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STRESS
MANAGEMENT
Are we at condition red yet? Conditions that produce
and promote stress seem to be increasing all the time.
External conditions of conflict, possible war, and economic
uncertainties combine with workplace stress to bring
the level of tension and stress over the mark for many
people. Violence, depression and illness are potential
outcomes from too much stress. When employees are stressed,
there are more sick days, less productive behavior,
higher turnover rates, and poor communication.
Stress
Control is a proven training program for the pressure
situations in which high performance is essential to
success. It has been proven an effective tool with those
who strive for excellence in Olympic sports and in the
high end of amateur sports.
We can change the quality of our lives by learning
the skills and strategies in stress
management and taking a stress vacation
INTRODUCTION TO STRESS MANAGEMENT
In stress management there are three areas of major
importance: Becoming aware of the stress response; second,
understanding the role that the personality plays in
stress reactions; and third, learning effective methods
for changing the stress response.
There is a new interest in stress and its management.
What is motivating the change? Health care costs continue
to rise yet we have more chronic disease. We do not
have longer life expectancy, if you correct for childhood
morality. (According to Healthy People published by
the Surgeon General’s office).
The individual can do more for his or her health than
doctors or hospitals. The key to health or sickness
lies in individual behavior and practices: diet, sleep,
exercise, smoking, drinking, and stress.
DEFINITION OF STRESS MANAGEMENT AND STRESS
Health promotion involves awareness and promotion of
health. Strategies in health promotion include stress,
nutrition, and exercise. Stress management is the psychological
arm of health promotion.
Many people who are excellent managers of other people
(executives) are poor managers of themselves, regarding
the inner physiology of the body. It is important to
note that we are not victims. Stress is a response.
It is a response that we can learn to change and to
regulate. Unstressed people are more effective, healthier
and happier.
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is an automatic, physical reaction to danger,
demand or threat. It is the tension that is experienced
when faced with new, unpleasant, or threatening circumstances.
When stress occurs, muscles tighten, blood pressure
rises, the heart speeds up, and extra adrenaline rushes
through the body. It is an automatic, wired-in response,
once danger or demand is perceived.
The purpose of the stress reaction is survival. The
responses provide the extra strength needed to fight
off danger or to flee from it. This is a fundamental
and powerful response. Three different parts of the
brain are involved in this adaptive response: the brain
stem, the mid brain, and the cortex.
The source of stress is called a stressor. The survival
wiring in the body responds quickly. Once a threat or
stressor is perceived, it is as though a danger button
has been pushed. The survival wiring in the body takes
over. It is a swift cause and effect linking of events.
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