Living well with stress

Presented by Linda Surplice and Maria Gray

Senior Counsellors Ultimo College

Living well with Stress - Session Overview

1. Relaxation exercise

2. What is this thing called stress?

3. How does stress affect us?

4. What can we do to build our resilience to stress?

5. Breathing exercises

Relaxation Exercise

• Learning and practicing a relaxation or meditation technique is very helpful in managing stress

• So lets start by prioritising this practice at the very start of our session

So, what is this thing called stress?

• A normal response to a demand made of you• Results in an internally felt sense of pressure to

respond to the demand• When you have adequate resources, you can

respond to the demand and return to a state of equilibrium

• When your resources are unable to cope with the demands being made of you, you can become stressed

So, what is this thing called stress?

So the term stress is used in 2 different ways:

1. The normal pressure we feel to respond to a demand

– Short-term, enabling, motivating, survival mechanism

2. Ongoing anxiety and unhappiness when demands seem overwhelming

– Chronic stress, physical and mental health can suffer

So, what is this thing called stress?

Graphic from www.ruralstress.ca

How does stress affect us?

1.1. The stress responseThe stress response• State of arousal from bodily changes triggered

by release of hormones - adrenalin and cortisol• Prepares us to deal with threat by fight or flight• Muscles tense ready for action, heart speeds

up, BP increases, heightened alertness• After dealing with threat (f or f) physiology

returns to normal• A survival mechanism we should value

How does stress affect us?

BUTBUT

• Many of the things that stress us today are not life threatening and yet our bodies respond as if they are.

• Often not appropriate to fight or flee so our stress hormones can remain chronically high

How does stress affect us?Resulting in symptoms such as:

Physical Raised blood pressure

Head, back, neck ache

Disturbed sleep

Weight change

Fatigue

Emotional Depression

Irritability

Anger

Feeling overwhelmed or out of control

Cognitive Poor concentration

Confusion & forgetfulness

Difficulty making decisions

Negative self-talk

Spiritual Emptiness

Loss of meaning/ faith

Apathy/ doubt

Behavioural Loss of interest in work or social activities

Increased drinking, smoking, drug use

Withdrawal from family, friends

Sexual problems

Building resilience to stress

• AWARENESS

• ATTITUDE

• ACTIONS

• LIFESTYLE

Building resilience to stress

Awareness

• Of what situations make you feel stressed

• What resources you have

• What things you have control over and those you don’t

• What things make you feel better

Building resilience to stress

Attitude• Acceptance of the things you can’t control (and

taking action on the things you can)• Acceptance of self• Non judgemental (self and others)• Keeping things in perspective• Crises not seen as insoluble problems• Nurture hopefulness• Humour

Building resilience to stress

Actions• Plan for the future• Move towards goals a step at a time• Balance demands with resources/ energy –

learn when to say no or to give in • Take decisive actions• Talk about it• Reflect on experiences – what can be learnt

from an experience?

Building resilience to stress

Lifestyle

• Exercise

• Practice meditation or relaxation

• Eat healthily

• Get sufficient sleep

• Develop a strong support network

• Leisure and pleasure

Breathing Exercises

Stress influences breathing in two very different ways:

1. Short-term stress (like being in the middle of an argument, preparing to give a major speech, or being cut off in traffic) tends to increase breathing rate and may lead to hyperventilation.

Recommended breathing practice: The 4/8 Breath slows down your breath and emphasizes the exhalation.

2. Long-term, chronic stress (like working in a job where you have no control, struggling with a chronic health problem, or living in debt) tends to inhibit breathing.

Recommended breathing practice: Breath awareness and the 3-Part Breath, to develop an unrestricted breath.

More info visit

• www.mentalhealth.asn.auFor mental health fact sheets on stress management, anxiety etc.

• http://moodgym.anu.edu.auMoodGYM is an interactive program designed to help you:

-identify whether you are having problems with emotions like anxiety and depression

-overcome these problems, develop good coping skills for the future.

• www.flinders.edu.auSelf help tips from Flinders University Health and Counselling department.

• www.openmindbody.comFor info on stress and breathing.

Comments and Questions

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