmatic Breathing Diaphragmatic Breathing, as discussed in Module 4, involves breathing fully from your visceral cavity or from the bottom of your lungs. It is the inverse of the way you breathe when you experience stress and anxiety, which is usually rather shallow and high in your chest. This requires becoming more conscious of the act of breathing. Place one hand on your stomach right beneath your ribcage. Inhale slowly and breathe deeply through your nostrils into the lowest point down in your lungs you can reach. Your chest will move up a little while your stomach area lifts up, forcing your hand up. As you have inhaled fully, count to three and then exhale fully through your nose. As you exhale, let go and imagine your entire body getting limber, relaxed, and resilient. Remind yourself that all you need to do is give and take, breathe in and breathe out. Repeat depth breathing in this way for 10 breaths. Concentrate on keeping your breaths smooth, avoiding sudden inhaling or exhaling.
- 11. Physical Exercise 1. Begin exercising slowly. Start by spending only 5-10 minutes every other day for the first week. Add 5 minutes to your workout time each successive week until you reach 30 minutes. Doing too much too fast causes the greatest exercise attrition rate. 2. Expect some initial discomfort such as aches and pains when you start out. These will disappear as you gain improved physical condition allowing your body to recover sufficiently. 3. Warm up before exercising by doing some very light stretches, sit ups, and/or push ups to get the blood flowing to your muscles. Follow with a 2-3 minute cool down at the end too. 4. Make a commitment to an exercise practice for a minimum of 30 days and then re evaluate. You may find exercise to be sufficiently rewarding so that you will choose to continue. 5. Quit exercising right away if you experience any sudden, unexplainable body pains or other symptoms.
- 12. Organization & Time management Time management tips in video above. • List Jobs & their priorities- list everything in it’s importance to being accomplished. • Organize your finances & mail- keeping your paperwork organized helps reduce stress/anxiety. • Keep a journal- Best to write it down to help you get it out of your head and be open to what is stressing you out. • Organize and label your belongings- Can help us feel more in control in our everyday life. • Use driving time wisely- When you can, make your lists/chores to be accomplished etc… try to get set up for success.
- 13. Social Support Getting support from friends, coworkers, or family is a very good way to help manage stress & anxiety. Withdrawal from High-Stress & Anxiety Situations Withdrawal from High-Stress and Anxiety is appropriate when it is excessive. To remain in a situation when stress & anxiety get too high can sensitize you to a particular situation, the excessive level automatically returns.
- 14. Redirecting Attention 1 Talk to someone in your support network about your experience. Talking out the experience can help us to process and work it out thus relieving some of the stress and anxiety. 2 Get some exercise. Go for a walk, ride an exercise bike, do some dance steps or other physical activity. 3 Perform an activity requiring concentration like reading, going online, doing some puzzles, knitting or sewing, or playing a musical instrument. 4 Safely express angry feelings by pounding a pillow or hitting your bed. But do not vent at the source of your anger. 5 Engage in pleasurable activities, get a hug, have sex, take a shower/bath 6 Have a healthy snack, such as a cup of decaffeinated tea with a low fat milk as a soothing treat.
- 15. Don’t Fight Stress and Anxiety It’s important to avoid fighting against your stress and anxiety, for example, by tensing up against stress and anxiety symptoms or trying to ’force’ them to go away. This only creates more muscle tension, which is one of the contributing causes of stress and anxiety in the first place. Face Stress and anxiety symptoms rather than running from them. 01 Accept what your body is going through. 02 Float with the ‘wave’ of Stress & anxiety, instead of forcing your way through it. 03 Allow time to pass. 04
- 16. Coping Statements This feeling isn’t comfortable or pleasant, but I can accept it. I can be anxious & still deal with this situation. This is not an emergency. It’s okay to think slowly about what I need to do. This is not the worst thing that could happen. I’m going to go with this and wait for my stress and anxiety to decrease. This is an opportunity for me to learn to cope with my fears. I’ll just let my body do its thing. This will pass. I’ll ride this through – I don’t need to let this get to me. I deserve to feel okay right now. I can take all the time I need to let go and relax. I can always leave if I need to. I’ve survived this before and I’ll survive this time, too. This is not dangerous. So what?
- 17. How to get the most out of coping statements It is not required that you concentrate on the messages or make any special effort. However, to improve its effectiveness, we suggest that you play soft music, and read the affirmations at least once each day. Letting Go Focusing on the present moment is the secret for letting go. Instead of worrying about everything in your life, you can zero in on the task at hand. • Taking one day at a time. • Practicing Gratitude. • Forgetting the Grass-Is-Greener Illusion Homework: Anger Log