This document summarizes a workshop on stress management. It includes the following key points: 1) The workshop aims to share knowledge about stress, consider how to avoid and deal with stress, and set resolutions to help manage stress in the future. 2) Common stressors include feeling the need to be perfect, strong, busy, and pleasing others. Traits can unconsciously drive stressful behaviors. 3) When stressed, one should notice their feelings, breathe deeply, find an outlet, take time out, and focus on what they can control rather than what they cannot. Having a positive attitude is important for managing stress.

1. Workshop on Stress
for members of
AMDIS
24 November 2011
Julia Steward
Chrysalis Leadership Development Ltd

2. If you can keep your head …
Aims of the workshop
 Share what we know about stress
 Consider how to avoid becoming stressed
 Consider how to deal with stress when we
encounter it
 Make a resolution which will help in future

3. Whitehall II : Stress and Health 1985

4. Stress
The good news
The number of cases of stress at work fell slightly in
2010/11 as compared to the previous year (not
statistically significant)
However …
health, social work, education and public
administration were the industries that reported the
highest incidence of stress
Figures from the HSE

5. A state of mind we experience when we
feel unable to meet the demands of the
moment, often leading to a sense of
being out of control when we want to
feel in control

6. Danger! Message from
brain to adrenal
glands: ‘release
Blood flow adrenalin!’
focuses on
what’s
essential for Increased sugar, higher
survival heart rate, raised blood
pressure
away from here +
hypothalamus
to here
pituitary gland
increased cortisol

9. Task 1: What causes you stress
• Individually spend up to 5
minutes listing things that cause
you stress
• Share with a colleague
• Similarities/differences

10. situation others
me

11. Nothing is
stressful to me
unless I choose
to make it so

12. Injunctions
ought
should
12

13. Traits
Generally, unconscious drivers of behaviour:
 be perfect: produce reliable accurate work; not
okay to get things wrong
 be strong: calm under pressure; not okay show
feelings
 hurry up: motivated by pressure/takes on a lot;
keep busy
 try hard: energised by new things; may be more
motivated by endeavour than success
 please people: put others first; may become
overloaded for fear of letting others down

14. Task 2: Traits and drivers of behaviour
• Individually spend a few minutes scanning the
document; focus on
– positive attributes
– trait indicators
• Share with a colleague
• Go back to ‘causes of stress’; what are the
connections? What can you change/influence to
make a difference?
• What would you need to do/believe to achieve
that?
• Share your resolution

15. I’m feeling stressed …
• Notice!
• Breathe deeply
• Find an outlet for the adrenalin
and cortisol
• Take time out
• Positive self talk
• What are you in control of?
• What do you need to let go of?
Practise relaxation
15

16. Attitude
The longer I live the more I realise the impact of attitude on life
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more
important than the past, than education, than money, than
circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other
people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill
We cannot change our past... We cannot change the inevitable
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and
that is our attitude
Charles Swindoll