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Psychological Symptoms of Stress
- Foreboding
- Boredom
- Indecisiveness
- Feeling overwhelmed - helplessness
- Flight to Certainty
- Tightness of large muscles for gross reaction
General Psychological Effects of Stress
- Upsets one’s equilibrium/balance
- Renders the routine more problematic
- Catapults us out of natural rhythm
- Diminishes our sense of power
- Challenges the sufficiency of our resources
- Creates confusion
- Heightens our sense of the lack of certitude
- Tends to blot out important lessons of the past
Ways to Manage Stress
- Take 10 Deep breaths
- Prioritize tasks
- Visualize a relaxing scene
- Get sufficient sleep
- Laugh often
- Take a walk and get some fresh air
- Tighten then relax muscle groups
- Eat nutritious meals
- Ask for help
- Recognize your internal and external resources
- Listen to music
- Set realistic goals- especially in judging your ability to control you environment
- Vary your routine
- See problems as challenges
- Talk to someone
- Be flexible-formulate an array of options in coping with stressor
- Take an inventory of what you are feeling (ie. Sad, Angry, Scared)
- Consider atypical strategies
- Note how you have survived and coped with stressful situations in the past.
- Be prepared to tolerate some degree of uncertainty
- Recognize what is in your control and what is not- break complex problems down so as to focus on those aspects you can manage
- Refrain from globalizing the stress or as viewing it as spreading across every part of your life.
- Pace yourself