This lecture discusses stress management. It will help students recognize signs of stress, understand its impact, and create an action plan for well-being. Stress is defined as the body's response to demands and can be acute, episodic acute, or chronic. Common causes include health issues, work pressure, lack of support, trauma, finances, and unemployment. Signs include headaches, tiredness, mood changes, behaviors changes. Long term stress can negatively impact personal well-being and other life areas. Effective stress management includes identifying triggers, adopting healthy lifestyle habits, and building a strong support system.

1. Thought Leadership 3:
Identity, Awareness, and
Emotional Intelligence
Lecture 1
Stress Management

2. In this lecture, students will
▪ Recognize the signs of stress and identify
triggers
▪ Discuss the impact of stress on wellbeing
▪ Create an action plan to ensure a healthy
work-life balance
Lesson Objectives

3. Understanding Stress
▪ The World Health Organization (WHO) defines
stress as the body’s response to anything that
requires attention or action.
▪ Based on its features, symptoms, duration, and
treatment options, stress can be categorized
into three types:
- Acute: This is the most common type of stress
and gets triggered by thinking about past
traumatic events or upcoming demands.
- Episodic acute stress: This occurs when
someone experiences multiple events of acute
stress
- Chronic: This happens when someone feels
stuck in a long-term bad situation
▪ Identifying which type of stress you are facing
can help you in creating a plan of action for
yourself or seeking professional help.
Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/.

4. Causes of Stress
Mental/physical
health issues
Work pressure or
unhealthy work
environment
Lack of support
Traumatic life event
Financial burden
Unemployment
The root cause of stress will vary from person to person. A stressful situation for one individual, need
not necessarily be stressful for another. However, that does not mean that your feelings are unjustified.
Much like any other problem, an important step in dealing with stress is identifying the cause or
triggers. Some of the common causes behind stress might be:

5. Identifying Signs of Stress
▪ Stress manifests itself in different ways depending on
the severity. However, some common signs of stress
that you should look out for are:
On your body On your mood On your behavior
Headaches Restlessness Social withdrawal
Constant
tiredness
Anger or
irritation
Overeating or
undereating
Sleep problems Anxiety Anger outbursts
Muscle pain
Loss of interest
or motivation
Exercising less
often

6. Activity
1. Think back on a time when you were in a
stressful situation that you handled well.
2. Identify the internal and external stressors
that you experienced.
3. Using the guiding questions given on the next
slide, reflect on what helped you overcome
those feelings.

7. Activity: Identifying Stressors
Situation External stressors
Example: A major life event
Internal Stressors
Example: How you respond
to events
Reflection Questions
1. What did you do that allowed you to manage the situation?
2. What would others see you doing that told them you were managing it?
3. Over the next week try to notice when you feel stressed. What is the situation – who are you
with? What are you doing? Where are you?
4. Are there similar situations where you don’t feel stressed? When you are coping well? What are
you and others around you doing differently?

8. What impact does stress
have on your life?

9. Effects of Stress
Stress caused by daily-life activities is usually
manageable and temporary. Most of you might
have found healthy coping mechanisms to
handle it well. Exercising, cooking, art, singing
are some of the tools adopted by individuals
for managing stress. However, if unresolved,
long-term stress can have dire consequences
on an individual’s mental and physical
wellbeing and impact most areas of their life.
Owing to this, it is important to identify the
triggers and causes of your stress and create
a healthy and doable action plan for
overcoming challenging situations.
On your personal wellbeing

10. Exercising
Meditation Listening to music
Reading Art
Journaling Playing with pets
Stress
Management
Techniques
Stress Management Techniques
Managing stress is not a one time task. The most effective way to handle stress is by adopting a healthy
lifestyle that includes exercising regularly, eating well, maintaining healthy relationships, and giving
yourself a break whenever you feel overwhelmed. Identifying individuals who can support you will go a long
way. Some other effective stress management techniques include:

11. Activity
1. Take the next 10 minutes to think about
individuals who can support you during
stressful times.
2. This list can include family members, friends,
colleagues, etc.
3. A strong approach would be to identify one or
more such individuals for different situations
that you anticipate becoming stressful.

12. Who can you
talk to?
How can others
tell how you are
feeling?
Who can support you
emotionally?
Who is around
you?
Who can you talk
to beyond your
current support
system?
Reflection
Questions
Activity: Community of Support