“Defining Stress”

.
Stress

Stress is defined as a reaction of the

mind and body to a stimulus that
disturbs the well-being, state of calm,
or equilibrium of a person.
.

There is a common belief that stress

is unhealthy, but discussions among
experts conclude that this is not
entirely the case.
 .

Psychologists have agreed

that small and sporadic
amounts of stress can be
helpful and beneficial to
individuals.
But excessive amounts of stress
sustained over a lengthy period of
time can be destructive to both
physical and mental health.
Worrying about something.
Being under lots of pressure
Facing big changes.
“Stress as Stimulus,
Response, and
Relational”
Aside from being a reaction (or
response), stress is also a stimulus, as
well as relational condition between
persons and the situations they are in.
.

As a stimulus, stress is caused by

situations that may be life
threatening or life changing, such as
separation, moving to a new home,
or having a new job. These
situations or events are often called
stressors.
These are some examples of stressors of adolescence student faces:

1. School Demands and expectations.

2. Romantic relationship or the lack of it.
3. Family demands and expectations.
4. Wrong priorities (puro ka lovelife)
 Stress as responses is the way the body reacts to all
challenging situations. This involves the interactions
between the hormones, glands, and nervous system
where the adrenal gland drives the production of
cortisol or better known as “stress hormone”.

The production of cortisol enables a person’s body

to produce the energy it needs to gear it toward action.
Another response of the body similar to the production
of cortisol is the release of a substance called
norepinephrine, which triggers the body’s reaction,
such as an increase heart rate, higher blood pressure,
and respiration, to prepare the body for action.
 The adolescent’s physical response to stress is
faster than that of an adult simple because the part of
adolescent’s brain, the prefrontal cortex that assesses
danger and directs action during stress is not yet
fully developed.

Prolonged or chronic situations that involve both

cortisol and norepinephrine will eventually affect the
body to wear down fast. This is the reason why
prolonged or chronic stress often causes fatigue,
aging, and illness caused by low immune system.
 Stress as relational is when a person experiencing stress takes a
step back to look at the situation that is causing the stress, and
assesses it. Assessment here means that when the person allows
reasoning to prevail and weigh the relevance or irrelevance of the
situation. If the relevance is positive, the person will look at the
situation in a more positive light. If the relevance is negative, this
will produce negative emotions that may lead to stress. An example
of this is a flight delay.

A positive relevance to this will have the person thinking this is

one situation he has no control of, and there may be a purpose or
reason why it is happening.

A negative relevance will produce agitation and impatience,

blaming the airline or whoever is responsible for the delay, which
may result in loss opportunities.
“Healthy Stress”
. There are certain types of stress that can benefit a person. Stress is
short and sporadic can propel a person to a necessary action. This types
of stress can motivate, energized, and spur an individual into fruitful
action .

For example, speaking in front of a large audience is a healthy type

of stress as it pushes the speaker to prepare and be an effective. Speaker
stage performers are also under stress while performing and this same
stress may bring out their best performance. Other types of healthy
stress would be competing in sports, healthy stress can propel the
competing individual to perform better.
. Bad stress can be transformed into good stress
depending on how an individual assesses the
situation. Adolescent students who are in constant
stressful situations particularly related to school
work and relationship should learn some coping
mechanism to assist them in their development
towards a healthy adult life.
“Knowing Your
Stressors”
There are two types of stress and their sources
according to the Mayo Clinic of United States.
Short term and Long term stress and External and
Internal.
External Stressors- are those that come outside of you like
situations, people, and experiences.

Internal Stressors- are stressors that are coming within you, like
thought that you have that caused you to feel fearful, uncertainties
about the future, lack of control over situations, and even your
personal beliefs which include your own expectations.
Examples of stressors that a senior high school student goes
through:

School Demands and Expectation- quizzes and tests,

homeworks, projects, exams, and grades, mostly especially,
epitomize the kind of stressors adolescents have when it come to
studying.
Selecting a School, College Course and Career
- related to the first stressor. A senior high school student who
just graduated faces more demanding challenges, and the first of
these are the college entrance exams and the course that they will
choose.

Separation Anxiety
- Senior High School graduation, to some, means a temporary
separation from some other friends. There is a possible scenario
that a best friend might move on to another school to study.
Technology might help in easing the pain through chatting,
texting, or calling a recently missed friend.
College Life
- the prospect of being by themselves in a new school in
college meeting and adjusting to new people is another cause of
stress for graduating senior high school students. The
unfamiliarity of the new environment can bring stress to
adolescents as they set foot in college.

Romantic Relationship or The Lack of It

- adolescents have a tendency to feel awkward when they are
not in a special relationship with someone. This perception can
bring unwanted pressure and stress on an adolescent who has a
need to prove that he or she is worthy enough to belong with
someone.
Family Demands and Expectations

- to some adolescents, family ties can be a stressor.

The adolescents is still learning and yearning for
independence and autonomy, but parents may not be
ready to relinquish control over their “baby”. This is
why this conflict sets in.
“Coping with Stress”
-Coping is very important mechanism in dealing
with stress. It can avoid the damages that may be
brought about by severe or chronic stress to your
health and well-being.

-Can also be problem-focused, when remedies or

solutions are thought of to change the situation to
lessen the stress, emotion-focused, when the
objective to lessen the emotional impact cause by the
stress situation.
Stress reduction methods
-conduct creative imagery of the problem.
-seek group or social support.
-get into relaxation activities.
-create a situation where you can feel more relaxed.
-learn to manage your time.
-eat properly.
Addition
1. Seek spiritual growth through prayer and meditation.
2. Have a worthwhile hobby.
3. Watch a movie with friends.
4. Have a nice, quiet walk with a member of your family after
dinner.
5. If the stressors is one of your expectations, assess it and see
if it is doable and realistic or not.
6. Believe In yourself that you are strong and courageous.
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