The document discusses the impact of stress on the body and mind, highlighting both chronic and acute responses to stress. It outlines the effects of stress, including health risks and psychological implications, while also providing various stress management techniques such as exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness. Additionally, the document emphasizes the importance of adapting to stressors as opportunities for growth and maintaining a supportive social network.

1. Stress Management
MUS WELLNESS
CRISTIN STOKES & NEAL ANDREWS
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2. Objectives
Stress defined
How stress affects our bodies and minds
Strategies with how to deal with stress
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3. Wellness Model
Chronic Stress compromises all of these areas!
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4. A Stressful Question:
 During the past work week, due to busyness or stress, I have:
 Lost at least an hour of sleep
 Skipped a workout
 Skipped a meal
Made a poor nutritional choice
 Missed a social outing
Neglected a loved one
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5. 2013 Wellness Survey: What do you consider your
biggest health concern(s) at this time?
42.45
37.98 37.64
2013 Data, n=1477
21.94
14.22 13.81
6.7
50
40
30
20
10
0
Weight Control Stress Physical Fitness Quality of Life Anxiety Depression CVD/Cancer
2013 Data, n=1477
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6. Understanding Stress
 What is Stress?
 Traditionally a noun, today also a verb.
 Psychological state of stress
 Physiological response to stress
 Stress, by definition, is something that threatens the body’s state of
equilibrium or homeostasis
 Eustress and Distress
 Eustress is “positive stress”, stress that the body and mind need to
perform
 Distress is negative stress
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7. The Stress Response
 Fight or Flight!
 Acute effects from stressful stimulus
 Release of adrenaline and other hormones
 Heart Rate (HR), Blood Pressure (BP), Blood sugar, Ventilation, and resting
muscle tension increase
 Blood directed away from extremities and GI tract
 Pupils dilate
 Hearing is more acute
 Sweat
 READY FOR ACTION!!!
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8. The Stress Response
 Chronic: effects of stress response remaining on constantly
 Increase in glucocorticoids (stress hormones)
 Impairs digestion, immune response, tissue repair and maintenance
 Sex drive
 Effects nearly every system in the body!
 Psychosomatic symptoms
 Muscular tension, hypertension, headaches, back/neck pain, indigestion, insomnia
 Chronic disease risk increases
 Premature aging
 Can damage brain structures tied to memory
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Clinical Anxiety Disorder
affects 40 million Americans,
making it the most common
psychiatric disorder.

9. The Stress Response
 Conditions linked to Chronic Stress
 Hypertension
 Elevated Blood Sugar
 High Cholesterol
 Increased frequency of heart attack and
stroke
 Heart Arrhythmias
 Decreased Mental Acuity
 Headaches
 Pain
 Irritable Bowel Syndrome
 Depression
 Fatigue
 Sleep Disruption
 Heartburn
 Weight fluctuation
 Poor Performance
 Aging
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10. The Stress Response
 Chronic Stress and the Human Being
 Brain gets locked into same pattern
 “Marked by pessimism, fear, and retreat” –Ratay, Spark
 “The mind is so powerful that we can set off the [stress] response just
by imagining ourselves in a threatening situation.”
 The End of Stress as we Know it, Bruce McEwen, Rockefeller University
Neuroscientist
 Humans are unique in this way—we are the only animal that can think
ourselves into a frenzy, without an actual stress stimulus.
 “…you lose the capacity to compare the situation to other memories
or to recall that you can grab a jump rope and immediately relieve the
stress or that you have friends to talk to or that it’s not the end of the
world. Positive and realistic thoughts become less accessible, and
eventually brain chemistry can shift toward anxiety or depression.”
 Ratay, Spark
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11. Key Stressors
 Drastic Changes
 Loss of Control
 Loss
 Positive Life events cause stress too!
 Marriage, birth of child, etc.
 Work
 Minor Stressors
 Accumulation
Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale
1. Death of a spouse
2. Divorce
3. Marital Separation
4. Imprisonment
5. Death of close family member
6. Personal injury or illness
7. Marriage
8. Dismissal from Work
9. Marital reconciliation
10. Change in health of family
member
11. Pregnancy
42. Christmas
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Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff!

12. Quarterbacking
 Game Manager, or All-Pro?
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“Change your thoughts and you can change
your world.”
Norman Vincent
Peale, author of
The Power of
Positive Thinking

13. Stress Hardiness
 Understanding/Envisioning stressors as opportunities, rather than threats
 The “right” amount of tension is required for optimum performance.
 Too much tension—everything has a breaking point.
 For our bodies and mind, a degree of stress is necessary for growth.
 Muscular system
 Cardiovascular system
 Skeletal system
 Central Nervous system as well!
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14. Yerkes-Dodson Stress Graph
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15. Stress Hardiness
 Achieved by:
 Feeling in control of life circumstances
 Focus on your locus of control—your psychological response to stress
 Sense of commitment to homes, families, and work
 Good social network
 Good self-care
 Balance
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16. Stress Management Techniques
 Behavioral Modification
 Cognitive Restructuring
 Changing negative thoughts into
positive or neutral thoughts
 Assertiveness Training
 Learning to say “no”
 using “I” statements, strong posture, eye
contact
 Mindful Breathing
 Progressive Relaxation
 Meditation
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“Today there is an ever-widening gap between
the evolution of our biology and our society.
We don’t have to run from lions, but we’re
stuck with the instinct…The trick is how you
respond. The way you cope with stress can
change not only how you feel, but also how it
transforms [your] brain.”
 John J. Ratay, Spark

17. Stress Management Techniques
 Sleep
 7-8 hours of quality sleep recommended for adults
 1/3 of adults do not get recommended amount
 Sleep deprivation affects ability to:
Handle Stress
Control Mood
Judge Mood of others
Tolerate Pain
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18. Stress Management Techniques
 Exercise
 “When we exercise in response to stress, we’re doing what human beings have
evolved to do over the past several million years.”
 John J. Ratay, Spark
 Fight or Flight gets us ready to be physical.
 A 2002 article in the Journal of Applied Physiology studied physical activity
patterns of early man (Paleolithic rhythm)
 Found that modern man’s average energy expenditure per unit of body mass is less
than 38% of our early ancestors.
 Paleolithic man had to walk 5 to 10 miles on average per day, in order to find food to
survive.
 10,000 Steps!!!
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19. Stress Management Techniques
 Stress and Exercise Research in the Literature
 2004 Study at Leeds Metropolitan University in England
 Workers who used company gym were more productive and felt better
able to handle their workloads.
 Based on questionnaire, 65% fared better in colleague interaction, time
management, and meeting deadlines on days in which they exercised.
 Northern Gas Company employees who participate in corporate
exercise program took 80% fewer sick days.
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20. Stress Management Techniques
 Nutrition
 People tend to respond to stress in two ways nutritionally: eat too
much or lose appetite
 Best strategy: Eat nutritionally dense, balanced foods on a regular basis
for stable energy
 Reduce added sugars
 Sugars trigger release of endorphins, but can be followed by crash in blood
glucose
 Limit caffeine, alcohol
 Stay Hydrated!
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21. Stress Management Techniques
 Social Support
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22. Stress Management Techniques
 Other Avenues:
 Yoga
 Tai Chi
 Massage Therapy
 Aromatherapy
 Pet Therapy
 Mental Imagery/Guided Imagery
 Time Management (Fall Webinar!)
 Planning and Prioritizing
 Music
 Hobbies
 Biofeedback
 Autogenic Training
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23. Counseling Benefit
 MUS insured plan members eligible for 4 free
counseling sessions per year with an in-network
provider
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24. Life is Difficult
 “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest
truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth,
we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult—once
we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer
difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is
difficult no longer matters…
 Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them
or solve them? Do we want to teach our children to solve
them?”
 Excerpt from opening page of The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck.
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25. Be a Hero!
 We idolize characters in life that weather the storm—that are cool under
pressure. Perhaps because we can all relate to stressful situations, and
understand on a deep level that we are built to cope with stress, and not
only survive but strive under stressful situations. This is our legacy as
human beings.
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26. Sources
 The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook, 6th ed. Davis,
Eshelman, & McKay.
 Stressaholic, Heidi Hanna.
 Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the
Brain, John J. Ratey.
 Managing Stress, Brian Luke Seaward.
 The Healthiest You, Kelly Traver.
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27. Online Resources
 wellness.mus.edu
 muswell.limeade.com
montanamovesandmeals.com
 wellness@montana.edu
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