1. Taking Charge of
One’s Health
Topic 3

2. Activity: Self Stress Assessment
• College Student’s Stressful Event Checklist
• Answer the questionnaire honestly
• During class session, pair with a classmate and share two to
three life events. Observe confidentiality after sharing

3. Process Questions
• How do you feel while you were doing the checklist?
• Is the result near to your present perceived stress level? How do you
feel with the result?
• How do these identified life events affect your life now?
• What is your reflection after sharing with your classmate?
• What is your perception about stress and self-care?

4. Stress and Human Response
• American Institute of Stress (AIS) has distinguished different types of
stress and the human response to it
• Hans Selye defined STRESS as the body’s nonspecific response to any
demand, whether it is caused by or results in pleasant or unpleasant
stimuli
• Distress- unpleasant or harmful variety of stress, which often connotes
disease; stress in daily life that has a negative connotation such as divorce,
punishment, injury, negative feelings, financial problems and work difficulties
• Eustress- which often connotes euphoria; stress in daily life that has a
positive connotation such as marriage, promotion, winning money, new
friends, and graduation

5. Stress and Human Response
• Both Eustress and Distress - undergoes the same nonspecific
responses to the various positive or negative stimuli acting upon it
• Eustress causes much less damage than Distress
• It is how an individual accepts stress that determines ultimately
whether the person can adapt successfully to change (AIS, 2017)

6. Stress and Human Response
• Selye hypothesized a general adaptation or stress syndrome
• Stress always manifests itself by a syndrome, a sum of changes, and
not by simply one change (AIS, 2017)
• General Stress Syndrome has three components:
1. Alarm Stage –represents a mobilization of the body’s defensive
forces
2. Stage of Resistance-the body becomes adaptive to the challenge
and event begins to resist it.
3. Exhaustion Stage- the body dies because it has used up its
resources of adaptation energy

7. Stress and Human Response
• Stress Diseases are caused principally by errors in the body’s general
adaptation process.
• The biggest problems with derailing the general adaptation syndrome
and causing disease is an absolute excess, deficiency, or
disequilibrium in the amount of adaptive hormones
• e.g. adrenocorticotropic and growth hormone- produced during
stress
(If stress is induced chronically, our defense response lowers its resistance since
fewer antibodies are produced and an inflammatory response dwindles (AIS,
2017))

8. Stress and Human Response
•Chronic Stress is unpleasant, even when it is
transient. A stressful situation – whether something
environmental, such as a looming work deadline or
psychological, such as persistent worry about losing a
job – can trigger a cascade of stress hormones that
produce well- orchestrated physiological changes. A
stressful incident can make the heart pound and
breathing quicken. Muscles tense and beads of sweat

9. Stress and Human Response
•Fight-or Flight Response
• The combination of reactions to stress
• It evolved as a survival mechanism
• Enables people and other mammals to react quickly to
life-threatening situations
•Carefully-Orchestrated yet near-instantaneous
sequence of hormonal changes and physiological
responses helps someone to flight the threat off or

10. Stress and Human Response
•Research suggests that chronic stress contributes to:
•High Blood Pressure
•Promotes the formation of artery-clogging deposits
•Causes brain changes that may contribute to
anxiety, depression, and addiction
•Obesity

11. Stress and Human Response
•Brain-where the stress response begins
•When someone confronts an incoming car or other
danger, the eyes or ear send the information to the
amygdala (area that contributes to emotional
processing). It interprets the images and sounds.
When it perceives danger, it instantly sends distress
signal to the hypothalamus (Health Harvard, 2017)

12. Stress and Human Response
•Brain-where the stress response begins
• When someone confronts an incoming car or other danger,
the eyes or ear send the information to the amygdala
(area that contributes to emotional processing). It interprets
the images and sounds. When it perceives danger, it instantly
sends distress signal to the hypothalamus (command
center of the brain that communicates with the rest of the
body through the nervous system (Health Harvard, 2017)

13. Stress and Human Response
•Brain-where the stress response begins
• When someone confronts an incoming car or other danger,
the eyes or ear send the information to the amygdala
(area that contributes to emotional processing). It interprets
the images and sounds. When it perceives danger, it instantly
sends distress signal to the hypothalamus (command
center of the brain that communicates with the rest of the
body through the nervous system (Health Harvard, 2017)

14. AMYGDALA HYPOTHALAMUS
AUTONOMIC
NERVOUS
SYSTEM
SYMPATHETIC
NERVOUS
SYSTEM
EPINEPHRINE
HORMONES
Epinephrine Hormones-brings on a number of physiological changes,
such as:
o Heart beats faster
o Pushing blood to the muscles, heart and other vital organs Pulse rate
and blood pressure go up
o Starts to breathe rapidly
o Extra oxygen is sent to the brain, increasing alertness & other senses
become sharper
o Triggers the release of blood sugar

15. Stress and Human Response
• Epinephrine subsides- hypothalamus activates the 2nd component of
stress response system known as Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal
(HPA) axis
• HPA Axis- consists of: hypothalamus, pituitary gland & adrenal gland
• HPA Axis relies on a series of hormonal signals to keep the
sympathetic nervous system – the “gas pedal” – pressed down
• If the brain continues to perceive something as dangerous, the
hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH),
which travels to the pituitary gland, triggering the release of ACTH

16. Stress and Human Response
• This hormone travels to the adrenal glands, prompting them to
release cortisol
• The body thus stays revved up and on high alert
• When the threat passes cortisol level fall
• The parasympathetic nervous system – the “brake” – then dampens
the stress response (Health Harvard, 2017)

17. Stress and Human Response
• Persistent Epinephrine surges can damage blood vessels
and arteries, increasing blood pressure and raising risk of
heart attacks or strokes
• Elevated Cortisol Level create physiological changes that
help to replenish the body’s energy stores that are depleted
during the stress response. But they unintentionally
contribute to the build up of fat tissue and to weight gain
• e.g. increases of appetite and stored of unused nutrients as
fat

18. Self-Care Therapy
(Nancy Apperson, 2008)
• Stop, Breath, and Tell Yourself: “ This is hard and I will get
through this one step at a time.”
• Acknowledge to yourself what you are feeling
• Find someone who listens and is accepting. You do not need
advice. You need to be heard
• Maintain your normal routine as much as possible
• Allow plenty of time for a task

19. Self-Care Therapy
(Nancy Apperson, 2008)
• Take good care of yourself. Remember to:
• Get enough rest and sleep
• Eat regularly and make healthy choices
• Know your limits and when you need to let go
• Identify or create a nurturing place in your home
• Practice relaxation or meditation
• Escape for a while through meditation, reading a book,
watching a movie, or taking a short trip

20. SELF-COMPASSION
THERAPY
(Kristin Neff, 2012)

21. “Self-Compassion entails being warm and understanding toward ourselves
when we suffer, fail inadequate, rather than flagellating ourselves with self-criticism. It
recognizes that being imperfect and experiencing life difficulties is inevitable, so we soothe
and nurture ourselves when confronting our pain rather than getting angry when life falls
short of our ideals. We clearly acknowledge our problems and shortcomings without
judgement, so we can do what is necessary to help ourselves. We cannot always get
what we want. We cannot always be who we want to be. When this
reality is denied or resisted, suffering arises in the form of stress, frustration,
and self-criticism. When this reality is accepted with benevolence, however,
wee generate positive emotions of kindness and care that help us cope. Self-
compassion recognizes that life challenges and personal failures are part of
being human, an experience we all share. In this way, it helps us to feel less desolate
and isolated when we are in pain.”

22. SELF-COMPASSION PHRASES
•This is a moment of suffering
•Suffering is a part of life
•May I be kind to myself
•May I give myself the compassion I need

23. SELF-COMPASSION PHRASES
• The 4 phrases capture the essence of the three components of self-
compassion
• Helps to mindfully open to the sting of emotional pain
• Reminds us that suffering unites all living beings and reduces the
tendency to feel ashamed and isolated when things go wrong in our lives
• Begins the process of responding with self-kindness rather than self-
criticism
• Other phrases that may feel more authentic in a given situation are:
“May I accept myself as I am,” “May I forgive myself,” “May I learn to
accept what I cannot change.”

24. SELF-COMPASSIONATE LETTER
• An example of a self-compassion exercise is the self-
compassionate letter

25. ASSIGNMENT: MAKE A
SELF-COMPASSIONATE
LETTER
• Consider the following:
1. Think of imaginary friend who is unconditionally accepting and
compassionate, understands your life history, your current
circumstances, and understands the limits of human nature
2. Write a letter to yourself from that perspective. What would your
friend say about your perceived problem? What words would he or
she use to convey deep compassion? How would your friend remind
you that you are only human? If your friend were to make any
suggestions, how would they reflect unconditional understanding?

26. May UNDERSTANDING THE
SELF Subject (UTS) be a your
daily reminder that:
We SHOULD LOVE & CARE for
ourselves MORE and MORe
EACh DAY!!!

27. “Thank you Everyone for the
Wonderful Understanding the Self
Experienced”