PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FACT SHEET

Lesson 1: Knowing and Understanding Oneself during Middle and Late Adolescence

Self-concept is the way people think about themselves. As a global understanding of oneself,
self-concept shapes and defines who we are, the decisions we make, and the relationships
we form. Self-concept is our individual perceptions of our behavior, abilities, and unique
characteristics—a mental picture of who you are as a person. Self-concept (1) is unique to
the individual; (2) can be positive or negative; (3) has emotional, intellectual, and functional
dimensions; (4) changes with the environmental context; (5) changes over time; and (6)
has a powerful influence on one’s life.

Humanist psychologist, Carl Rogers believed that there were three different
parts of self-concept:
Self-image, or how you see yourself. Each individual’s self-image is a mixture
of different attributes including our physical characteristics, personality traits, and social
roles. Self-image doesn't necessarily coincide with reality.
Self-esteem, or how much you value yourself. A number of factors can impact
self-esteem, including how we compare ourselves to others and how others respond to us.
When people respond positively to our behavior, we are more likely to develop positive self-
esteem. When we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves lacking, it can have a
negative impact on our self-esteem.
Ideal self, or how you wish you could be. In many cases, the way we see ourselves
and how we would like to see ourselves do not quite match up. If there is a mismatch
between how you see yourself (your self-image) and what you’d like to be (your ideal self)
then this is likely to affect how much you value yourself (self-esteem). Therefore, there is
an intimate relationship between self-image, ideal self and self-esteem.

According to Carl Rogers, the degree to which a person's self-concept matches up to reality
is known as congruence and incongruence. A person’s ideal self may not be consistent with
what actually happens in the life and experiences of the person. Hence, a difference may
exist between a person’s ideal self and actual experience. This is called incongruence.
Where a person’s ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of
congruence exists. The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive
regard. Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a
state of congruence.

Why is self-concept important? Knowing who you are will help you feel that you have worth
and value in this world. When you can accept yourself for who you are, it will be easier for
others to accept you, too. Learning about yourself can help you develop lasting relationships
with others as well as help you make choices that will direct your life in the path you want
to go.
The Benefits of Self-Concept
Happiness. You will be happier when you can express who you are. Expressing
your desires will make it more likely that you get what you want.
Less inner conflict. When your outside actions are in accordance with your inside
feelings and values, you will experience less inner conflict.
Better decision-making. When you know yourself, you are able to make better
choices about everything, from small decisions like which sweater you’ll buy to big decisions
like which partner you’ll spend your life with. You'll have guidelines you can apply to solve
life’s varied problems.
Self-control. When you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to
resist bad habits and develop good ones. You'll have the insight to know which values and
goals activate your willpower.
Resistance to social pressure. When you are grounded in your values and
preferences, you are less likely to say “yes” when you want to say “no.”
Tolerance and understanding of others. Your awareness of your own foibles
and struggles can help you empathize with others.
Vitality and pleasure. Being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and
makes your experience of life richer, larger, and more exciting.

PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Personal effectiveness means making use of all the personal resources –talents, skills,
energy and time, to enable you to achieve life goals. Your knowledge of yourself and how
you manage yourself impacts directly on your personal effectiveness. Being self-aware,
making the most of your strengths, learning new skills and techniques and behavioral
flexibility are all keys to improving your personal performance.
Our personal effectiveness depends on our innate characteristics – talent and
experience accumulated in the process of personal development. Talents first are needed to
be identified and then developed to be used in a particular subject area (science, literature,
sports, politics, etc.). Experience includes knowledge and skills that we acquire in the
process of cognitive and practical activities. Knowledge is required for setting goals,
defining an action plan to achieve them and risk assessment. Skills also determine whether
real actions are performed in accordance with the plan. If the same ability is used many
times in the same situation, then it becomes a habit that runs automatically, subconsciously.
Here are some skills that will greatly increase the efficiency of any person who owns them:
Determination. It allows you to focus only on achieving a specific goal without
being distracted by less important things or spontaneous desires. It may be developed with
the help of self-discipline exercise.
Self-confidence. It appears in the process of personal development, as a result
of getting aware of yourself, your actions and their consequences. Self-confidence is
manifested in speech, appearance, dressing, gait, and physical condition. To develop it, you
need to learn yourself and your capabilities, gain positive attitude and believe that by
performing right actions and achieving right goals you will certainly reach success.
Persistence. It makes you keep moving forward regardless of emerging obstacles
– problems, laziness, bad emotional state, etc. It reduces the costs of overcoming obstacles.
It can also be developed with the help of self-discipline exercise.
Managing stress. It helps combat stress that arises in daily life from the
environment and other people. Stress arises from the uncertainty in an unknown situation
when a lack of information creates the risk of negative consequences of your actions. It
increases efficiency in the actively changing environment.
Problem-solving skills. They help cope with the problems encountered with a
lack of experience. It increases efficiency by adopting new ways of achieving goals when
obtaining a new experience.
Creativity. It allows you to find extraordinary ways to carry out a specific action
that no one has tried to use. It can lead to a decrease or an increase of costs, but usually
the speed of action is greatly increased when using creative tools.
Generating ideas. It helps you achieve goals using new, original, unconventional
ideas. Idea is a mental image of an object formed by the human mind, which can be changed
before being implemented in the real world. For generating ideas, you can use a method of
mental maps, which allows you to materialize, visualize and scrutinize all your ideas, which
in turn contributes to the emergence of new ideas. These are just some, but the most
important personal effectiveness skills which make the achievement of any goal easier and
less costly.

Developing the Whole Person

A REAL WINNER is one who is able to:

win over his/her battles and difficulties in life and turns them into a learning and
glorifying experience;
find meaning in pleasant and unpleasant events in his life;
live in peace with difficult people and difficult situations;
win the goodwill of others, their respect and admiration;
get what he wants using win-win strategies; never at the expense of others;
discover and use opportunities to his best advantage
develop and use his talents and abilities to the best advantage and in so doing,
make meaningful contribution in making this world a better place to live in.

The Power Triad: Thoughts, Feelings and Actions

From time to time, all of us struggle with thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are
unproductive or detrimental, and we all find it difficult at times to muster the motivation to
take the action needed to interrupt our troublesome outlook and replace it with a healthier,
more positive one. Why do we do the things that we do?
Behavior is sometimes described as a result of a cyclical process.
Situations: We all receive messages about a given situation – both messages from others
and
messages we send ourselves. The more clearly we can label these messages, the less likely
they are to drive the cycle in an unhealthy direction.
Thoughts: We can retrain our brains to identify automatic thoughts which can be negative
or unhelpful, interrupt them and replace them with more constructive coping thoughts.
Feelings: Learning to name and rate our moods and cultivating mindfulness can help us to
connect to our emotions, rather than being dictated to by them. Relaxation techniques can
help ease the feelings of stress and anxiety that can keep us stuck in unhealthy behaviors.

Behaviors: When we are down, we tend to be less active; the less we do, the less we want
to do, and the more we continue to feel down. Simply put, a situation arises, and we have
thoughts about the facts of that situation; those trigger feelings, and based on those feelings
we engage in behaviors which in turn impact the situation (either positively or negatively),
and the cycle continues.
Difference between Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors
Thoughts: Your internal summary or prediction about a situation or event.
Examples:
“This is going to be a disaster”.
“This is going to be great”.
“Everyone’s going to laugh at me”.
Feelings: One word summaries of internal emotional states.
Examples:
Nervous
Scared
Excited
Behaviors: Can be both inward (invisible) and outward (observable).
Examples:
Tensing muscles
Skipping class
Turning down an invitation to a party
Jumping off a diving board

Developmental Stages in Middle and Late Adolescence

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
Which stage of life is the most important? Some might claim that infancy is the key
stage, when a baby’s brain is wide open to new experiences that will influence all the rest of
its later life. Others might argue that it’s adolescence or young adulthood, when physical
health is at its peak. Many cultures around the world value late adulthood more than any
other, arguing that it is at this stage that the human being has finally acquired the wisdom
necessary to guide others. Who is right? The truth of the matter is that every stage of life is
equally significant and necessary for the welfare of humanity.

Developmental Stage Characteristics

1. Prenatal (Conception to birth) Age when hereditary endowments and sex are fixed and
all body features, both external and internal are developed.
2. Infancy (Birth to 2 years) Foundation age when basic behavior is organized and many
onto-genetic maturation skills are developed.
3. Early Childhood (2 to 6 years) Pre-gang age, exploratory, and questioning. Language
and Elementary reasoning are acquired and initial socialization is experienced.
4. Late Childhood (6 to 12 years) Gang and creativity age when self-help skills, social skills,
school skills, and play are developed.
5. Adolescence (puberty to 18 years) Transition age from childhood to adulthood when sex
maturation and rapid physical development occur resulting to changes in ways of feeling,
thinking and acting.
6. Early Adulthood (18 to 40 years) Age of adjustment to new patterns of life and roles
such as spouse, parent and bread winner.
7. Middle Age (40 years to retirement) Transition age when adjustments to initial physical
and mental decline are experienced.
8. Old Age (Retirement to death) Retirement age when increasingly rapid physical and
mental decline are experienced

HAVIGHURST`S DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS DURING THE LIFE SPAN

Robert J. Havighurst elaborated on the Developmental Tasks Theory in the most systematic
and extensive manner. His main assertion is that development is continuous throughout the
entire lifespan, occurring in stages, where the individual moves from one stage to the next
by means of successful resolution of problems or performance of developmental tasks. These
tasks are those that are typically
encountered by most people in the culture where the individual belongs. If the person
successfully accomplishes and masters the developmental task, he feels pride and
satisfaction, and consequently earns his community or society’s approval. This success
provides a sound foundation which allows the individual to accomplish tasks to be
encountered at later stages. Conversely, if the individual is not
successful at accomplishing a task, he is unhappy and is not accorded the desired approval
by society, resulting in the subsequent experience of difficulty when faced with succeeding
developmental tasks. This theory presents the individual as an active learner who continually
interacts with a similarly active social environment. Havighurst proposed a bio psychosocial
model of development, wherein the
developmental tasks at each stage are influenced by the individual’s biology (physiological
maturation and genetic makeup), his psychology (personal values and goals) and sociology
(specific culture to which the individual belongs).
ADULTING 101: How to Deal with Adulting

THE PASSAGE TO ADULTHOOD: CHALLENGES OF LATE ADOLESCENCE

Ways to Become a Responsible Adolescent Prepared for Adult Life

Becoming responsible and being able to make good choices are very important traits no matter what
developmental stage you are in. It holds true for adolescents especially that they are just beginning to
internalize and imbibe virtues, values, and other essential qualities. It may not be easy to be a teenager.
There may be lots of things going on in various facets of their lives. The demands and expectations of
their parents and other people around them can also be stressful. But the good news is, they can treat
these ‘difficulties’ as ‘challenges’ which can make their life exciting. Having that mindset is also an
indication of becoming a responsible and mentally mature adolescent.

Eight (8) simple rules which could help you, teenagers, to become a responsible
adolescent who is prepared for adult life:
1. Focus on your studies and do well in all of your endeavors. There is time for everything.
2. Take care of your health and hygiene. Healthy body and mind are important as you journey
through adolescence.
3. Establish good communication and relation with your parents or guardian. Listen to them. This
may be easier said than done at this stage, but creating good relationship with them will do you good as
they are the ones you can lean on especially in times of trouble.
4. Think a lot before doing something. Evaluate probable consequences before acting. Practice
self-control and self-discipline.
5. Choose to do the right thing. There are plenty of situations in which it is better to use your mind
rather than your heart.
6. Do your best to resist temptations, bad acts, and earthly pleasures and commit to being a
responsible adolescent.
7. Respect yourself. You are an adult in the making. Do not let your teenage hormones get into
you. If you respect yourself, others will respect you too.
8. Be prepared to be answerable or accountable for your actions and behavior. It is a part of
growing up and becoming an adult.
Physical Development
• Most girls have completed the physical changes related to puberty by age 15.
• Boys are still maturing and gaining strength, muscle mass, and height and are completing the
development of sexual traits.
Emotional Development
• May stress over school and test scores.
• Is self- involved (may have high expectations and low self-concept).
• Seek privacy and time alone.
• Is concerned about physical and sexual attractiveness.
• May complain of parents preventing him or her from doing things independently.
• Starts to want both physical and emotional intimacy in relationships.
• Try the experience of intimate partnerships.
Social Development
• Shifts in relationship with parents from dependency and subordination to one that reflects the
adolescent’s increasing maturity and responsibilities in the family and community,
• Is more and more aware of social behaviors of friends.
• Seek friends that share the same beliefs, values and interests.
• Friends become more important.
• Starts to have more intellectual interest.
• Explores romantic and sexual behaviors with others.
• May be influenced by peers to try risky behaviors (alcohol, tobacco, sex).

Mental Development
• Becomes better able to set goals and think in terms of the future.
• Has a better understanding of complex problems and issues.
• Start to develop moral ideals and to select role models.

ENCOURAGEMENT 101: The Courage to be Imperfect

By: Timothy D. Evans, Ph.D
Encouragement is the key ingredient for improving your relationships with others. It is the single
most important skill necessary for getting along with others so important that the lack of it could be
considered the primary cause of conflict and misbehavior. Encouragement develops a person’s
psychological hardiness and social interest. Encouragement is the lifeblood of a relationship. And yet,
this simple concept is often very hard to put into practice.
Encouragement is not anew idea. Its spiritual connotation dates back to the Bible in Hebrews 3:11 which
states: Encourage one another daily.” Encouragement, as a psychological idea, was developed by
psychiatrist Alfred Adler in the early 20th century and continued to evolve through the work of Adler’s
follower Rudolph Dreikurs. However, even today, relatively new educators, parents, psychologists,
leaders or couples have utilized this valuable concept. Most of the time, people mistakenly use a
technique like praise in an effort to “encourage” others. Half the job of encouragement lies in avoiding
discouraging words and actions. When children or adults misbehave, it is usually because they are
discouraged. Instead of building them up, we tear them down: instead of recognizing their efforts and
improvements, we point out mistakes: instead of allowing them to belong through shared decision-
making and meaningful contributions, we isolate and label them.
Most of us are skilled discouragers. We have learned how to bribe, reward and, when that fails, to
punish, criticize, nag, threaten, interrogate and emotionally withdraw. We do this as an attempt to control
those we love, bolstered by the mistaken belief that we are responsible for the behavior of everyone
around us, especially our spouses and children. These attempts to control behavior create
atmospheres of tension and conflict in many houses.

Most commonly, we discourage in five several ways:

• We set standards that are too high for others to meet because we are overly ambitious.
• We focus on mistakes as a way to motivate change or improved behavior.
• We make constant comparisons (self to other, siblings to one another).
• We automatically give a negative spin to the actions of others.
• We dominate others by being overly helpful, implying that they are unable to do it as well.

Encouragement is not a technique nor is it a special language used to gain compliance.

Encouragement conveys the idea that all human beings are worthwhile, simply because they exist. In
one sentence, Mr. Rogers does more for a child’s sense of adequacy than a hundred instances of praise
when he says, “I like you just the way you are.” Not I like you when you do it well enough, fast enough
and get it all correct. Encouragement develops children’s psychological hardiness—their ability to
function and recover when things aren’t going their way.

Encouragement enhances a feeling of belonging which leads to grater social interest Social
interest is the tendency for the people to unite themselves with other human beings and to accomplish
their task in cooperation with others. The Junior League mission of “developing the potential of women
and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers” is rooted in
the idea of social interest.

The first step to becoming an encouraging person is to learn to distinguish encouragement from
discouragement. As a rule, ask yourself: Whatever I say or do, will it bring me closer together or
farther apart from this person?

THE POWER OF PERSONAL DECLARATIONS

By: Dr. Emily De Carlo

So often we accept the declarations that others have made concerning our own lives, well-being
or fate. It is imperative that we recognize that in order to achieve what we want in life, we must not give
our power away to others by accepting heir declarations concerning our affairs. When one decides that
he or she will boldly declare good fortune, wellness, joy, etc. relative to his or her life, all of heaven will
break loose! Goodness and mercy shall surely follow.

From birth, we often told what we are going to be. Sometimes, this is a good thing, but suppose
you have been told time and time again that “you will not amount to anything just like your mother and
father?” this is a dangerous declaration because it sets into motion the actualization of an unwanted
occurrence. All of us want to amount to something! In order to counteract this and all of the negative
declarations with their destructive potential, one must consciously replace them with one’s owns
declarations. In so doing, you are now in control of setting into action what you really want to occur. You
can declare that goodness and mercy shall surely follow you all the days of your life! The following are
some declarations that you may want to make concerning your life:
I declare:
That I am totally free of all addictions.
That I will sill survive any attempts of others to control my life.
That I am free in my mind, body, and emotions.
That I am free to set goals and reach them.
That I am a loving individual with the capacity to give love.
That I am a child of a God with all rights and privileges thereof.
That I will contribute to the welfare of others.
That I will be an ambassador of goodwill to all I meet on the journey.
That I will be a good example for others to follow.
That I will help all that I can to reach their goals.
That I will speak words of encouragement to others.
That I will find the goodness in life and focus on it.
That I will not succumb to the negative influences of others.
That I will read the information that will encourage my personal, and spiritual growth.
That I will commit to being the best I can be.

These declarations are meant to encourage you to take control of the influences in your life. They are
suggestions as to what positive things you can speak about your own life instead of accepting whatever
has been said about you in the past. You now have the authority to plant the seeds of love,
encouragement and victory in your garden., thereby crowding out the weeds of negativity that may
already have taken root! Just us in the garden, you may have to pull and pull until you get some weeds
out. Sometimes, the negative comments and declarations of others have taken such a stronghold in our
lives, that we must persist until we see the bough not only fall, but break into pieces. Don’t be
discouraged if you don’t reach your goals overnight. Just remember that even a small stream of water
will crack concrete eventually!!

Coping with Stress in Middle and Late Adolescence

What do you understand about “stress?” Have you experienced stress? Dictionary
definitions do not quite capture the meaning of stress as it is seen and experienced in the
world of work. One of Webster’s definitions describes it as an “…emotional factor that
causes bodily or mental tension.”

A practical way of defining stress is the feeling one gets from prolonged, pent-up emotions.
If the emotions you experience are pleasant and desirable—joy, elation, ecstasy, and
delight—you usually feel free to let them show. They are not suppressed. Therefore,
positive emotions do not usually cause stress. Negative emotions, on the other hand, are
more often held inside. They are hidden. You suffer quietly and you experience stress.
Do not confuse positive situations with positive emotions. A wedding, for example, is a
positive situation that often brings about the negative emotions of anxiety and tension. So
stress can exist in great situations.

Keep Stress Under Control

There are many effective ways to handle stress. Of course, you can’t avoid stress—in fact,
you wouldn’t want to avoid all stress, because you’d never grow. However, you can
manage your life so that you survive the emotional down times without allowing stress to
engulf you. Also, you can work to eliminate controllable stress factors, such as running late
or not getting enough sleep. But when stress is constant or too great, your wisest option is
to find ways to reduce or control it. You need not, and should not, live your life in
emotional stress and discomfort. Stress can be successfully managed. Here are some
suggestions that may help.
Understand the Causes of Stress
Understanding why you are under stress is important. This may seem obvious, but it
requires deliberate, conscious effort to pause and simply ponder your situation. By now,
you are familiar with the stress response, the emotional or physical symptoms of
uncontrolled stress. Now you need to try to discover the stressors, the factors of which
create the stress in your life.
Analyze your Stress Factors and Write Them Down
Write down your response to stress. For example, you may write down, “I feel tired most
of the time. My lower back seems to ache all through the day and night. I miss deadlines
and run behind schedule.” Analyze stress responses and consequences, and consider each
item, and ask why. “Why am I feeling tired? Why does my back ache? Why do I run behind
schedule? Carefully consider each answer, because the answers will reveal stressors, such
as deadlines, anxieties, trying to do so much, managing time or money poorly, or poor
health habits.
Deal with the Stressors
Develop techniques to deal with the causes of stress. The longer you avoid dealing with the
stress factors, the more the stress will build up. If tension comes because you have put off
an unfinished task, restructure your priorities so you can get the task that you have been
avoiding out of the way and off your mind.
Learn to Work under Pressure or Unusual Conditions
When you can’t reduce the stressors, you need to manage your stress response. Almost
everyone, at least at some point, has to meet deadlines, keep several jobs going at once,
resolve problems that come up, and do extra work when necessary. However, when the
pressure mounts, you can relieve it. Relaxation is key—but most people must train
themselves to relax when the pressure is on.
Some tips to relax when under pressure are the following:
 Stop for a moment (especially when you feel your muscles tightening up) and take a few
deep breaths.
Do a relaxing exercise. Swing your hands at your sides and stretch.
Take a “power nap.” Lie down and totally relax for a few minutes.
Find time to do the things you enjoy.
Leave your study area for a while to take a brisk walk.
Find a quiet place to read a magazine or novel during break or at lunch.
If possible, look at some peaceful images such as forests, beaches,etc. These images
can initiate a relaxation response.
Look up.
Keep something humorous on hand, such as a book of jokes.
Stress Management
Stress and change are part of our lives. We all talk about stress, but we are not always
clear about what it is. This is because stress comes from both the good and bad things that
happen to us. If we did not feel any stress, we would not be motivated to do anything. Too
much stress, however, can negatively impact our mental wellness. It also may put
students at greater risk of becoming involved in risk-taking behaviors. In senior high,
students are becoming increasingly more responsible for their own use of time. Often, they
are beginning to learn how to manage multiple tasks and expectations e.g., academic
work, extra-curricular activities, family, friends and work. Learning how to prioritize tasks
and breaking them down into manageable steps are important skills to learn for managing
stress.
Causes and Effects of Stress
Just as there is great variety of emotions you might experience, there are many possible
manifestations of stress – in your private life and in your working life. The following are
some words that describe the emotions associated (as cause and effect) with stress:
Anxiety
Pressure
Misery
Strain
Desperation
Tension
Anger
Panic
Dejection
Prolonged stress can be devastating; burnout, breakdown, and depression are some of the
potential results of long-term, unmanaged stress. By wearing a mask, you may expect to
hide stress caused by problems in your personal life and not let them influence your
performance on the job. This will probably not work. The more you try to hold your
emotions in, the greater the pressure buildup will be.
Everyday frustrations cause stress buildup
From the time you wake up until you go to sleep, you may be confronted with a succession
of stressful situations. Managing to get yourself (and possibly a spouse and children) out of
bed and ready to face the day can be a challenge to your patience and ingenuity. Driving
to school or work can be harrowing – e specially if you are running late. You may
experience frustration in arranging to get the car repaired. You may face conflicts in school
or at work, such as coping with unrealistic deadlines, equipment failures, or unexpected
bad weather. If part of your job is selling, you may experience feelings of rejection when
most of your customers say “no. A series of stressful and frustrating experiences
throughout the day can cause you to lie awake at night in an emotional turmoil – unable to
get needed rest. You face the next day with less emotional and physical stamina. After
another stressful day and another night without rest, you may have even less emotional
strength and stability. Therefore, stress buildup, if not resolved, continues day after day.
Problems in our personal life can be devastating
Surviving the normal, everyday stress described earlier can be difficult. But far more
serious and painful circumstances can create long term stress. More serious stressful
circumstances may include separation from loved ones, personal illness or illness of a loved
one, death of someone you care about, or conflict with a spouse or close friend. Other
major causes of stress are problems with drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, care
of children and elderly relatives, chronic mental illness, injury, physical handicaps, and
even moving to a new home, if you have lived in the same place for more than 10 years.
The list goes on. Managing your personal finances can be another stressful experience.
This can be a problem no matter your income level, but it is especially difficult if you must
support a family and do not earn enough to live comfortably. Unpaid bills, unwise use of
credit, and budget limitations can make life difficult.
A common cause of stress is dealing with life’s transitions
This is especially true when a person must cope with too many transitions all at once. For
example, Ellen has just completed a program in fashion merchandising. She is eager to get
started on her new job. Her mother is ill and requires care. Her father died a few months
ago. Ellen’s new job requires that she relocate to a town 100 miles from home. The move,
a new career, and a change in family relationships may cause excessive stress for her. Too
many changes have arrived at the same time.
Stress Response
Your stress response is the collection of physiological changes that occur when you face a
perceived threat—when you face situations where you feel the demands outweigh your
resources to successfully cope. These situations are known as stressors.
When your stress response is triggered, a series of changes occur within your body. They
include the following:
Redirection of blood away from extremities and instead to major organs.
The release of cortisol and other hormones, which bring other short and long-term
changes.
The stress response is intended to give you a burst of energy so you are able to fight off
attackers or run away from them effectively.
This helped our ancestors, who faced numerous physical threats, to stay safe.
However, now our threats tend to be less physical and more associated with our way of
life—a challenge to our status, a demand for performance, etc. In addition to giving us a
set of changes that may not match our needs as well (it might be more effective for us to
have a burst of mental clarity or wisdom than a burst of physical strength, for example),
the stress response can actually cause harm if it leads to a state of chronic stress—that is,
if our stress response is triggered, and then our body doesn’t go back to its normal state
via the relaxation response.