--Original published at Emily Garvin's Psych Blog

STRESS:

We’ve discussed a number of different stress management approaches in class, and now I want you to evaluate online resources for stress management. Specifically, I want you to identify three websites that provide stress management tips and discuss how likely you think the strategies they provide are to be successful. Make sure to explain your rationale using what we’ve learned in class and your textbook. Each of the three websites need to be targeted at a different audience but you may select the audiences you want to use (e.g., college students, athletes, parents, artists). Make sure to include links to the websites as part of your post…..

Stress is something that everyone will encounter in their lifetime. Some people allow stress to break them, while others are resilient and fight back against stress using various coping strategies. Nowadays, stress management techniques are easily accessible and quite simple to apply. There are a plethora of strategies offered on reputable websites. You can even specify the cause of your stress when searching for stress management approaches. Most often, you will be directed to an organization’s website where coping strategies and stress management tips are given. I examined three different websites that were designed for different groups of people (college students, athletes, and stress in the workplace).

The first website I analyzed was from http://www.everydayhealth.com regarding the stress management of college students. They offer a total of eleven suggestions that have the potential to reduce the stress of a college student. Actually, we discussed some of the strategies in class when we learned about additional coping strategies. There is a combination of what a college student can do and what they should avoid. College students exercise regularly, establish social support, get a substantial amount of sleep, breathing exercises, and get a massage College students should avoid overloading workload and other activities, alcohol, and energy boosters such as drinking too much caffeine, breathing exercises. According to evidence-based research, completing these tasks along with the others mentioned on the every day health website will result in less stress suffered by the average college student.

Athletes are under an immense amount of stress. They are expected to perform at high levels which requires hours of hard work on their own time. The website I analyzed, www.appliedsportpsych.com, recommended to determine the source and type of stress, meaning is the stress good or bad for you, and then listed physiological, behavioral, and cognitive coping strategies. For example, a behavioral strategy could be releasing pent up anger by acting out in some way like punching a pillow or a punching bag. This behavioral strategy would be considered a physical release. Releasing pent up anger is also associated with Freud’s concept of catharsis. Catharsis essentially means that releasing pent up emotions will be healing. This strategy has been proven successful for athletes.

Lastly, stress often stems from many peoples’ professions. Work stress could be caused by the environment, coworkers, or workload. Whatever the cause of stress, the website www.saxonsgroup.com offers five simple ways to manage work stress. The first is exercise, an additional coping resource we discussed in class, this strategy can focus an employee’s attention away from work and ultimately, reduce their stress level. The website also suggested communication exercises and activities that would cultivate a healthy and beneficial workplace culture. These two suggestions could also be considered an additional coping resource because the goal of the exercises and activities is to strengthen social support within the work place through more effective communication.

Coping with stress is not an easy task for a population of individuals. Everyone has different stressors in their life and alternate ways of coping with them. The strategies provided from the websites I discussed are all chosen for a certain population of people; however, many of the strategies overlap with one another or provide similar stress relief for the different populations. For instance, exercise was the first suggestion for college students and for people who experience stress from work. The suggestions provided are all considered to be adaptive strategies, because they should decrease stress without complications, but this can vary from person to person since strategies tend to be highly individualized.

Links:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/college-health/college-life-10-ways-to-reduce-stress.aspx

http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/resources/health-fitness-resources/stress-management-tips-for-good-health/

http://www.saxonsgroup.com.au/blog/human-resources/5-simple-ways-manage-workplace-stress/

--Original published at Sarah's Blog

In class we learned about stress and how to manage it in different situations. Stress can really take a toll on a person’s mental and physical state, and it is helpful to have some tips on how to manage it. Looking online for resources can also be helpful in finding stress management tips, as long as they are reliable and useful.

In the first article I found, there are tips directed towards college students. The author of this article from EverydayHealth, Jennifer Acosta Scott, says that “stress occurs when your tension level exceeds your energy level, resulting in an overloaded feeling” (3). Some of the tips that she gives to help control stress in college are getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Some other tips are possibly going to counseling/talking to a close friend and trying not to overload yourself with too many things. Exercise and self-disclosure are two specific coping resources that we talked about in class, so those are good ways to manage stress. I believe that getting enough sleep and eating well are also important because a person has to take care of him or herself physically to be able to manage his or her stress.

In the second article, the tips are directed towards musicians. I thought this would be an interesting topic because I am going into the music field and it would be helpful to know some tips on managing stress as a current and future musician. The author of this article talks about how small stress can be useful for a musician in a performance or recording, but chronic stress can be very bad for a musician’s health. Stress can also lead to decreased ability to play an instrument due to overuse/overworking the muscles and higher blood pressure. Some tips that this website has to manage stress were exercise, taking breaks between practicing, and having a strong support group of friends. I know practicing challenging music can be very stressful, so I believe that is a good tip to reiterate to any musician. Another tip that the website states is practicing self-appreciation, which I believe is an adaptive strategy to managing performance anxiety and stress. This is one tip that I would like to continue to work on because from personal experience performing is a big stress inducer.

The last article I found was for parents helping their child manage stress. It is important that children learn how to manage stress early on so it does not affect them as much as the children get older and obtain more responsibilities. Some tips that this article shared were to not overschedule the child and make sure that they have time to play. Doing something that the child is interested in just for fun is a good way for the child to have time to de-stress and not worry about a competition or a goal. Another important tip is that the parent should manage their own stress along with helping the child manage theirs. This is important because children will notice when the parent is stressed and it will make them stressed as a result.

All of these articles discussed the main ways that a person can manage their stress levels. Each article used the general ways and made them more specific to each population. Reading these articles have helped me have a better understanding of specific ways to manage stress, especially being a college student and a musician.

Sources

https://www.everydayhealth.com/college-health/college-life-10-ways-to-reduce-stress.aspx

https://internationalmusician.org/dont-sweat-it-your-guide-to-managing-stress/

https://psychcentral.com/lib/7-tips-for-helping-your-child-manage-stress/

--Original published at Sierra's College Blog

How do you manage or cope with different levels of stress. It seems almost everyone in the world experiences stress in some way or another. It does not matter how old someone is or even one’s occupation. Since there are multiple people with stress occurring each and every day, some psychologists have given ways and examples to manage the stress. Now I am going to take a look at three different sources, each specifically written for a certain audience, to determine whether or not the stress management tips seem to be successful based on my previous background knowledge.

The first website I have viewed explains stress management advice for sports and athletes. This website’s article, “Stress Management Techniques for Sports,” is written by Christie Morton. Morton explains how athletes can be under much stress due to how well they perform. This stress can be caused from multiple different variables, including coaches, teammates, parents, and one’s own self. By examining research from a 2003 study, Morton suggests three helpful tips for stress management. She believes cognitive restructuring, visualization, and guided relaxation can be beneficial. For cognitive restructuring, Morton explains the significance for athletes in finding a balance between the stressful events and the not so stressful ones. After a game or practice, athletes can write down the pros and cons. They are able to then make a plan for the future to work on the imperfections. She describes how this has been beneficial for athletes in the Olympics of 1988. Next, she discusses the importance of visualization, which allows athletes to imagine themselves performing and accomplishing their goals. This allows athletes to have higher self-confidence. Lastly, she explains how guided relaxation can lower cortisol levels and work on the focusing of one’s breathing.

After viewing Morton’s suggestions, I am able to see whether or not they will be successful for athletes. I believe all three of the techniques provided will be successful for athletes. Cognitive restructuring is important, and relates to cognitive responses to stress we have talked about in class. Here an athlete is able to realize he or she can get past the stress and move forward. In chapter eleven of our textbook and class lectures, visualization and relaxation is also described to help lower stress. These two steps involve imagery and mindfulness meditation. The athletes imagine themselves crossing the finish line, completing a new skill, or even getting the winning point. With relaxation, an athlete is able to improve his or her health. As chapter eleven explains stress, a state of mindfulness can focus an athlete’s attention, regulate his or her emotions, and allow calmness in difficult situations. Relaxation is beneficial and helps decrease depressive outlooks on life. I believe all three techniques will be successful for athletes.

The second website provides helpful ways to decrease stress for students. “Student Guide to Surviving Stress and Anxiety in College & Beyond” is written by Melissa Cohen. She discusses how stress can be both positive and negative, depending on the certain situation and the extent in which it is expressed. She gives plenty of resources for college students to use, and she even allows you to rate your own stress. Moving away from home, the heavy work load, finances, and future aspirations are all reasons for why college students may stress. With these factors in mind, college students can decrease some anxiety by getting sleep, thinking positively, having a stress free space, relaxing, and talking to others. Sleep is important and can help get students through the next day, and positive reinforcement will create less depressive thoughts or feelings. Cohen describes how relaxation is beneficial, and even meditation can be productive. Lastly, she explains how talking to another person and sharing one’s feelings can decrease stress.

I am able to determine which of the stress management techniques are going to be beneficial, based off my previous knowledge of stress. The first step for students is to get enough sleep. I think this is very crucial because we continue to emphasize this point in lectures and through class. Getting an adequate amount of sleep will decrease negative moods and strengthen the body. It also will help people feel reenergized and alert, instead of having fatigue. Thinking positively is also beneficial, as seen in the textbook. People who act and see life in a happy view, will also likely have a positive view of the world. As stated earlier, relaxing and finding a space where one can be free from stress will result in a decrease of anxiety. Also, I believe the last strategy for students is great because it allows someone to have social support. It is healthy to vent your feelings to someone and get stressful things off your chest. A social support system can encourage a student to persevere and tackle any problem in the future.

Lastly, the third website suggests stress management tips for parents who want a healthy family.  The American Psychological Association (APA) has published this article, and they explain how many parents feel stress each day due to their responsibilities. This stress is then passed on to their children, who follow in the same paths. APA suggests parents take a couple steps to improve their lives and decrease the stress levels. This website encourages parents to evaluate their lifestyles, talk about their stress, create a healthy home, focus on one’s self, and change one habit at a time. By evaluating the lifestyle, a parent can see whether or not he or she responds to stress negatively or positively. Open communication allows a family to share thoughts and feelings. A neat and organized home decreases stress levels as well. It is important to create a healthy self by eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising. Lastly, it is crucial to take one step at a time, so this plan does not become too stressful.

These suggestions to stress seem useful and helpful for parents. If parents evaluate their lifestyles, it can mean new or old habits can be incorporated for the family. A bad habit, such as eating junk food, is more likely to occur when one is feeling depressed. This example involves exercising, which is able to decrease stress when done regularly. It can be beneficial mentally and physically for a parent. By having positive emotions, a parent will be more inclined to make healthier food. Open communication is also a beneficial technique because it involves coping with a social network. This social network can make stress a little easier by discussing problems and finding solutions. If a parent focuses on himself or herself first, he or she will be able to have more self-esteem and confidence. This will then allow the parents to focus more time with their children. Lastly, I believe taking one step at a time is great too because you do not want to add additional stress on top of the stress you already have. Gradually adding steps to decrease the stress will be the most beneficial.

Overall, there are multiple ways to handle and lower stress levels for different scenarios. Many of the tips and suggestions from these three websites give a great overview of some beneficial ways to work on decreasing stress levels for different audiences. Two other examples for coping with stress includes self-indulgence (to a degree) and finding a religious network. There are numerous other sites which also provide suggestions to help manage the anxiety through life. I believe looking at these websites, as well as our textbook, has given me numerous options to decrease my own stress levels.

Links:

https://www.livestrong.com/article/371195-stress-management-techniques-for-sports/

https://www.learnpsychology.org/student-stress-anxiety-guide/

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/managing-stress.aspx

--Original published at Rachel's Blog

Many people experience stress, which can be defined as a response to a situation that threatens one’s sense of well being.  Stressors are something that triggers a stress response which can be something little like stressing over a test, or it can be something bigger like medical concerns.  Whether the stressor is small or long lasting, both can cause people large amounts of stress which can affect their everyday life.  Stress can target many different audiences such as college students, athletes, and parents, and for each specific group, there can be different coping mechanisms.

The first audience that this can relate to is college students.  This is because college students are under high levels of stress because there is much more work to be completed, and the professors expect more out of the students.  Especially freshman, they find that their first semester is very stressful, so it is important for these students and all students to develop new habits so that they can get used to things since it will be different than high school.  According to the University of Michigan, there are pros and cons to stress.  A pro is that it can help you avoid danger, and it can keep you motivated.  If stress builds up, this can affect different things such as sleeping, concentration, and school work.  They suggest a few ways to try to manage or reduce the amount of stress you are having.  The first way is to find a balance in your schedule, which means to find time for what must get done, like attending class and finishing homework, but then also find time to relax and give yourself a mental break.  This forces you to have a good sense of time management, which is an essential skill to everyday life.  A second suggestion is to start a journal.  This would be helpful because you could write down everything that is causing you to feel stressed.  When these thoughts are written down, if it is school related, you could then prioritize what is needed to be completed first, and then you can cross items off of the list, which will give you satisfaction.  A third way to manage stress is to have good sleeping habits.  Usually college students will stay up late at night trying to finish homework, but this can cause you to feel worse off because you will be sleep deprived, causing you to feel more stressed.  I think that these strategies provided will be successful because finding a balance and having good sleep habits are essential to life even after college.  These strategies are adaptive strategies because they are aiming to improve the situation without causing other problems.

The second audience this topic can relate to is athletes.  This is because athletes have a lot to focus on all at one time such as homework, practices, games, and training outside of practice to prepare.  This can cause them stress because there is so much to do in so little time.  The author Christie Morton, of the article, “Stress Management techniques for Sports,” says that there are three components to managing stress.  The first is cognitive restructuring, which “helps you think through a situation.”  The way to perform this is to write down what is making you feel stressed, write down your thoughts about it, and then write down how you plan to overcome the situation.  The message of this is to plan ahead and write down ways to improve yourself for the future.  The second part is all about visualization, which means that you see yourself achieving a goal that you set for yourself.  An example could be seeing yourself medal at a track meet, or scoring a goal during your soccer game.  This motivates you to keep going, and it will make you get through some of the hardest moments while training.  A third part is guided relaxation, which could be playing calming music so that you can relax your muscles.  By listening to calming music and doing deep breathing exercises, this will help relax your muscles because they will not be as tense as they are when stressed.  I also think that these strategies will be helpful because a part of overcoming tough situations is believing in yourself that you can do it.  This could go along with self- indulgence because it can be stressful to play a sport, but you can do something pleasant to deal with stress which could be having a pass with someone or shooting a basketball which deals with your sport, but does not cause you to feel more stressed.

The final audience that this can relate to is parents.  This is because they are worried about finances, work, and raising a family.  One way is to talk about problems or stress with your children.  If you notice that they are stressed it would be best to approach them and ask them to talk about what is on their mind.  If you are able to have this conversation with your children, then it might help them a little bit because they know that someone is willing to help them.  Also, this will lead to good communication which can help when it comes to problem solving.  This could be seen as emotion- focused coping because it will help parents to focus on feelings that their children have due to a stressor.  A second way is to create a healthy environment.  Different areas around you can contribute to stress, so trying to work in a different area could be beneficial.  Also, cleaning up messy areas can help because it will make you feel less stressed and it is something that you can control.  Finally, it is important to change one habit at a time.  If you try to change multiple things all at once, you will be overwhelmed, and it can cause you to feel stressed, which is what you are trying to avoid.  Also, changing one thing at a time can lead to success, which can then encourage you to accomplish more.  I think that these strategies provided will be successful because it is important to take things one step at a time, and to have good communication skills.  This could be considered as adaptive strategy because parents are trying to improve the situation without having other problems arise.

http://campusmindworks.org/students/self_care/managing_stress.asp

https://www.livestrong.com/article/371195-stress-management-techniques-for-sports/

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/managing-stress.aspx

--Original published at Madison's Blog

Stress can come about in many different forms for different groups of people. Student stress varies from athlete stress, which is different than a parent’s stress. All of these groups of people can have different ways to reduce their feelings of stress. Not all methods work properly, which can be harmful to the individual since they can actually cause more stress.

Stress Management For Students:

Students seem to deal with the most amount of stress in their daily lives. Students in  higher level education tend to have the highest levels of stress, which can lead to emotional health problems if not resolved. Students can experience three main types of stress, which are daily life hassles, social, and academic. Methods commonly used to reduce stress are, time management skills, exercise, staying positive, organization, stopping procrastination, and spending time with friends. Some of these methods seem more beneficial than others in helping reduce stress. The suggestion to not procrastinate seems like a natural thought for a student. I do not think it is a effective method to reduce stress, since most of the time procrastination is intentional. The student knows he/she is doing it. I feel a better method in place of this is to prioritize assignments, so you cannot push off large assignments that are due.

On the flip side, I think that time management is key to college life. You need to be able to do all your work efficiently, so it can all get done on time. I also think that exercise is a great way to reduce stress. It allows good hormones to be released into the body, which in turn relaxes the body and mind. Organization can also be make or break for a student. I think being organized helps reduce stress for the simple reason that you do not have to think about what is next. Making a check list for the week of assignments to get done can help ease the mind. You have everything written down, so there is no need to think about what to do next, since it is there for you. Overall, I think some methods can be more beneficial to students than others.

https://psychcentral.com/blog/stress-management-tips-for-students/

Stress Management For Athletes:

Athletes have a lot on their plates when it comes to dealing with stress. They have to be able to combat life stress, school stress, and also their competitive training stress. Stress is very pivotal in an athletes life, since it can make or break them. A small amount of stress has been shown to enhance an athletes abilities, but too much is harmful. Balancing the daily life struggles of stress from different areas can cause damage to an athlete. Our bodies cannot tell the difference between life stress, school stress, and athletic stress, so too much has a direct effect on immune system and hormonal balance. Methods to help athletes stress less is to not train too hard too fast. Training should be an act of progression, to enable the body to repair itself. Many athletes train everyday, all day, and they think it is helping them get stronger. Actually is is hurting their bodies, and this causes stress. Progressively training can help lower that type of stress. Another method to reduce stress is to do yoga instead of a vigorous exercise class. Yoga can provide physical and mental benefits for all athletes. It also increases core strength, concentration, flexibility, and lung function.

I think that yoga is a great way to reduce stress in any situation. Athletes can benefit from it, since it gives such great health bonuses. It can help with all types of stress related to athletes, so it can really help them. Yoga can ease the mind and body to help repair itself after a long day of exercise. I think that the method of training less aggressively can help the athlete see that training is not everything in a sport. A healthy mind also matters in life and in the game.

http://www.oksportsandfitness.com/StressedAthlete.php

Stress Management For Parents:

Parents tend to deal with stress in different ways than other groups of people. They have to hide it more, since they are the role models to their growing family. Parents destress more often, since they encounter more stressors during their days. Types of stress they encounter are, family stress, work stress, financial stress, and more. Methods for parents to reduce stress vary, since the stress also varies on a wide range. Typically, parents will use breathing exercises, wake up earlier to have alone time in the morning, write things down so you do not rely on memory, plan ahead of time, leave time for unexpected events, and be optimistic. These are just a few of the hundreds of ways parents can lower their stress levels. I think that parents have the most options to reduce stress. The options are endless, since they can use different smaller ways to destress more. I think that for parents, stress can hit harder, since their lives cannot stop for them.

I feel the methods can work well, since they do not require a lot of time. Small things can make a big difference in a life. I think the option to write things down can be tedious to a parent, since their might not be a list readily available. Maybe typing things in the notes feature of a cell phone would be more practical and handy. I like the idea of waking up earlier than the rest of the family to have alone time. Even a small amount of quiet time can be very beneficial to the mind, and it can help reduce stress levels. The parents can plan the day and have peace all in one time slot. I think that is a great idea for anyone who needs some alone time.

https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/family-living/stress/#.WtImt4jwY2w

Overall, I think that stress can effect anyone, but in different ways. Students face stress in a different way than athletes and parents. Different aspects of life adversely affect people of other groups, age, genders, and more. The coping skills discussed can work for any situation, and are not limited to the groups included. All methods of reducing stress can benefit different people facing different situations.

--Original published at Nadia's Blog

Stress never seems to be beneficial to humans however it is a natural response to a situation that threatens one’s sense of well-being. For each individual stress could be caused by something different, it could be something acute, that is time limited or something that is chronic and will extend over a large amount of time. Either way, stress can be handled in many different ways, and there are many techniques that individuals may use to cope with their stress.

In 2012, Womens Health wrote an article pertaining towards Women and how they can better handle their stress. They interviewed 435 people and asked them about their daily stressors and how they have been affecting their mood and if they had any obvious physical symptoms. The individuals with more stress, reported that they had more headaches, stomach problems, anxiety and decreased productivity. The article recommends to “break a sweat”, which allows an individual’s heart rate to increase and sends glucose to all parts of the body.  This advice correlates to a coping strategy we discussed in class, exercise.  It has been shown that there are physical and psychological benefits to exercising consistently. The article also mentions being solution-oriented will better allow an individual to accomplish a large task more easily. It is recommended to make a list with multiple steps and cross them off as you go. This is similar to problem focused learning which is more common for men to do. This allows them to aim their focus on the stressor itself and not let their emotions play a role. Similarly the article mentions getting a massage will activate the parasympathetic nervous system and your adrenal glands will cut back on releases stress hormones and boost production of feel-good neurotransmitters.  This method is similar to the mental vacation strategy, where you are able to picture yourself in a place where you feel calm and this allows you to not focus on being stressed in that moment.  The strategies recommended in this article are most likely beneficial to many individuals and directly correlate with the information we have discussed in class.

In an article published by Everyday Health, Dennis Thompson Jr. discusses different strategies to cope with stress for men. One of the most important methods discussed was solving the cause of your stressor. This way the stress can be relieved and not continue to build up. This idea is consistent with the problem focused coping strategy, where typically men focus on the stressor itself instead of focusing on their emotions. Another strategy was to meditate for around 15-20 minutes a day allowing yourself to clear your mind. This is similar to the MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction), which focuses on the observer self and allows an individual to become aware, accept themselves and stay in the present.  One interesting point the article makes is to reward yourself for accomplishing a goal. This almost acts as an incentive and motivates someone to continue working towards your goal, and will most likely benefit many individuals.

An article written for Best Colleges, focused on a student’s guide to handling stress. Primarily students not only have the daily stressors of homework and assignments, but the social pressures and work responsibilities as well.  The author recommends that students set realistic goals for themselves and to not spread themselves too thin. Often times students are not able to manage their time well, or have too many things going on at once, which can ultimately lead to constant stress. This method could act as an maladaptive strategy because it will be able to decrease the stress but could also restrict you from doing everything you would want to do. For instance you may not be able to play a sport, have time to hang out with your friends and do well in school.  However, this is a very useful strategy and will most definitely reduce the stress in most students lives. Another way to reduce stress is to eat healthier, because your body can better handle stress when you are as healthy as you can possibly be. This is a very effective method to handle stress because it will overall make you a healthier person and it is shown that individuals who eat healthier have more energy. This is similar to how self-indulgence can be problematic, a lot of times people will binge-eat and avoid doing something to compensate for stress, which can lead to other problems. However, if you are able to restrict yourself and maintain a healthy diet, this will combat the temptation to binge eat in stressful situations.

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/stress-managementhttps://www.everydayhealth.com/family-health/mens-health/combat-stress.aspxhttps://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/balancing-stress/

--Original published at Site Title

Stress is an inevitable factor that plays a role in everyone’s life in some way or another. Although having some minimal amounts of stress is actually a healthy part of our lives, having too much stress can severely affect our overall physical and mental health in many negative ways. Often times when people live a busier lifestyle, they are more prone to struggle with high stress levels. This is simply because they have more people to deal with, more commitments, less time, etc. Three groups of people in particular that live extremely busy lives include college students, athletes, and parents. While there are many stress managing tactics that can be used to alleviate stress in general, no matter where it originates, more often than not it can greatly help to have stress relieving tactics that are directed specifically at your lifestyle. In order to identify and compare some of these tactics for college students, athletes, and parents, I found three different articles that are directed at these specific groups of people.

As we all know, being a college student is extremely stressful. The workload is seemingly never ending, most all of us are away from our families, we fall short on getting enough sleep, it seems like there is never enough time in the day, and the list goes on. I found an article from the University of Michigan that provided some tips that are specifically directed towards college students for managing their stress levels. These tips include having good time management skills, creating a goal-setting worksheet, avoiding procrastination, getting regular exercise, maintaining healthy sleeping habits, taking part in mindful meditation, limiting / eliminating the use of stimulants such as caffeine, pacing yourself by taking breaks, keeping a journal to jot down your feelings and emotions, holding realistic expectations for yourself, planning leisure activities to break up your schedule, recognizing your role in controlling your own thoughts (try to be positive and optimistic), attempt to find humor in things within your life, and try to set a specific goal for yourself (The University of Michigan, 2016). I believe that all of these are very helpful and effective tips. Not only have I found these to be true from my own personal experience, but also because most of these things align with exactly what our textbook says along with what we discussed in class. http://campusmindworks.org/students/self_care/managing_stress.asp

Athletes are another group of individuals that often have to face a lot of stress, as many of us can relate to. When you’re on an athletic team, your performance directly affects your team, therefore you are likely under a lot of pressure. I found an article that provides a few tips that can help athletes reduce their stress levels as much as possible. The first tip is to get an adequate amount of rest. This is especially important for athletes considering they expend more energy than people who do not participate in any organized sports or leisure physical activity. The next tip is to engage in activities that temporarily distract you from the pressures of your sport, followed by both managing your time and checking your attitude. The final tip that this article gives is to use the support systems that you have (Labs, Nova. 2017). These tips are all similar to, if not the same as the tips that were given in the first article. Therefore, I believe that they are all effective tips because they are the exact same stress relieving tactics that are mentioned in our book / what we have discussed in class. https://nova3labs.com/five-stress-management-tips-athletes/

While most of us, if not all of us, probably can’t directly relate to this during this time of our lives, I’m sure we can all imagine how stressful it is to be a parent. The third article I looked at provides tips for stress management that are directed towards parents. Being a parent means that you not only have to worry about your own life, but now someone else’s life is in your hands as well. The list of tips that were given in this article include simplifying your life as much as you possibly can (don’t sweat the small stuff), get enough sleep, don’t take things personally (sometimes kids say things they don’t really mean / understand), exercise, aim for imperfection, remember breathe in and breathe out (relax), get support (spouse, family, babysitter, etc.), leave time for things that you enjoy doing, and do one thing at a time (Stiffelman, Susan. 2012). Once again, the all of these tips are the same stress relieving tips that have been given to us by our book. Therefore, I know that they are accurate and reliable tips that can help with alleviating stress levels.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/nine-steps-to-stress-free-parenting_n_1403209.html

References

Labs, Nova. (2017). Five Stress Management Tips for Athletes. Retrieved from:

https://nova3labs.com/five-stress-management-tips-athletes/.

Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2016). Exploring psychology (10th ed.). New York, US: Worth

Publishers.

Stiffelman, Susan. (2012). 9 Steps to Stress-Free Parenting. Retrieved from:   

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/nine-steps-to-stress-free-parenting_n_14032

09.html.

The University of Michigan. (2016). Managing Stress During College. Retrieved from:

http://campusmindworks.org/students/self_care/managing_stress.asp.

--Original published at JanellesCollegeBlog

We all experience stress throughout our lives. Depending on our different roles in life, we will experience and be able to deal with and manage stress differently. This is why for this spotlight blog post, I decided to look at three different websites that provided stress management tips for three different roles that some of us play here while at college: students (all of us), musicians, and athletes.

In the first article, the seven tips for managing stress as a college student include having a plan, having achievable objectives, spending time exercising and doing leisure activities, eating healthy, getting rest, communicating with loved ones, and enhancing social engagement. This connects to what we learned in class about stress management because we learned that exercise is a good way to release endorphins and make you feel better. Communicating with loved ones and enhancing social engagement also connects with the adaptive strategies that we learned of using social support and self disclosure. Social groups with friends and family are good to have to be able to confide in and get advice from. The article also mentions getting sleep which I believe would really help in resting and allowing the body to recuperate especially after so much cortisol being released in the body from stress. Finally, having a plan and having achievable objectives correlates with problem-focused coping. This strategy works at changing the stressor to decrease the stress that it adds. It focuses on the actual stressor while emotion-focused coping focuses on the emotions that come with the stressor.

In the second article, the article states six tips for managing stress as a musician. These include listing little tasks that need to be done, meditating, sleeping, staying active, limiting caffeine, and spending time on activities not related to work. Listing and crossing off little tasks that need to be done also incorporates problem-focused coping. Sleeping again allows the body to recuperate and staying active allows the body to release helpful chemicals and decrease the individuals risk of developing heart disease. Exercise, especially for musicians who often spend a good deal of time sitting, is important to make sure their body feels good and can be a good way to get away from stressors. Meditating connects to what we learned about Mindfulness-Based stress reduction (MBSR). This coping mechanism focuses on developing the “observer self” and staying in the present. This can help with managing stress and pain by realizing that pain only comes from anxiety from the past or future. MBSR is a good way to stay in the present and not worry or focus on what you cannot control because it is either in the past or future. Limiting caffeine especially 6 hours before bed will help an individual fall asleep. Also, caffeine can help boost the effects of stress hormones so they will only make the feelings of stress worse.

Finally, the third article talks about managing stress as an athlete. The five tips that this article stresses are getting enough sleep, practicing time management, maintaining a positive attitude, planning recreational activities, and creating a support system. As mentioned before, getting enough sleep is an extremely good way to help combat stress as long as sleeping does not become a self-indulgence and push stressors back thus causing more stress. Practicing time management is problem-focused coping, which is a good way to make sure that things get done. Maintaining a positive attitude can correlate to emotion-focused coping. This deals with the emotions behind stressors so if someone focuses on being happy and optimistic about the stressors, they will not experience more negative emotions that will cause stress and weaken the immune system, leaving the individual more likely to contract illnesses. Because athletes are already active, they need to focus more on scheduling time in for other positive recreational activities. As long as these recreational activities are not maladaptive like some self-indulgences, these activities can help individuals relax and get away from the stress that they have. Finally, creating a support system allows individuals who experience great amounts of stress to be able to have someone to turn to and a shoulder to cry on. This social support can provide an individual with more help and resources and someone to self-disclose to instead of just holding everything in.

These three websites all provided good coping strategies of stress for individuals in different situations. Most of them are adaptive in the right situations, although it depends on the individual trying to use them and the specific situation. Also, a person would need to be able to tell when a strategy turns from adaptive to maladaptive. For example, if someone takes a break to go for a walk, that can be adaptive until the walk becomes too long and they start avoiding their responsibilities.

College Students:

https://www.workitdaily.com/manage-stress-effectively-college-students/

Musicians:

https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/6-more-stress-beating-tips-for-musicians/

Athletes:

https://www.recruitingrealities.com/2012/09/25/5-stress-management-tips-for-student-athletes

--Original published at Brittany's Thoughts

Stress is something that affects everyone’s lives at one point or another. Whether the stress be from work, school, relationships or other activities such as clubs, it will still affect the person and can lead to undesirable side effects and feelings. Stress has to be managed, and there are many ways to manage that stress. Stress management varies from group to group and person to person, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Stress Management for Teens

Teens have to deal with a lot of different stress between school, a job if they have it, their friendships, and figuring out their futures. Transitioning between childhood dependence and adult independence while still living at home can be extremely difficult, especially with all the work that is put on teens. This can cause problems with illness, anxiety, withdrawal, and the creation of poor coping skills that could get teens into trouble.

An article by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry talked about methods that teenagers could use to cope with stress. They discussed what kinds of things could be stressors for teens, a few ways parents can help, and what teens can do to manage stress. They gave examples such as taking breaks from stressful situations, learning relaxation techniques, avoiding excessive caffeine intake, eating and exercising regularly, and learning to feel good enough about your work even when it is not “perfect.”

Most of these tips are some of the general stress management tips you hear. These tips can be effective depending on who you are and what your preferences are. While exercise might work for one, it may create more stress in another. Even the methods that involve changing the way you think and perceive your work and stress can be beneficial, but can be less successful because it is difficult to change the way you think. Relaxation techniques such as imagery have been shown to be quite beneficial, so that is one technique with a lot of backing to it for many people. Most of the techniques discussed could be considered adaptive strategies unless done too often to avoid a stressor. For example, if you do an activity and avoid a stressor until the last minute, that would be a maladaptive strategy. As long as the management is done without causing more problems, the management could be healthy and beneficial to teenagers.

https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Helping-Teenagers-With-Stress-066.aspx

Stress Management for College Students

Similarly to teenagers, college students have a lot of stress. The transition between living at home to living in a dorm where you are almost completely responsible of yourself is incredibly hard, and it can be very hard to deal with. The academic workload, a job, relationships and other activities such as clubs and ensembles can make college even more stressful than the transition does alone. This leads to very high levels of stress that can be very harmful for the persons experiencing the stress.

An article from the University of Michigan talks about the pros and cons of stress, symptoms of stress, and ways of reducing and managing stress. It said how stress can be a motivator and get you out of danger, but too much stress can bog you down and keep you from achieving what you need to achieve. In order to avoid being bogged down, you need to manage the stress before it gets worse. The article also brought up that increased stress can lead to mental health episodes in those with mental health disorders, which makes stress management even more important. They bring up techniques like not procrastinating over your academic work, taking time to just clear your mind, gaining better time-management skills, realizing your limits, and finding the humor in your life.

Some of the techniques varied from the tools for teenagers, but some remained the same. Again, management tools like working on time management can be harder to achieve but yield great rewards for stress management. The strategies could all be considered adaptive strategies unless you did procrastinate on your work, were stress eating or using coping mechanisms that do not work for the individual.

http://www.campusmindworks.org/students/self_care/managing_stress.asp

Stress Management for Working Mothers

Working mothers deal with a lot of stress from their work life and their home life. When one falls out of balance, the other will begin to follow and become more stressful as well. It is important for a working mom to manage her stress as well as her children’s’ stress to keep a happy, healthy balance in the home and the workplace.

An article by VeryWell Mind on working mothers displayed six techniques that a working mother can use to manage hers and her children’s’ stress. The first was plan ahead and staying organized, which could help limit last-minute stress from accidents with kids and streamlining your schedule. The second was setting boundaries, which was about saying no to tasks you cannot handle and focusing on tasks important to you and your success. The third was staying connected which was about spending time with your children in order to keep them feeling happy and loved while also doing some activities with them that could relieve yours and their stress. The fourth was taking care of yourself, which was taking time for yourself and trying to prevent burn-out. The fifth was enlisting help, which was about designating tasks to others, so you don’t have to do as much. The final tip was focusing on stress management, such as breathing exercises and re-framing techniques.

These methods were a little more specialized for the working mother than the methods mentioned in the other articles were. There were some like relaxation and taking time for yourself that were common across all the articles. Others dealt with both managing the mother’s and the child’s stress. This group deals with the child as well, so it’s important to have techniques to use with children as well as the mother. The techniques could be considered adaptive strategies since they do not have consequences, and can benefit both parties greatly.

https://www.verywellmind.com/working-moms-and-stress-relief-3145161

There are many ways for everyone to cope with stress. Even though the methods are not one-size-fits-all, people can find the methods that work for them and utilize them and prevent stress from consuming their lives.

--Original published at KatiesPerspectives

There are many different ways to destress, but not all methods of de-stressing work for everyone. In fact, if done incorrectly or by the wrong person – methods of de-stressing can actually lead to a much more stressful lifestyle. Stress can make is difficult to concentrate, increase worrying, cause tension and headaches, and even cause changes in your sleeping in eating habits. This is why it’s important to take a step back and evaluate the things you are doing to help de-stress to make sure they are not doing more harm than good.

Managing Stress During College:

Being a college student, you are forced into a whole new world of living alone and taking care of nearly everything yourself. For some, this could make for a much less stressful life, but for others it can be a troublesome and very difficult transition. Having the sort of freedom you have in college means that you have the opportunity to create both a life of ease, and a life of stress all for yourself. Throughout college, many students find that they start to develop new skills to help them balance the academic demands of college with the healthy living choices that must be made when living by yourself/with a roommate.

An article by the University of Michigan says that it’s important for college students to de-stress as stress can physically and mentally drag you down. While the article states that stress is a normal, natural part of life and being in college, there are many healthy ways that people cope with this sort of stress. One thing this article mentions as being helpful for college students when de-stressing, is exercise. While this can be a very useful and healthy way of dealing with stress and “blowing off steam,” per-say, some people see working out as something that is stressful in, and of itself. Personally, I really love going to the gym and physically putting in work, not only to maintain a healthy body, but a healthy mind. I find that the balance is important and exercising and running a couple times a weeks really helps keeping everything in check. While this might not be a problem-focused coping mechanism, it can be very helpful for people to have an outlet to blow off steam without having the cathartic reaction of lashing out. Overall, exercising could be potentially proactive, or retroactive for combatting stress, depending on how you look at it.

http://www.campusmindworks.org/students/self_care/managing_stress.asp

Managing Stress for Athletes

Although it is proven that a certain amount of stress can be very healthy for an athlete, there is a fine line between the stressors that help us focus and give us energy, and the stressors that can cause hormonal imbalances and the potential breakdown of the immune system. Oklahoma Sports and Fitness says, “Stress is like a spice. In the right portions, it enhances the flavor of the dish. Too little produces a bland, dull dish; and too much may choke you.” Some sports related factors that could play a vital role in increasing the stress of athletes is the physical and psychological demands, the life choices, and having pressure to always have a high standard of performance.

One of the main things that this website mentions is of upmost importance for athletes, is getting enough sleep. This is something that I think is very important for all people, especially physically active people. Getting enough sleep can play a vital role in how you perform on tests, in recitals, or (in this case) in games. While sleep is very important in the right amounts, playing Devil’s Advocate – too much sleep could be considered a maladaptive strategy of managing stress. While sleeping can help you decrease stress, sleeping in excess (more than 6, 7.5, or 9 hours a night) can cause excess problems that might actually decrease your ability to perform your sport to your fullest potential. This is a strategy that I think is necessary but must be carefully monitored each night as you are going into your athletic season.

http://www.oksportsandfitness.com/StressedAthlete.php

Managing Stress for Parents

Whether you are a stay-at-home parent of a working parent, parenting can be a very stressful and daunting task. Being constantly worried about who needs to be where, when, and with what science project and what lunchbox and how their getting there, I imaging, can be a scary thing to have to deal with every day. Constantly being worried or anxious can become an everyday, normal thing for a parent – but does it have to be? Researchers at the Child Development Institute don’t think so.

One of the points it makes on this website is that it can help reduce stress and make the whole day run much smoother if you got up 15 minutes earlier. By allowing this time to prepare yourself for what the day has to offer, you are actively assessing the stressor. This is called problem-focused coping. By actively combating things before they happen and allowing extra time, you are creating for yourself, somewhat of a leeway time for unexpected things that might happen throughout your day. Overall, this is a very productive way at looking at things and a great way to get things done while staying on top of stressful situations.

https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/family-living/stress/

Overall, there are very many things that one can do to help them combat the challenges of stress and the only way to find out what works best for you is to test the waters.