Activities for Stress Management and Prevention

Jeffrey A. Kottler and David Chen

Part I (5% of Course Grade)

Due Date – June 13th 2012

Instructions: Please complete the following exercises thoroughly. Even though

there is no limit on the length of each exercise, your work will be evaluated

based on the thoughtfulness and effort put into it. Use a different color to

complete your answers. Thanks!

Chapter 1- The Meaning of Stress

Activity 1.1: Matching Questions

Directions: Find out how much you know the history of research on stress by

completing the following matching questions.

Leaders/Researchers Events/Influence

1 Oriental doctors,

Greek doctors

A Adaptive function of fear and stress

2 Claude Bernard B The fight-or-flight; response/homeostasis

3 Charles Darwin C The general adaptation syndrome

4 Sigmund Freud D Homeostasis and “fight-or-flight”

response

5 Walter Cannon E Allostasis

6 Hans Selye F Theory of anxiety and unconsciousness

7 G The importance of moderation and

avoidance of excess in food, sex, thoughts,

and emotions, etc.

8 Sterling and Eyer H Allostatic load

9 Bruce McEwen and

Elliot Stellar

I The internal environment

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Activity 1.2: Understanding the Meaning of Stress.

Directions: The following statements are not accurate. State why they are false by

using evidence cited in the text, or examples from your life, to refute the

fallacious statements.

1. Stress is the same for everybody.

2. The relationship between stress and the incidence of illness is simple and

straightforward.

3. Stress is always bad for you.

4. Stress is everywhere, so you can't do anything about it.

5. Whenever someone experiences a stressor, he/she will inevitably experience

physiological arousal or emotional anxiety.

6. If someone does not display symptoms, it means that he/she has no stress.

7. Only major stressors cause damage to your health.

8. Your goal in stress management class is to completely eliminate stress.

Activity 1.3: Sentence Completion Exercises

Directions: In these exercises, complete the sentences as many times as you can

with different endings.

1. I feel most stressed out when

2. I feel most relaxed when

3. When I feel stress, I would normally (talk about how you feel, behavior, and

think)

4). If I had known more about the harm of excessive stress to my health, I would

Activity 1.4: Reflections on what you learned

Directions: Write down your initial impressions and goals. You have just begun this

journey exploring the nature and meaning of stress in your life. Based on your

introduction to this subject in your first classes and readings, what would you like to

accomplish before the course is completed? Write down several of your most important

goals in the space provided. After the semester is over, you will have the opportunity to

go back and review these first impressions, comparing them to what you actually

accomplished.

Chapter 2- The Body’s Reactions to Stress

Activity 2.1 Physiological Basis of Stress

Directions: Test your understanding of the following concepts by completing the

following matching questions (refer to Chapter 2 in the text):

Neural Structures Clues

1 Nervous system

A Consisting of organs that process food

sources, converting them into useable

energy

2 Endocrine system

B Allowing us to move when our muscles

contract

3 Cardiovascular system

C Collective name for all of the neurons in

the body

4 Respiratory system

D Consisting of the sympathetic and

parasympathetic nervous systems

5 Immune system

E Increasing the bodily metabolism and

energy expenditure

6 Musculoskeletal

system

F Producing hormones and emptying them

into the bloodstream

7 Digestive system

G Delivering oxygen, hormones, nutrients

and white blood cells to the body

8 Reproductive system

H The adrenal cortex hormones that affect

metabolism of fats and carbohydrates

9 Autonomic nervous

system

I The endocrine gland under the

hypothalamus that secretes hormones that

control other glands

10 Sympathetic nervous

system

J An adrenal cortical steroid hormone that

regulates mineral metabolism and fluid

balance

11 Parasympathetic

nervous system

K Also known as “sensory relay center”

12 Hypothalamus L Playing an important role in memory,

spatial navigation, and stress termination

13 Thalamus M An abbreviation for corticotrophin-

releasing factor

14 Limbic system N An abbreviation for adrenocorticotropic

hormone

15 Hippocampus O The endocrine glands on top of each

kidney that secrete stress hormones

16 CRF P The endocrine gland in the neck that

secretes the hormone thyroxin

17 ACTH Q Providing defense against foreign

invaders

18 Glococorticoids R Also known as the “seat of emotions”

19 Mineralcorticoids S Processing emotions and activating the

fight-or-flight response

20 Pituitary gland T Dedicated to the production of offspring

21 Thyroid gland U Providing oxygen and nourishment to the

body’s cells

22 Adrenal gland V Reducing the bodily metabolism and

energy expenditure

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Activity 2.2: Understanding the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Systems

Directions: Fill in the spaces provided to indicate the effects of the autonomic

nervous systems on these target organs.

Effects of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Systems on Selected Organs

Effector Sympathetic System Parasympathetic System

Pupils of eye

Sweat glands

Digestive glands

Heart

Bronchi of lungs

Muscles of digestive system

Kidneys

Urinary bladder

Liver

Adrenal medulla

Blood vessels to

Skeletal muscles

Skin

Respiratory system

Digestive organs

Chapter 3- Sources of Stress Across the Lifespan

Activity 3.1: Interview Exercises

Directions: Complete the following exercises by interviewing people of different

age groups.

1. Interview a middle-aged adult (using only first name and age), like your

parents or relatives. Describe his/her stressors and challenges in daily activities.

Also mention their resources in coping with their challenges.

2. Interview a senior citizen 65 years and older (using only first name and age).

Describe his/her stressors and challenges in daily activities. Also mention their

resources in coping with their challenges.

3. Based on your interviews and previous experience, analyze your past life in

terms of its stressors and challenges and how you have dealt with them. Also,

project into the future as to the kinds of stressors you might confront when you

reach that age. Describe how you plan to deal with them in the case of some

adversities.

Activity 3.2: Going Back into Time

It has been said that adolescence is by far the most stressful period of life, fraught with

so many simultaneous stressors related to biological changes, social pressures, identity

development, struggles with love, sex, peer acceptance, parental authority, school

pressures, family conflicts, drugs, and so on. Go back in time to your own high school

years and recall the most difficult challenges you faced. Write down a few of those that

still make you shiver with apprehension.

What might have helped you to cope better with these stressors?

Activity 3.3: Going Forward in Time

Project yourself 10 years in the future, to the next stage in life development in which

you are reasonably settled into your life and work. Given your personality, history,

aspiration, and goals, what do you anticipate will be the greatest stressors you will face?

How do you intend to prepare for them?

Chapter 4- Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior

Activity 4.1: Theoretical Models of Coping and Adaptation

Directions: Write the name of the appropriate term or theory in the space provided. Use

each term only once.

Behavioral model Cognitive model

Humanistic model Psychoanalytic model

Sigmund Freud Carl Rogers

B. F. Skinner Aaron Beck

Dynamic systems model Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning John Watson

1. This theory has the assumptions that people are basically growth-oriented and

increased awareness of self and others leads to improved self-esteem and personal

functioning. ___________________

2. This psychologist advocated stress reduction primarily through the

establishment of trusting relationships with others, the kind that permit you to

honestly and genuinely talk about how you feel, in a context of acceptance and

respect. ____________________

3. Based on this theoretical model, self-defeating behaviors occur because of unresolved

conflicts from the past that continue to weigh on your mind, even if this is not within

your conscious awareness. _________________

4. This psychologist applied the concept of classical conditioning in the treatment of

phobias. ___________________

5. This psychologist theorized that we spend our life trying to reconcile

instinctual drives (id) with that of our conscience (superego) while the ego acts as

the negotiator and mediator of these two often conflicting forces.

________________

6. One of the assumptions in this theoretical model suggests that your interpretations of

the world determine both your perception of stress and how you manage it.

__________________

7. The cognitive behavior therapy was developed by this psychologist.

___________________

8. This theoretical model posits that dysfunctional behaviors are learned through

environmental conditioning, and thus can unlearned. _____________________

Activity 4.2: How Defense Mechanisms Respond to Stressors

Directions: Test your understanding of the following concepts of defensive mechanisms

based on the psychoanalytic traditions by completing the following matching questions.

Defense

Mechanism

Description

1 Rationalization A

Distancing yourself from painful feelings by presenting

overly rational explanations

2 Denial B

Converting unacceptable impulses or desires into more

socially acceptable outlets

3 Intellectualization C Distracting yourself from unpleasant situations by escaping

4 Projection D Behaving in the exact opposite way that you really feel in

order to ward off threatening material

5 Repression E

Trivializing behavior in order to avoid responsibility

6 Sublimation F Converting negative feelings from one person or object to

another that is more acceptable

7 Fantasy G

Perceiving that others hold those undesirable qualities that

you find most unacceptable in yourself

8 Regression H Justifying a situation through faulty logic

9 Reaction

formation

I Burying painful memories into the unconscious

10 Minimization J

Reverting back to coping strategies of an earlier time in

development

11 Displacement K Pretending that something unpleasant didn’t really happen

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Activity 4.3: Unresolved Issues

It has been said that stress is caused, in part, not only by current circumstances that put

you under pressure, but also by unresolved issues from the past that come up again and

again. Examples of this might include such things as problems with authority figures,

early child trauma, co-dependency in relationships, unstable parenting, lack of

confidence due to early failures, and so on.

What are some of the issues or recurrent problems in your life that arise repeatedly in

slightly different forms?

Activity 4.4: Assessing Your Anger

Directions: Answer the following questions honestly;

1. Recall the last anger episode you experienced. What triggered it? Describe how you

reacted to it and how you dealt with it.

2. Complete the following sentence completion exercises:

(1). I become angry when _______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

(2). When I am angry, I tend to __________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

(3). After each episode, I tend to _________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

(4). Regarding how anger affects my health, my belief is that ________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Activity 4.5: Stress Journal

In this chapter you were advised to keep a stress journal as a way to assess and monitor

what upsets you most. Keep a notebook around for one whole day, or even several days

in a row, and note the following information every time you notice yourself feeling

anxious or upset about something.

Day/Time Place Context What Happened? Reactions Thoughts

.

Chapter 5- Individual and Cultural Differences

Activity 5.1: Personality Traits and Stress

Directions: To assess your understanding of keys concepts regarding personality

traits and stress, complete the following True/False questions.

1. Stress responses are not only the result of universal human physiological

functioning, but also of individual traits and personalities. (True/False)

2. There is a clear and definite relationship between personality traits and cancer

based on solid research. (True/False)

3. A helpless personality would attribute the loss of a job to an external and

unstable factor. (True/False)

4. Men and women are prone to different stress-related health vulnerabilities.

(True/False)

5. Research shows that men tend to have more complaints about stress-related

symptoms because men are under more stress most of the time. (True/False).

6. Culture can influence stress and coping in various ways including the types of

stressors experienced, the appraisal of these stressors, the choice of coping

strategies, and the institutional mechanisms for coping with stress. (True/False)

7. Acculturation stress refers to both the cultural and psychological changes that

result from continuous contact between two or more cultural groups.

(True/False)

8. Gender and sex are synonymous and can be used interchangeably without

causing confusion. (True/False).

Activity 5.2: Assessing Type A Behavior

You learned in the chapter about a kind of personality style (Type A) that is far

more prone to stressful reactions because of the compulsive, competitive, driven,

overly motivated way in which such individuals function on a regular basis. You

may be able to recognize some of these characteristics in others you know, if not

in yourself. Select someone you know (or yourself if appropriate) who

demonstrates Type A behavior. Write down (or discuss in some groups) ways

that the following qualities of this personality style significantly increase stress

levels.

Being Competitive

Strong Desire for Recognition

Impatience with Self and Others

Multi-tasking

Hostility and Aggressive Behavior

______________________________________________________________________

Activity 5.3: Cultural Identities

Directions: Everyone holds several cultural identities that include race, ethnicity,

religion, family background, gender, sexual orientation, even geographic location,

college major, and hobbies. How have your most dominant cultures influenced the

ways that you experience stress?

Activity 5.4: Understanding Gender-Related Differences in Stress Coping

Approaches

Directions: This activity encourages you to discuss differences in coping with

stress. In small groups talk to one another about times in your lives when you

have experienced stress. Based on these and other experiences, address the

following questions in your discussion.

1. When you received a bad grade in a test, what kinds of reactions would you

normally demonstrate?

Males:

Females:

2. When you had a fight with a colleague, what were the immediate things you

would do?

Males:

Females

3. When feeling sick or realizing that you had some symptoms of a diseases,

what were your reactions?

Males:

Females:

4. How kinds of books did you read in the past that may help you cope with

stress?

Males:

Females:

Chapter 6- Challenging Stressful Thinking

Activity 6.1: Redefining Stress

You learned in this chapter that stress is based, in part, on the ways you perceive and

interpret your experiences. What one person finds “stressful,” another might find

“exhilarating” or “fun and exciting.”

Think of a time recently in which other people around you were all stressed out about

something but you felt very differently about the situation and were relatively calm, if

not enjoying the moment.

What were you telling yourself about what was happening that was different from

what others might have been telling themselves?

Activity 6.2: Stopping the Little Annoyances

There are times when you consistently get upset about something that annoys you. You

can’t really do much to change other people’s behavior, at least in the short run, yet you

still allow these incidents to get underneath your skin over and over again. For each of

the following common annoying situations, think of a way that you could talk to

yourself inside your head so that you don’t feel additional stress by these situations. We

are not talking about what you say or do on the outside, but rather what you say to

yourself on the inside.

A. Someone is speaking loudly on a cell phone in a public space

B. A person on the freeway is driving slowly in the express lane, blocking you from

driving faster.

C. Someone is standing in line in front of you, chatting to the cashier as if he has all

the time in the world.

D. A teacher in one of your classes is giving a particularly boring lecture.

Activity 6.3: A Thought-Stopping Procedure

Directions: Think of a situation (e.g., taking a quiz or an examination, making a

presentation in front of your class) where you often catch yourself thinking negatively.

The following exercise allows you to analyze the situation and replace the negative

thoughts with positive ones.

1. Describe the situation thoroughly.

2. Identify the negative thoughts in your head.

3. List a cue or cues that you may use as a signal to stop your negative thoughts. For

instance, the word “stop” is a potent cue. Based on what you learned in this chapter

about counteracting dysfunctional thinking that only makes the stress worse, dispute

each of the thoughts that you found were unhelpful.

Here are some cues to consider while disputing these irrational beliefs and cognitive

distortions:

What is the evidence that this is so?

How are you exaggerating things?

How are you distorting reality?

How are you making absolute demands that things (or others) be a particular

way?

How are you expecting things of yourself (or others) that are unrealistic or

pefectionistic?

4. List all positive and constructive thoughts you may use in the future to replace the

negative ones.

Activity 6.5: Understanding Cognitive Approaches to Coping with Stress

Directions: Write the name of the appropriate term or theory in the space provided. Use

each term only once.

Donald Meichenbaum Cognitive restructuring

Rational emotive behavior therapy ABC theory of emotions

Albert Ellis Catastrophizing

Morita therapy Miracle question

1. This therapy directs one's attention receptively to what reality brings in each moment

and emphasizes the principle that simple acceptance of what is allows for active

responding to what needs doing. ____________________

2. . Known by different names such as skeleton key or crystal ball, this mental

strategy exercise is intended to help you see new possibilities for the future

regarding a current problem. ____________________

3. This is a particular coping style in which people inoculate themselves against

stress by building up a reservoir of positive self-talk or internal dialogue to deal

with life’s challenges.____________________

4. This theory plots out, logically and sequentially, the mechanisms by which people

become upset and how they might change negative feelings through certain thinking

patterns that are deemed more rational and reality-based. ___________________

5. He is the psychologist who coined the term cognitive restructuring. ______________

6. He is the psychologist who originated rational emotive behavior therapy and whose

theory provided a framework for understanding the ways that irrational thinking in

response to stressors creates severe emotional disturbance. ____________________

7. The goal of this psychotherapy approach is to teach people how to identify what they

are doing to upset themselves and, in turn, to change the nature of their thinking in

such a way as to produce a more desirable outcome. ___________________

8. This is a set of irrational beliefs represented by gross exaggerations of reality in which

you think as if you have suffered the worst possible tragedy imaginable.

____________________

Activity 6.6: Changing Your Negative Beliefs

Directions: In this exercise you will answer a few questions in order to help yourself

change a negative thought.

1. Recall a most recent event where you remembered an automatic negative thought

occurs in your mind. Write down that negative thought. Comment on how much you

believe this thought is true.

2. What is the evidence that this negative thought is true?

3. What is the evidence that this negative thought is untrue?

4. What is your core belief that generates your negative thought in the first place?

5. What is the evidence for and against the core belief?

6. What is an alternative thought, a more positive one that can replace the negative core

belief?

Chapter 7- Problem Solving and Time Management

Activity 7.1: Problem Solving Strategies

Directions: Think of an ongoing source of stress in your life and describe it below. This

should be a situation that you have been struggling with for some time and have tried a

variety of things to deal with it, most of them unsuccessfully.

Write down all the things you’ve tried to deal with this situation.

Review your list again and circle those items that you have tried multiple times with

similarly unsatisfactory results. It is clear, beyond much doubt, that these strategies do

not work well even though you keep doing them. (Think of the example when a parent

or teacher yells at a kid to stop doing something annoying but the behavior persists

anyway. What does the adult do? Yell louder. With equally futile results.)

Resolve not to do those things again that you are fairly certain do not work. Until you

are prepared to make such a commitment to stop doing what is positively not working

you will not be able to free yourself up to experiment with alternative strategies which

may work.

What could you do instead of what you have already been doing? Make a list of as

many possibilities as you can think of, at least a dozen or more. It isn’t important that

they seem practical—the object of this exercise is for you to realize how many choices

you have compared to the few that keep you stuck.

Activity 7.2: Concern Versus Worry

The chapter discusses the difference between being constructively concerned about

things that you might somehow predict, control, or otherwise plan for, versus incessant

worries about things that far beyond your control. For example, people spend a lot of

time over-stressed thinking about the weather, other people’s behavior, possible

disasters, and worst-case scenarios. What are some examples of things in your life that

you spend time worrying over and over, even though it appears to do little good?

What are some ways that this worrying behavior might be useful to you in some ways?

Think in terms of its distractive value, the self-pity or sympathy you might enjoy, or

even the magical belief that you might somehow prevent disaster through magical

thinking.

Activity 7.3: Exercise on Separation

Directions: Sometimes the inability to separate a problem from how you feel about the

situation may impede your progress in obtaining solutions. The following is an exercise

that is designed to help you separate the two.

Step 1. Describe the problem thoroughly and objectively without reference to how you

are feeling.

Step 2. Describe how you feel about the problem subjectively. Try to be as subjective as

possible and don’t use any fact.

Step 3.What now seems clearer to you?

Activity 7.4: Time Management

Directions: Answer the following questions about the ways you use and misuse time.

1. List 10 ways in which you habitually waste time.

2. Describe below how you can use your time more productively.

3. Organizing your study and work areas can help you work more effectively.

List five areas in which you need greater organization.

Activity 7.5: Prioritizing Your Work

Directions: Make a list of the most important goals, projects, and tasks.

Determine to spend more and more time concentrating on finishing those few

areas that can really make a huge difference in your life and career and less and

less time on activities that produce little or no value.