This document provides information from a stress management workshop, including tips and strategies for dealing with unemployment stress. It includes a psychological test, information on managing stress through proper nutrition and vitamins, exercise, and maintaining a strong sense of self during unemployment. Key recommendations are to make a list of accomplishments, take classes, volunteer, focus on a balanced diet with stress-reducing vitamins like B vitamins and vitamin C, engage in varied exercise activities regularly, and avoid seeing unemployment as failure but as an opportunity.

1. Stress Management Workshop
Employment Development Department
Workforce Services Division
“We often become meditative without realizing it, such as when we are
totally focused on an activity, or when we are sitting and gazing out a window
without a particular thought in mind.” Author Unknown.

2. Getting Creative in a tough Job
Market

3. Life is a Wheel
(Constantly Changing)
The goal is to ‘center’ yourself
* Happy *Loss *Suffering *Hope

4. Psychological Test
1. When do you feel your best?
a.) in the morning
b.) during the afternoon and early evening
c.) late at night
2. You usually walk
a.) fairly fast, with long steps
b.) fairly fast, with little steps
c.) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
d.) less fast, head down
e.) very slowly

5. Psychological Test
3.When talking to people you
a.) stand with your arms folded
b.) have your hands clasped
c.) have one or both your hands on your hips
d.) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
e.) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your
hair
4. When relaxing, you sit with
a.) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
b.) your legs crossed
c.) your legs stretched out or straight
d.) one leg curled under you

6. Psychological Test
5. When something really amuses you, you react with
a.) a big, appreciative laugh
b.) a laugh, but not a loud one
c.) a quiet chuckle
d.) a sheepish smile
6. When you go to a party or social gathering you
a.) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
b.) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone
you know
c.) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed

7. Psychological Test
7. You’re working very hard, concentrating hard, and
you’re interrupted; do you…
a.) welcome the break
b.) feel extremely irritated
c.) vary between these two extremes
8. Which of the following colors do you like most?
a.) red or orange
b.) black
c.) yellow or light blue
d.) green
e.) dark blue or purple
f.) white
g.) brown or grey

8. Psychological Test
9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few
moments before going to sleep, you lie
a.) stretched out on your back
b.) stretched out face down on your stomach
c.) on your side, slightly curled
d.) with your head on one arm
e.) with your head under the covers
10. You often dream that you are
a.) falling
b.) fighting or struggling
c.) searching for something or somebody
d.) flying or floating
e.) you usually have dreamless sleep
f.) your dreams are always pleasant

9. Points
1. (a.) 2 (b.) 4 (c.) 6
2. (a.) 6 (b.) 4 (c.) 7 (d.) 2 (e.) 1
3. (a.) 4 (b.) 2 (c.) 5 (d.) 7 (e.) 6
4. (a.) 4 (b.) 6 (c.) 2 (d.) 1
5. (a.) 6 (b.) 4 (c.) 3 (d.) 5 (e.) 2
6. (a.) 6 (b.) 4 (c.) 2
7. (a.) 6 (b.) 2 (c.) 4
8. (a.) 6 (b.) 7 (c.) 5 (d.) 4 (e.) 3 (f.) 2 (g.) 1
9. (a.) 7 (b.) 6 (c.) 4 (d.) 2 (e.) 1
10.(a.) 4 (b.) 2 (c.) 3 (d.) 5 (e.) 6 (f.) 1

10. Unemployment Stress:
How to Keep a Strong Sense of Self
• Make a list of all of your positive accomplishments
(take your time over this, add items later as you think
about them). Anything relating to work is going to be
valuable to put in your resume but there is more to
life than work so look at other areas too.
• Taking night classes while continuing to work.
• Coaching little league.
• Volunteering for a charity drive.
• Running a household while working full time.
• Losing that extra 10 lbs.

11. Eliminate Stress Through Proper
Nutrition
Just like a vehicle needs proper fuel and maintenance
to perform properly, so does the human body. Over
time, abuse and neglect can lead to a wide array of
problems and eventual breakdown.
Stress has the same effect on the body, over time it
causes a variety of symptoms, which left untreated
can lead to life-threatening illnesses like heart
disease and cancer.
A well-balanced, nutrient rich diet is essential for
health and stress reduction. Simple adjustments to
your diet now can immediately reduce the effects of
stress, which in turn will give you more energy, make
you stronger, and more resistant to disease.

12. Stress Vitamins
• There are a couple of vitamins that have been shown
in studies to greatly prevent and/or reduce the signs
of stress. According to Psychology Today, people with
high levels of vitamin C do not display the expected
signs of mental and physical stress when subjected to
intense psychological stresses.
• In addition, the family of B-vitamins strengthens the
nervous and immune systems, which allows them to
better combat fatigue brought on by stress. The B
vitamin Niacin also helps the body effectively release
energy from carbohydrates, balancing and leveling
blood sugar levels which also reduce stress.

13. Exercise to Reduce Stress
• Think of exercise as "recess." Children need play
time, and so do adults. We need to stretch our
muscles, get our hearts pumping, breathe fresh air
and take a break from our responsibilities.
• Separate yourself from work. To get a stress-
reducing benefit from exercise, choose an activity
that's separate from the work you do all day long.
Chasing after children, using the stairs at work,
running the vacuum cleaner and mowing the lawn are
good ways to burn calories. But they may not do much
to reduce stress. Find activities that take your mind
away from the daily grind.

14. Exercise to Reduce Stress
• Keep it varied. Many people get bored doing the same
activity, then feel like quitting. So mix it up. For
example, take a yoga class once a week, go for a walk
a few times per week, then play racquetball with a
friend.
• Remember activities you enjoyed as a child. Chances
are, you'll still like them. Was ballet a lot of fun?
Take dance lessons. Did you love to go skating? Adults
can do that too. Did you enjoy competitive sports?
Look into group activities at the local community
center, health club or similar organization.
• Schedule it in and keep it regular. If your days
already seem too crowded without exercise, you
probably need to let something go.

15. Closing Thoughts
When we lose our jobs, no matter the reason, we lose
a big part of our identity. The scourge of
unemployment is what it does to our minds.
Do not look at unemployment as a failure. Look at it as
an opportunity to learn and a chance to explore
career options.
Please try and keep your spirits up, believe in yourself
and never stop moving forward. Hopefully today’s
workshop has better equipped you to handle the
demands of the job search.

16. Sources
The Wheel of Life 1: The emotions of change
http://.lessons4living.com/wheel_of_life1.html
Dilbert Comic Strip 12-20-04 Scott Adams, Inc. Dist.
by UFS, Inc.
Guided Relaxation Script – Zoe Sameth
The 12 Rules of Lasting Success – Tom Terez 2009. Workplace
Solutions, Inc. Source: BetterWorkplaceNow.com
Eileen Cady, The Dawn of Change –quote.
Dr. Phil’s Psychology Test www.anvan.org/fun/test/dr_phil_psychology _test.html
Unemploymentblues.com. Unemployment Stress How to Keep a Strong Sense of Self by Virginia
Bola, Psy D. The sideroad.htm.
http://www.allina.com/ac/transcript.nsf/ all topics/Exercise _to_reduce_stress. Source: C. Krucoff. Healing
Moves. Harmony Books, New York, New York. 2000; F. Pashkow and C. Libov. The Women’s Heart Book. Hyperion.
New York, New York. 10023, 2001.