Chapter 14. Stress management

Summer ends. And this is a huge stress for the student! Before you know it, a pleasant meeting with classmates will be replaced by preparation for exams. But it seemed like just yesterday you came, full of fresh thoughts and with a rested head.

Calm, just calm! Dear students, now we will reveal to you a secret that will help you not only in your studies, but throughout your entire life: managing stress and emotions. After all, you must admit that eliminating stress (or preventing it) is much easier than eliminating the consequences of stress later.

What happens if you don't get rid of stress?

Everyone has their own sensitivity threshold. For one person, not seeing his mother for 3 days is enough to panic. Another will endure torture and deprivation for years and will break at the very last moment. But the result will always be the same.

If you don't get rid of stress in time, here's what can happen:

Increased level of internal tension;
Reduced efficiency up to its complete destruction;
Transition to a depressive state;
Indifference;
Increased nervousness;
Boredom;
Yearning.

This is interesting!

Prolonged stress (over several years) has a very bad effect on the body and is comparable in consequences to a severe heart attack. But strong short-term stress is like a shake-up in the body, which can activate physical and mental activity.

In general, it is better to first study the nature of this phenomenon, and only then move on to stress management.

Prevention of stress in modern society

It is possible to raise the stress threshold and increase the body's resistance to stress by strengthening the body's psychological stability.

This will be facilitated by positive thinking, the ability to approach life more simply, good relaxation skills, the ability and desire to truly relax, good sleep, favorite sports, physical activity, nature, a real hobby and much more, which in psychology is called the ability to enjoy life and love to yourself.

Fear less, hope more. Eat less, chew more. Moan less, breathe more. Say less, say more. Love more and all good things will be yours. Swedish proverb

It is no coincidence that the passion for yoga, meditation, relaxation and other forms of non-traditional recreation are so popular precisely because modern people are looking for new ways to deal with poor health and stress, among other things. However, the struggle with nature and with one’s own body can only end in the defeat of man. The ability to listen and hear your body is the main activity for preventing stress.

Let's get down to business: effective stress management

So, before learning technologies and techniques for stress management in the workplace or school, there are important things to always remember:

We are not afraid of it and do not avoid it

It is impossible to live without it, without stress - this is the body’s natural reaction to the environment and your life. So just accept that it will always be there. But if you try to constantly avoid stress, try to live as calmly and measuredly as possible, the stronger will be its destructive influence when it finally gets to you.

By overcoming stress every time, you and your body instill in yourself the skills to manage stress and combat this phenomenon.

Studying the types of stress

There is constructive stress, in which a discharge occurs due to a large amount of accumulated dissatisfaction. This is good because it allows you to solve the problem and re-establish mutual understanding with the environment. Roughly speaking, we shouted and love each other again with the same (or even greater) strength.

With destructive stress, relationships can only worsen or even stop altogether, the problem remains unresolved, people suffer from difficult experiences, feelings of guilt, and hopelessness.

Determine what type of stress you have so that you can take everything you need from it and get rid of everything you don’t need.

Studying ourselves

To prevent or successfully master stress management techniques, you need to know your sensitivity threshold.

Monitor yourself and your feelings to understand what level of stress is beginning to affect you negatively and reduce your success.

Pay attention to how much stress you lose your normal state and lose focus, the ability to concentrate and cannot do anything.

Individual protection means

Since everything happens differently for everyone, the means and methods of stress management will also be different. Your task is to find your own stress management system, which will help, prevent long-term stress and teach you to calmly deal with a short loss from life.

The problem of stress management is great. It is not for nothing that people from all countries of the world, of all ages and social status suffer from this disease. However, practicing stress management is not that difficult.

We offer you some useful tips that include any stress management techniques and programs. You might find a sample thesis presentation useful.

How to manage stress

Conflict management stress management
To avoid it, it is recommended to resort to preventive methods that adjust the body to calm.

The most popular methods of dealing with irritants are:

positive thinking;
“Result Frame” technique.

The most common causes of excessive stress is a person’s incorrect thinking, when all thoughts are reduced to “all or nothing” categories. This situation is typical for large companies and enterprises. Therefore, there are mandatory trainings on stress resistance and conflict management in the organization. Instead of thinking of yourself as an incapable person who can’t do anything, you should set your thoughts in the vein of “I can do it” and “I can handle this.” Almost any negative thought can be reconfigured into a more positive one - this is the basis of the positive thinking method.

The Outcome Frame takes a completely different approach to a problematic situation. The real problem is in the details. A person experiencing stress must answer a series of questions that will help to understand the cause of the problem, his attitude to this situation and possible methods of solving it. While answering questions, the problem situation ceases to be stressful: it has a cause and methods of solution, which means you can get rid of it.

Both methods are excellent for the initial stages of stress or prevention. But if situations worsen, it is necessary to understand and choose the right treatment strategy.

Stress management algorithm

The most important thing is to cope with internal shock in the first seconds when stress begins to attack you. You need to start fighting it at the first stage. To do this, it is important to improve your self-control and not waste your irritation on everyone around you.
We study natural methods of self-regulation. All your capabilities that are at your fingertips help you with this. In essence, this is your life: measured planning of work and rest. Each of us has things or actions that help us calm down and get back to normal: chamomile tea, healthy sleep, a pillow, a favorite cat, etc.
We study artificial methods of self-regulation. This includes psychological stress management techniques developed by scientists.

Here is a model to follow if you have failed to prevent yourself from stress.

Creating a Steady State

Now that we have a framework for understanding stress and a simple technique we can use throughout the day to manage it more effectively, we want to talk a little about small changes we can make in our environment and how we can working with others who can help us collectively manage stress.

When we feel part of society, the brain's perception of stress changes dramatically, and our experience of stress changes from something that would otherwise break us to something that currently fuels us. Interestingly, by simply adding the brain chemical oxytocin, which happens when we feel connected to others, the effects of the stress hormone cortisol are switched to strengthen the brain.

One way we can gain positive energy from interactions is by thinking about what we call a “power leader.” This is what the media uses to draw us into a story that we simply cannot turn away from the television.

In this case, we must load our brain so that it uses its full potential in its work. To get us to interact, we can use things like gratitude, sharing positive experiences, and celebrating wins, no matter how small they may seem.

We can also engage our brains and interact with each other when we move into a state of curiosity. By asking insightful questions and giving people the opportunity to share their ideas with each other.

And the last thing is humor. You don't need to make jokes to bring humor, but realizing how much fun there is in life adds a lightness of perspective to your condition. Humor has already been shown to reduce stress hormones, improve immune function and memory, and increase creativity and innovative thinking. It also helps build relationships and create stronger bonds.

So, asking people to share what they found funny during the day, or to start a meeting with a funny video or image, can help reduce tension, create a sense of playfulness and fun, and get everyone into a calmer, more creative state.

Without a doubt, the best way to minimize the negative impact of stress is to believe that there is a greater purpose behind the challenges we face. Stories like Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning help us understand how adaptable we can be to even the most unusual circumstances when we have a reason to keep trying.

At the same time, when we become immersed in the monotony of life simply by going through the daily stages of our existence, it can be easy to become bored, give up on work, and then burn out, forgetting why we took this path in the first place.

So we all need to prioritize our day to focus our attention on what matters most to us so that we can anchor our efforts in an energy of meaning and purpose. When we work with other people, we can also create relationships between these concepts in time.

First, define a goal for yourself in your life and direct all your energy to achieve it. Let's say right away that there will be difficult situations on your way, but overcoming these barriers will cause you less stress, or even stress itself will help you overcome them.

Conclusion

To make all of the above work for you, we want to give you three stress management tips:

First, determine for yourself, what is the smallest action you could take right now that would have the fastest and most significant impact? Nothing contributes to success more than success itself. When we have small victories, the brain releases chemicals like dopamine that literally shape our habits and behaviors.
Second, avoid trying to change too much at once. You won't manage stress effectively if you're too stressed to figure it all out. Simplicity and clarity are key to staying focused on future changes.
Third, don't focus only on yourself. Remember that the people around you need your attention.