Warm Up Please write your response in your day

book

Remember to write the date, page number, and assignment in the table of contents

What positive behaviors are helping you control the stress of this particularly busy week?

What are some examples of healthy activities that could help you relax after a busy school day?

Today’s Objectives Today we are going to be discussing the

importance of recognizing the stressors in your life and how the body responds: physically and mentally.

By the end of the lesson you should be able to determine which stressors are within your control and identify a variety of strategies to cope with the stress in your life.

Stress

The body’s nonspecific response to any demand put on it

Regardless of the cause of stress, the body goes through a patterned response

Stage 1: Alarm Stage

“Fight or Flight” Response

Adrenaline is release into the bloodstream, causing physical changes in the body.

Body responses: increased heart rate, sweating, digestion slows or stops, muscles tense, pupils dilate.

Fight or Flight = ALARM Stage

Stage 2: Resistance Stage

Acts as an equalizer

Brings body functions back to normal

Resistance Stage

Exhaustion Stage

Stage 3: Exhaustion Stage Energy is depleted

Body returns to normal if stress is removed

Body goes back to alarm stage if stress continues which can result in stress-related diseases:

Skin disorders

Gastrointestinal upset

Menstrual irregularities

Cardiovascular disorders

Healthy Amounts of Stress

Stress acts as a motivator, but too much stress can lead to mental illness such as anxiety or depression.

Teens & Stress When stress is not managed it may lead

to: Headaches

Stomach problems

Mood swings

Difficulty paying attention

More serious reactions: Depression

Mental illness

Suicide

Stressors in the Modern World?

Unemployment

Financial difficulties

Traffic

Social frustrations

Deadlines: homework,

career, taxes, bills

Stressors before Modern Civilization

Need for food

Need for water

Need for shelter

Successfully hunting and gathering

Surviving constant threats in life

Stress Management in Ancient Civilizations

Spirituality/Religion

Hieroglyphics

Constellations

FINDING MEANING IN LIFE

Stress Management Today Eat

Exercise

Hurt self (cutting)

Prayer and meditation

Rx medications

Smoking/ drinking/ drugs

Talking to friends and family

Television, reading, or listening to music

Deep breaths

The Stress Checklist

Paste your stress checklist in your daybook

Check off all the items that have happened to you in the last 6 months

You will not have to share this with the class Many of these are sensitive topics

Which stressors do you have control

over? Example:

Within your control- difficulty with a school subject

You cannot control- divorce

What are some ways you can control having a difficult time with a school subject? Ask questions in class

Get extra help from your teacher or student

Spend extra time on this subject

Study for tests

Partner Up

Find a partner or a group of 3 sitting near you

From the list- pick one stressor you have control over and one stressor you do not have control over.

In your group discuss and list ways to cope with the stressor

In Your Day Book

Answer the following questions:

1. Why is it important to develop positive coping strategies to deal with the stressors in your lives?

2. Which stressors were the easiest to develop strategies for? Stressors in your control or not in your control?

Controlling My Stressors

Paste this handout in your daybook

You may use 2 pages if needed

Select stressors that you are currently dealing with

For each one of the stressors write ways that you can cope