HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and

Prevention

Stress Management and

Prevention Program
Resource Guide
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 P RUD UE UNI V ER SI TY GLOBA L

Formerly Known Kaplan University

Stress Management and Prevention Program Resource Guide (updated09/11/2018)

ELizabethHaynes5

Purdue University Global

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

October 23, 2012

Table of Contents
UNIT 1 THE NATURE OF STRESS
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing

UNIT 2 THE BODY AS BATTLEFIELD

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing

UNIT 3 FEAST OR FAMININE

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing

UNIT 4 ONE PLANET UNDER STRESS

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

UNIT 5 UNDER STRESS: WHAT NOW?

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing
UNIT 6 AGELESS WISDOM OF MEDITATION
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

UNIT 7 SIGHT, SOUND, AND BODY WORK

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

UNIT 8 THE WELLNESS MANDALA

Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

UNIT 9 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL MANAGEMENT

AND PREVENTION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

UNIT 10 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL MANAGEMENT

AND PREVENTION TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Information to Remember
Resources: Exercises
Tools: Journal Writing

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

(End of the Guide)

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Unit

Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:
 How would you best define stress: Stress is defined in many ways from each individual, for instance,

a death of a loved one could be stressful for some and then for others might consider it a cycle of one’s life.

According to our text, “Managing Stress” the definition of stress can be explained in many different ways

depending on the individual’s human condition and which philosophy one might consider. “Eastern

philosophies, stress is considered to be absence of inner peace. Western culture, stress can be described as a

loss of emotional control” (Seaward, B.L., 2009).

 The stress response: The human body’s reaction to acute stress. This is the “fight or flight response

commonly called stress reaction. There are four stages that the body reacts to when it perceives it as a

threat. (1) Alarm reaction “flight or fight response” the mind is aware of the stimulus and the rest of the

body; (2) intensification or recovery; (3) adaption; (4) exhaustion.

 There are three types of stress: eustress (good), neustress (neutral), distress (bad), in order for the

body to return to complete homeostasis one must learn to adapt, cope, and find ways to manage the stress

of an ever changing world.

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 Resources: Exercises:
 My Health Philosophy: This exercise was a reflection of my journey for the past two and half years

which is “Practice what you Preach” and what it has taken me to get to this point in my journey; the heart

ache, the struggles, the tears, and the happiness within myself; mind, body, and spiritually. This is an on-

going process but a lifestyle change that hopefully will encourage others to change their lifestyle for the

better.

Tools: Journal Writing:

 Are You Stressed: This journal writing assignment had us look at what stressors we had in our lives

and take a personal stress inventory of our top ten stressors? Looking back now, it took me two months and

14 days to get rid of one of my major stressors and I am at peace with myself.

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Unit

Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember:
 Improving your memory is important during stress because of mental stimulation which can come in

different forms. “When observed by Selye, the inability of the body to return to homeostasis can set the

stage for signs and symptoms of disease and illness.” (Seaward, B.L., 2009) Similar to “Olympic Mental

Fitness” is the redirecting our energy from an exclusive focus on outer things to focus on inner growth,

accompanied by a profound well-being of the mind, body, and spirit (Dasher, 2006). There is an

interconnection to all and each working off the other to maintain homeostasis of the entire body.

 Hormonal imbalance; the Endocrine System a delicate system of chemical properties to ensure

physiological homeostasis. These glands are located throughout the body to help regulate metabolic

functions necessary for endurance not speed.

 Physiological effects of stress; the body tend to go out of whack along with the mind playing havoc

causing the eternal organs to go haywire. Stroke, heart attack, gastric issues, hypertension, eating disorders,

body aches and pains. These are just a few each individual deals with stress differently every time.

Resources: Exercises:
 Immediate, Intermediate, and Prolonged Stress Effects: At the time of this exercise I had a lot of

stress due to beginning a new term with school, changes taking place at my job, and a ex-relationship came

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 back for a short time which brought extra anxiety which in turn caused my blood sugar levels increased and

that through my whole body system in to a tizzy (imbalance).

Tools: Journal Writing:

 Stress Physiology Review: This was not a favorite of mine trying to learn different hormones and

what there uses are. Then it asked us what are some of our symptoms, how often do we experience them,

how severe, and how long. I really had a lot going on in my personal life that was putting my body into an

imbalance of sorts. Finding my way back to quieting my mind without meditation and adding more

relaxation tapes was the key. To be able to quiet my busy mind and thoughts to relax enough to get some

sleep. Just finding that balance in my life again.

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Unit

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember:
 The “Building Blocks of Psychological Stressors” is an outlet for frustration, Social Support,

Predictability, Control, and a Perception of Things Worsening. These stressors can overlap one another and

are different for every person in the way they perceive and react to the stress.

 “Subtleties of Control” “If you believe you have control over stressors that are, in fact, beyond your

control, you may consider it somehow to be your fault that the inevitable occurred” (Sapolsky R.M., 2004).

We cannot change other people, we cannot change our environment (the place you are in at that moment),

however, we can change ourselves so that we may grow and understand the person we are to become

within ourselves on a different level.

 “Subtleties of Predictability” can sometimes make the stress worse then what it started out to be. How

we react to the stress cannot always be predictable but with the right tools in place it lessens the amount of

stress that one can endure.

Resources: Exercises:
 Anger, Fear, and Emotions: I really enjoy this exercise for the fact that I have walked this path

many a times and had to learn the hard way of how to deal with handling my anger, fears, and emotions

without letting others or the situation get the best of me.

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 Tools: Journal Writing:
 The Psychology of Your Stress: This journal assignment was looking back at our stress inventory

and finding out what we based our stress on which for the most part I based my stress off of fear and not

anger. Which FEAR, is nothing but False Evidence Appearing Real.

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 4
Unit

Unit 4: Personality Traits and the

Human Spirituality
Information to Remember:
 Stress- prone personalities: The helpless, hopeless, or codependent usually with low-self esteem

issue. These types personalities are described as easily give up on life, seeing themselves as failures.

Typically a type “A” personalities; time urgency, multi-tasking, and self conscious.

 Stress- resistant personalities: Hardy personality: personality characteristics that buffer against stress

which include; commitment, control, and challenge. Hardy personality was renamed “resiliency” meaning,

that one has the ability to be able to pick oneself up after being knocked down in the face of misfortunes

from life changing trials (Seaward, B. L., 2009). With this personality they try and met stress head-on and

aim to overcome any stress they may endure.

 Health outcomes: In order to have a higher self esteem there are four factors that one needs to be

present and to cultivate continuously: Connectedness, Uniqueness, Power, and Models. These are essential

not only in childhood but as you grow into adult hood and throughout all developmental stages of life.

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 Resources: Exercises:
 Your Personal Value System: This exercise had us looking at what we value. My top choices; love,

happiness, faith, peace, and relaxation. I enjoy this exercise because it gave me a chance to see where my

values are; simply put my values are not in material items.

Tools: Journal Writing:

 Under the Gun: Stress and personality: In this assignment I found out I have both personality types

and have several unwanted stressor that I deal with. Having a positive attitude, my faith, and getting back to

meditation and prayer will help me get through those really rough days.

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Unit

Unit 5: Dealing With Stress: Coping

Strategies
Information to Remember:
 Coping Strategies: There are things that happen in our life time but the way we react, manage and cope

with them may depend on if we are mindful of the ways our own body copes. Everyone is different in coping

with stress finding ways to let the stress go will help with coping: like meditation, yoga, going for a long walk

on the beach or in the mountains for a hike.

 Take out the Garbage: get rid of all the negative energy and replace it with positive energy. I feel

what you put out into the universe it will come back to you, so make it count.

 Finding your happy place: Meditation, relaxation, peace, and that inner place that only you can tap

into. Breathing exercise to focus on the air filling your lungs and then release, again and again until your

entire body is relaxed but not tried.

Resources: Exercises:
 The Time-Crunch: If truth be told, I am a procrastinator and need to work on this issue the stress can

get the best of me at times. Time management is a work in progress I start out doing really well and then

somewhere in the middle I fall off and let things go that I feel are not of great importance.

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 Tools: Journal Writing:
 Reframing: Seeing the Bigger, Clearer Perspective: This was a tough journal assignment for me. It

made me place a mirror in my face to see more clearly of what I have been doing to myself. Adding

unwanted stress into my life and not dealing with the real issues.

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Unit

Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1:

Breathing, Meditation, and Mental
Imagery
Information to Remember:
 Exclusive meditation (restrictive) and inclusive meditation (opening-up) two from of meditations.

Exclusive is more widely practiced inclusive has been known to help children with ADD and ADHD.

 Meditation and Chronic Pain when introducing the mind, body, and spirit with pain relief it may be

reduced to little to no pain. Others tend to use the exclusive technique to disassociate from the pain itself.

 Mental Imagery: Taking and focusing on one image or scene in the mind to be able to make use of all

the senses while promoting physical calmness. Finding away to relax for the purpose of self improvement.

Resources: Exercises:
 Bridging the Hemispheres of Thought: Are you a right brain thinker or a left brain? To be well

balanced one must be able to use both. To find optimal health within, we should be able to utilize both

halves of the brain. I truly enjoyed this exercise.

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 Tools: Journal Writing:
 Dolphin breathing Meditation: I loved, loved this assignment, helping find balance that I had

needed for a while. I had stop meditating for awhile and this reminded me of what I was missing. These

exercises help to relax the mind, body, and spirit as well as to find the connectedness of all three.

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Unit

Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress

Information to Remember:
 Maintaining optimal wellness: is the key essential when it comes to stress. Under the finest

conditions, stress can play havoc on digestion, absorption, and elimination of the nutrients put in the body.

Seaward, expresses that “if the nutrients are not digested, absorbed, and eliminated properly then there is a

real problem with one’s state of well-being” (Seaward, B., 2009).

 Find Balance: We eat to relax, we eat to celebrate, and we eat when we get frustrated or angry.

Looking for the real root of the problem is key; are we actually hungry or we masking our feeling of

rejection or failures.

 Over eating or not eating at all: Stress can play havoc on our systems and all organs of the body. It is

up to us when we are under pressure and stressed from our busy days to find ways to help keep our diets in

check.

Resources: Exercises:
 Stress-Related Eating Behaviors: I came close to being a stress eater; I had a score of 28. Certain

eating behaviors tend to match ones personality traits.

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 Tools: Journal Writing:
 The Rainbow Diet: this assignment was a lot of fun and it makes sense, matching the colors of the

rainbow to the food you eat. It was interesting to find foods that I actually eat to match the colors

themselves. It was great to see the results.

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 8
Unit

Unit 8: Physical Exercise and

Activity
Information to Remember:
 Stress Hormones: The importance of flushing them out of our bodies daily. In order to bring the body

back to a homeostatic state we must get rid of the stress hormone.

 Physical Exercise: Reduces stress and help maintain balance of all vital organs. On top of the

endorphin release, physical exercise is also a form of active meditation where the repetition helps create

calmness, relaxation, and insight within.

 Mind/ Body Connection: When the mind and body work together for the good we gain the feeling of

positive energy and when it is absent the body craves that feeling when things are good. When the mind,

body, and spirit are working as one you might find a wholeness and pure happiness that you may not have

ever experienced before.

Resources: Exercises:
 Physical Exercise: This is something that I really have to force myself to do every day. I am not a fan

of exercise but need to exercise in order for my body to function properly and stay in balance. Having to

live with diabetes without medication or insulin shots daily I have to find the time daily to continue to

exercise.

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 Tools: Journal Writing:
 My Body’s Rhythms: This was no surprise to me to find out if I am in touch with nature. I love

being outside or near water it is just calming and very relaxing to just sit outside and listen to all the sound

of nature or the waves crashing against the rocks. Enjoying the seasons change and feel the cool breeze on

my face letting me know the world is still here.

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 9
Unit

Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical

Management to your Professional
Life
Information to Remember:
 Forgiveness: Being able to release all the anger, grief, sadness, and all other balls of emotion brought on

by stress can bring such an inner peace that not all have or can experience. Learning to forgive allows us to get

rid of the baggage or garbage that is holding us back from our pure happiness.

 Hobbies: finding something you like and can enjoy gives a person an outlet to let go and not think

about the daily stressors. Bowling, walking, swimming, crafting, drawing or painting is some things one

can do to just simply get a way for a while.

 Information Seeking Good and Bad: This tool can help but may also hurt or stress one out more than

intended. Finding good information about an issue and educating oneself will help gain knowledge but

having access to too much information may add more stress to the already stressful situation.

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Resources: Exercises:

Tools: Journal Writing:

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 10
Unit

Unit 10: Applying Stress: Critical

Management to your Personal Life
Information to Remember:

Resources: Exercises:

Tools: Journal Writing:

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Additional Information
References:

Secondary: Sapolsky, R.M. (2004). Why zebras don’t get ulcers. (3rd ed.). New York: Henry Holt &

Company, retrieved from October 22, 2012.

Secondary: Schlitz, M. Amorok, T. Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral

Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. Elsevier, Inc. St. Louis, Missouri. Retrieved from

October 22, 2012.

Primary: Seaward, B. L. (2009), Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and

Well Being, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Massachusetts, sixth

edition. Retrieved from October 22, 2012.

I chose these selections because of them mainly being our course material and I enjoyed reading it.

All of the resources used were reliable sources and easy to follow. The one book by Schlitz was used

in a previous class and I thought it went perfect for unit nine discussions on forgiveness.

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