Stress

Stress is the number one reason that students at university do not succeed. It can prevent you from functioning at your optimal level, cause insomnia, depression and anxiety, contribute to alcohol and drug abuse and cause physical illnesses which lead to missed classes or withdrawal.

Stress can be positive or negative. Negative stress should be called distress; positive stress, also called Eustress, stimulates you to function better. This article will deal with negative stress as it is this type that we most often have to deal with. Repeated emotional stress and pressure which is not relieved can cause a state of emotional exhaustion commonly call burnout.

4 STEPS TO MANAGING STRESS:

• Identify if you are stressed
• Identify the stressor(s)
• Identify the reason for the stressor(s)
• Select an appropriate stress management strategy or skill and apply it.

Stressors can be:

• Physical-noise etc
• Social-relationships, conflicts with teachers or students
• Financial -unplanned expenses
• Organizational-rules, regulations, deadlines
• Life events-back to school, illness in family
• Lifestyle choices-lack of sleep, too much caffeine or alcohol, poor time management
• Physiological-poor health or injury

1. If you can do something about the stressor, take the time to do it.
2. Use short term stress reduction (relaxation) strategies
   
   • breathing exercises
   • humour
   • meditation
   • sex or massage
   • exercise
   • warm bath or shower
   • hobby
3. Long term stress reduction strategies:
   
   • try to think positively
   • clarify priorities-don't spend all your time on trivial tasks as a way of avoiding doing the more important ones
   • change stress-provoking ways of thinking- get rid of irrational thoughts
   • see a counselor about building skills in:
     
     • time management
     • conflict resolution
     • communication
     • problem solving
     • negotiation
     • stress hardiness
     • arguing

STRESS PROOFING ACTIVITIES

1. Eat well
2. Be physically active-a minimum of 30 min. of exercise per day
3. Get a good night's sleep-8 hours recommended
4. Eliminate, avoid or reduce alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and refined sugars
5. Establish healthy relationships
6. Cultivate a positive attitude
7. Spend a few minutes each day with relaxation techniques such as imagery, daydreaming, meditation

R.A.'s must deal with a lot of stress mostly due to a heavy workload.

Classes, assignments, duty nights, reports to write, activities to plan and carry out, bulletin boards to do, educational sessions to organize and dealing with high maintenance residents a s well as being available for all your residents. And that's just school and the job!!! Add some personal stressors like boyfriend/girlfriend problems, family problems like a sick parent or grandparent, unable to sleep even when you go to bed, no time to go to the gym to work out or just to watch a movie with friends.

Eventually with all this stress, your immune system is affected and before you know it you are sick with one of the many illnesses making the round of your rez.

Stress affects different people differently due to genetics, developmental or environmental influences, and experiences. Some may cope well while others are affected by stress leading to mental and physical fatigue.

Stress and your immune system:

Stress actually causes antibodies, which normally protect you, to become inactive. It is well known that asthma, headaches, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders like ulcers, heart disease, blood pressure and viral infections are influenced by stress. Studies have shown that people exposed to stress had an increase in infection rates from 74-90 %, colds rose from 27-47 %. (McEwan & Stellar 1993)

DEALING WITH STRESS:

Quick relief:

1. Deal with the immediate issue causing stress first. Be optimistic, see things in the context of a larger picture and recognize that troubles are temporary. Don't blame yourself needlessly. Meditate, pray, relax one muscle at a time, get a massage.
2. Practice deep breathing, tighten and relax parts of your body, refocus your thinking to something pleasant, put things into perspective, find time to be alone, talk to a friend or family member, involve yourself in some physical work (clean your room) or recreation.

By doing some of these short-term stress relief techniques, you break the stress cycle that can spin out of control. If you don't relieve the immediate stress, it may keep accumulating until it becomes so great it leads to burnout.

Some stress resources on the Internet:

http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/stressmanagement

www.learnwell.org/stress.htm

http://cehs.unl.edu/stress/workshop/tableofcontents.html