Understanding the self

1. TAKING CHARGE OF
ONE’S HEALTH

2. STRESSORS AND RESPONSES

3. STRESS
• Stress is the body's reaction to any change that requires
an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these
changes with physical, mental, and emotional
responses. Stress is a normal part of life. You can
experience stress from your environment, your body,
and your thoughts. Even positive life changes such as a
promotion, a mortgage, or the birth of a child produce
stress.

4. STRESSORS
• Stressors are events or conditions in your surroundings
that may trigger stress.
• Stress can be positive or negative, depending on the
situation. Positive stressors (called eustress) may
include an upcoming wedding, the holidays,
or pregnancy. On the other hand, negative stress (called
distress) results in the full-blown stress response. If
continuous, negative stress can lead to loss of
productivity, health problems, and exhaustion.

5. STRESS RESPONSE
• The stress response, or “fight or flight” response is the
emergency reaction system of the body. It is there to keep
you safe in emergencies. The stress response includes
physical and thought responses to your perception of
various situations. When the stress response is turned on,
your body may release substances like adrenaline and
cortisol. Your organs are programmed to respond in certain
ways to situations that are viewed as challenging or
threatening.

6. FIGHT OR FLIGHT
• The "fight or flight" response makes your heart beat faster. You might feel
very nervous, making it difficult to breathe. Short term, the "fight or flight"
response causes changes that allow you to handle sudden stressful events.
When you face fear -- or even recall a stressful or frightening event from
the past -- the resulting hormonal changes super-charge your body to a
state of high arousal. This prepares you for action. But long-term stress
can be particularly difficult. When stress hormones stay elevated over
time, there is a gradual and steady stream of harmful changes to the body.
Long-term stress can suppress the immune system, which may lead to the
development of diseases.

7. PHYSICAL RESPONSES
Increased Heart rate
Weight Gain
Constipation
Muscle Twitching
Low Energy
Tight Chest
Dizziness
Stomach Cramps
Insomnia
Headache
Muscle aches
Nausea
Dry Mouth
Weight Loss
Weakness
Diarrhea
Trembling
Chills
Sweating
Choking Feeling
Leg Cramps

8. EMOTIONAL AND
THOUGHT RESPONSES
Restlessness
Agitation
Worthlessness
Depression
Guilt
Anger
Nightmares
Sensitivity
Numbness
Mood Swings
Decreased Concentration
Preoccupation
Insecurity
Anxiety - Stress
Depression
Hopelessness
Defensiveness
Racing Thoughts
Intense Thinking
Expecting the Worst
Lack of Motivation
Forgetfulness
Rigidity
Intolerance

9. BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES
Avoidance
Neglect
Increased Smoking
Poor Appearance
Increased Spending
Decreased Eating
Nail Biting
Increased Talking
Sexual Problems
Fidgeting
Decreased Exercise
Aggressive Speaking

10. SOURCES OF COPING AND STRENGTH

11. Become Aware of Your
Stressors and Reactions
• Before you can reduce the negative effects of stress, you have
to find out what causes your stress and how you cope. One
tool that can help is mindfulness, which is a practice of
becoming more aware of what’s going on—in your body, mind,
and the environment around you. Rather than running back to
a habitual pattern of avoiding or obsessing, mindfulness allows
you to simply be present and notice what’s happening right
now, giving you the space to choose the best way to respond.

12. STRESS SYMPTOMS
• Physical complaints (stomachaches, headaches, chest pains, nausea, and diarrhea,
and a sensation of numbness or tingling in your hands, arms, and face.)
• Problems getting along with family members, friends, and teachers.
• Changes in behavior at home (short temper, unexplained anger, crying for no
reason).
• Regression -- behavior that is not age-appropriate.
• Dysfunctional sleep patterns, including nightmares, too little sleep, difficulty falling
asleep, or even oversleeping.
• Communication difficulty or personality changes, such as becoming withdrawn or
requiring much more attention than usual.
• Impatience.
 If you are experiencing a few of these symptoms, chances are that your level of stress
is high. If left untreated, stress can lead to permanent feelings of helplessness and
ineffectiveness.

13. PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
• Dizziness or a general feeling of "being out of it."
• General aches and pains.
• Grinding teeth, clenched jaw.
• Headaches.
• Indigestion or acid reflux symptoms.
• Increase in or loss of appetite.
• Muscle tension in neck, face or shoulders.
• Problems sleeping.
• Racing heart.
• Cold and sweaty palms.
• Tiredness, exhaustion.
• Trembling/shaking.
• Weight gain or loss.
• Upset stomach, diarrhea.
• Sexual difficulties.

14. MANAGING STRESS

15. IDENTIFY THE SOURCES OF STRESS
• Try to figure out what's causing your stress
symptoms. Maybe you are overextended
(too many commitments) and feel fatigued
and irritable. Once you identify the sources
of stress, try to minimize these as much as
possible.

16. SOCIAL SUPPORT
• Confidants, friends, acquaintances, co-workers,
relatives, spouses, and companions all provide a life-
enhancing social net — and may increase longevity. It's
not clear why, but the buffering theory holds that
people who enjoy close relationships with family and
friends receive emotional support that indirectly helps
to sustain them at times of chronic stress and crisis.

17. TAKE TIME OUT
• Before you reach your breaking point,
take time out for solitude. Take time to
nurture yourself, away from the cares
and responsibilities of the world. Find
time for inner strength and emotional
healing.

18. SET LIMITS
• Never hesitate to say "no" before you take
on too many commitments. Especially if you
are balancing work and family, it's important
to prioritize. Saying "no" can help bring your
stress to a manageable level and give you
more control over your life.

19. EXERCISE DAILY
• Exercise is thought to increase the secretion of endorphins,
naturally produced substances in the brain that induce feelings
of peacefulness. Many studies show that exercise, along with
the boosted endorphin levels, really does increase confidence
and self-esteem and reduce tension. Exercise also acts as
a displacement defense mechanism for those who are "stressed
out." What does that mean? If you've ever walked for several
miles, you know how hard it is to think of your problems when
your mind is focused on walking.

20. ADJUST YOUR ATTITUDE
• We often respond to stressful events in ways that are
not particularly helpful. Sometimes our attitudes
become negative, defeatist, or worrisome, which can
make it difficult to mindfully deal with stress. If this
sounds familiar to you, know that simply adjusting your
attitude can reduce stress. Research suggests that if you
approach a situation as a challenge, rather than a
threat, you don’t trigger the stress responses that can
damage health.

21. STRESS AND THE FILIPINOS:
THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
DIMENSIONS OF STRESS

22. “Sure, Filipinos are resilient, but this
doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t
feel stressed.”
-Michael L. Tan

23. HOW DO we say we’re stressed in Filipino?
• We don’t have a word in any of our Philippine languages for
stress and being stressed. But that doesn’t mean we Filipinos
don’t ever experience stress. We feel it all the time and we see
it producing illnesses, both physical and mental, both fleeting
(as in having to run to the toilet) and serious, life-threatening
ones. Because stress affects the body’s immune system, we
can say all ailments are in one way or another stress-related,
from asthma to singaw (canker sores), to cardiovascular
ailments and even infectious diseases.

24. HOW DO we say we’re stressed in Filipino?
• Not enough’s being done to understanding stress
in its local context, yet stress is mediated through
culture: from the very nature of the stressors, to
the ways we respond to the stress.
Understanding this local context might help us
develop more culturally appropriate, and
therefore more effective, ways to deal with
stress.

25. STRESSORS ARE NOT UNIVERSAL
• For example, we say “noise” is stressful, but what
exactly is noise? Culturally, we have different thresholds
for these sounds. I have a nephew and a niece who
were born and bred in Canada, and they find the
Philippines too “noisy”: the jeepneys, the arcade games
in malls, even the way people talk. Yet they have no
problems tuning into hard rock music on their iPods.

26. FILIPINOS’ SOURCES OF STRESS
• Beyond these sensory stresses, we Filipinos
do face many sources of stress, around work
and livelihood mainly. Farmers worry about
drought and typhoons; urbanites go berserk
with tyrannical bosses and vicious gossipy
office-mates.

27. FILIPINOS’ SOURCES OF STRESS
• Rural or urban, we all face the stresses of family, perhaps more
so than in Western countries. We like to say we are family-
oriented, with relatives always on hand to help out. But the
extended Filipino family can be stressful too, with all its
obligations. Overseas workers have a particularly difficult time
with all the expectations family members have back home. I’ve
met Filipinos overseas, from Hong Kong domestic workers to
physicians in the United States, who postpone returning home
for years because they dread the jeepneyloads of relatives
waiting for pasalubong (gifts).

28. FILIPINOS’ WAY OF OVERCOMING STRESS
• There are power dimensions to all this, such as those
found in gender. Contrary to stereotypes about women
being more expressive, Filipinas are actually more
prone to dealing with stressful situations
through tiis (endurance) and kimkim (repression).
Check out the local scenes of merriment: it’s usually
men having a good time, bringing out the beer and
toasting their problems away, while their women look
for ways to make ends meet.

29. FILIPINOS’ WAY OF OVERCOMING STRESS
• Men, too, are expected to keep their
feelings in check, but more out of masculine
values of strength and stoicism. Men are
generally not allowed to cry, much less to go
into hysterics; and this probably helps to
explain why more men suffer from
cardiovascular disease.

30. FILIPINOS’ WAY OF EXPRESSING STRESS
• Many Filipinos will express their stress by complaining about recurring
headaches, or abdominal pains, accompanied by dizziness, nausea, fatigue.
Doctors used to dismiss these as being all in the mind, but it has become clear
the physical pain and distress may be quite real, that the pent-up stress is
expressed through the body.
• These vague symptoms have been labeled as “somatization syndrome,” and are
often hard to treat, partly because medical professionals still haven’t figured out
the biological processes involved. Culturally, too, people may attach labels that
don’t quite reflect the actual part of the body that’s affected, as when they say
that they’re suffering from nerbyos or “nerves.” Nerbyos doesn’t necessarily
mean being nervous; it’s often hypertension or high blood pressure, for example,
and a health professional or caregiver may miss the problem.

31. FILIPINOS’ WAY OF EXPRESSING STRESS
• Then, too, there’s the intriguing bangungot, those sudden deaths,
usually at night, associated with nightmares. The term itself is
derived from bangon, to rise, and ungol, to moan. Young healthy
men, like the late actor Rico Yan, die mysteriously and the diagnosis
is immediate: bangungot. The medical world remains stumped,
attributing the deaths to everything, from pancreatitis to congenital
defects in the heart, but too little has been done to explore the
stress angle. Similar “culture-bound” illnesses are found also in other
neighboring countries and the deaths tend to be reported in
international medical journals because they often occur in people
who are away from home.

32. FILIPINOS’ WAY OF MANAGING STRESS
• Ultimately, stress management is a matter of helping
people to recognize that the world, which seems so
stressful, can also be a source of joy and pleasure,
fulfillment and renewal. The therapies being dangled
around are really meant as appetizers, ways of inducing
the depressed the person to garner enough strength
and courage to re-engage not just the world, but life
itself.

33. TAKING CARE OF THE SELF:
THE NEED FOR SELF CARE AND
COMPASSION

34. We sometimes use “self-care” as a proxy
for “self-compassion.” But they’re
actually different concepts. Self-
compassion is regarding yourself
compassionately. Self-care, by contrast,
is treating yourself compassionately. The
two terms sound interchangeable, but
they contain a thinking versus
doing distinction.

35. SELF-CARE
• Self-care has been defined as providing
adequate attention to one's own physical
and psychological wellness (Beauchamp &
Childress, 2001). Beyond being an
aspirational goal, engaging in self-care has
been described as an "ethical imperative"
(Norcross & Barnett, 2008)

36. SELF-COMPASSION
• Self-compassion is an act of love, understanding,
and acceptance.
• If you’ve ever berated yourself over mistakes or
shortcomings, you’ll know how it feels to lack
self-compassion. The same goes for any time
you’ve tried to drown your sorrow or ignore it
with a “stiff upper lip” mentality.

37. People can go through the motions of self-
care without having self-compassion.
Similarly, they can view themselves
compassionately and still not take care of
themselves. The two concepts, though, need
to work together. Self-care without self-
compassion discharges a debt, usually with
suffering somewhere else. Self-care with self-
compassion is a gift that doesn’t have to be
earned or repaid.

38. “Treat yourself as if you
were a loving mother
holding their child”
— Buddha

39. CREATING COMPASSION
• Developing a positive self-attitude is
imperative for a healthy, happy life. It’s part
of the reason that the mindfulness
movement took off — having a good life
matters most. That is the promise that the
privatization of mindfulness sells us.

40. STEP TO SELF-CARE
• The next step to self-care is developing self-
compassion. Until we can acknowledge failures and
mistakes, moving towards a happier self will always
remain elusive. Right now, each of us has the language
to treat ourselves with compassion. It’s the same way
we’d respond to those closest to us in their time of
anguish. We all need to direct that attitude inward. It’s
the ideal solution to confronting and overcoming our
faults.

41. “If your compassion doesn’t
include yourself, it is
incomplete.”
-Jack Kornfield

42. ADVIENTO, MICHELLE
CABANILLA, CHARLENE
RIOJA, JIM
BSCE-1D