Everyday frustrations cause stress build-up 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 – especially if you’re 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 len less emotional strength
and stability. Therefore, stress build-up, if not resolved, continues day after day.
Problems in our personal life can be devastating Surviving the normal, everyday stress described above 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, even movin

moving to a new home, if you’ve lived in the same place for more than 10 years. The list goes on and on.
Managing your personal Managing your personal finances can be another stressful experience. This can be a
problem no matter what your income level, but it is especially difficult if you must support a family nd 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 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. Source: Personal
Development for Life and Work, 8th Ed., by Wallace, H.R.
Activity: WHAT CAUSES YOU TO “LOSE YOUR COOL”? We all have certain
things, situations, or people that cause us to lose our composure from time
to time. Determine what causes YOU to “lose your cool” by completing this
activity. When you begin to identify your stressors, you can become skilled at
preventing negative consequences. Place an X next to each factor that causes
you stress. There are blank spaces provided so you can add your own.
Activity 2: STRESS SIGNALS Take a look at the warning signs of stress
listed below. Check EACH of the warning signs that apply to you. When
you are finished checking your warning signs, discuss your list with
someone you can trust. Are there any similarities? How much stress do
you think you are currently under? Discuss ways that you can eliminate
some of the stress that could start to cause you physical or emotional or
behavioral difficulties. Physical
Reading: 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:
1. 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.
2. The stress response is intended to give you a burst of energy so you’re able to fight off attackers or run
away from them effectively.
3. This helped our ancestors, who faced numerous physical threats, to stay safe.
4. 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.

Source: “What is a stress response?” by Scott, E. (2016)

All
Activity 2: QUIET TIME Provide students with 15 minutes of quiet time. Play
calming music. Provide students with paint, clay or pencils for creating if need
be. Students can put their heads on the desk or find a quiet space somewhere
in the room to relax. After 15 minutes of quiet time, students may share the
experience of how they felt before, during and after the activity.

Portfolio Output No. 9: My Stress Signals Write about your stress signals.
Answer the following questions:
1. How do you know that you are stressed?
2. What stress signals do you have that your partner does not have?
3. How much stress do you think you are currently under?
4. How are your stress signals different for different types of stressors?
5. What are some ways that you usually remove or reduce the stress that
cause you physical, emotional or behavioral difficulties?
Topic 13: Stress Management Introduction / Procedure / Reminders:

1. 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 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.

2. Learning how to prioritize tasks and break them down into manageable steps is an important skill to learn
for managing stress.

3. Start the class by doing the Belly Breathing Exercise s an Motivation. 4. Discuss with the class the Reading:
Keep Stress Under Control. 5. Do the Activity 1: Stress Survival Kit with the class. 6. Explain the Activity 2:
Project To-Do-List. Do Activity 2A in class, and ass
Motivation: BELLY BREATHING Deep breathing is a stress reduction strategy that can be
used in the present moment as well as an excellent skill to master to more effectively cope
with future stressors. Have all students stand with comfortable space between each other
or seated in a chair. Give the following directions:
1. Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Relax your arms and hands.
3. Relax your body.
4. Close your eyes.
5. Focus on lower abdomen (belly) and imagine a small balloon in that space.
6. Breath in slowly and deeply through nostrils, imagining the balloon inflating (getting
bigger/larger/growing) slowly, hold a few seconds
7. All Slowly exhale through the mouth, imagining the balloon gently deflating (getting
smaller, shrinking); blow out of the mouth as if blowing out a candle
8. Tip: Place a hand over the lower abdomen to feel it go up and down, and make sure
you’re not breathing with the chest
9. Repeat at least 10 times. Ask students how different their bodies feel after the exercise.
(Are they more relaxed/calm? Do they feel lighter? Great? Tired?)
Explain that Belly breathing is one of the strategies that one can do in stressful situations,
but there are others too. Source:
http://www.healthiersf.org/resources/pubs/stressRed/StressReductionActivities.pdf
Reading: 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 strategies 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 pre
Some tips to relax when under pressure are the following:
1. Stop for a moment (especially when you feel your muscles tightening up) and take a few deep
breaths.
2. Do a relaxing exercise. Swing your hands at your sides and stretch.
3. Take a “power nap.” Lie down and totally relax for a few minutes.
4. Find time to do the things you enjoy.
5. Leave your study area for a while to take a brisk walk.
6. Find a quiet place to read a magazine or novel during break or at lunch.
7. If possible, look at some peaceful images such as forests, beaches, etc. These images can initiate
a relaxation response.
8. Look up.
9. Keep something humorous on hand, such as a book of jokes.
 Activity 1: STRESS SURVIVAL KIT
Reviewing the student responses to the Stress Bingo, discuss how people deal with stress differently. Survival kits
are essential to prepare before a crisis. Sometimes, we also need to prepare survival kits for stressful situations,
before they happen. In this activity, the students will be making their own survival kits that will help cope with
stress within their everyday lives. You may show them your survival kit and what you have inside it. Talk about why
you put certain things into your kit and how it helps you cope with stress.
1. Choose 3 objects or symbols that make you feel relaxed to include in your kit.
2. You can make the symbols.
3. You can use words or pictures.
4. You can bring an object from home.
5. Think about how the symbol helps you when you are dealing with stress and stressful situations.
6. Write a paragraph for each symbol or object in your kit and how it helps you cope with stress in your everyday
life. 7
Process Questions:
1. How do you find your activity?
2. In what situation that shows stress in the performance
from group 1 and 2?
3. How do you cope –up/ manage your stress as a
students?
4. Cite instances in your life where in you manage to
solve problems that brought you stress?
AS A SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS,
WHAT ARE THOSE COMMON SITUATIONS
THAT CAUSES YOU STRESS IN YOUR DAILY
LIFE? HOW DO YOU HANDLE IT?