Personal Development

1. Coping with Stress

2. At the end of the lesson, the students should be able
to:
discuss that understanding stress and it’s
sources during adolescence may help in
identifying ways to cope and have a healthy
life;
identify sources of one’s stress and illustrate
the effects of stress on one’s system and;
demonstrate personal ways of coping with
stress for healthful living.

3. INTRODUCTION
The teenage period is a stressful stage in one’s life.
Not only are there changes in one’s physical appearance and
body image during this phase; there are also changes in a
teenager’s roles and his or her expectations and understanding of
the world. This is the phase wherein a teenager is challenged with
questions of identity (who am I?) and purpose (what do I want to
do with my life?). Aside from dealing with internal and external
changes, stress comes from various sources (stressor) within a
teenager’s daily activities and interactions – from family, friends,
peers school work, and even from romantic relationships.

4. It is important to be aware of the
different sources of one’s stress in
order to develop ways with which
to counteract these stressors and
live a healthier lifestyle. In this
lesson, we shall discuss the
different ways to cope with
common source of stress for
teenagers.

5. Defining Stress
Stress is defined as a reaction of the mind and
body to a stimulus that disturbs the well-
being, state of calm, or equilibrium of a
person.
It is a misconception that stress can only be
related to negative events and circumstances.
Positive and negative experiences are equally
stressful.

6. There are three views in understanding stress:
1)as stimulus, stress may be the events or
situations that are life changing and very
challenging.
2) as a response, stress causes the body and the
brain to secrete hormones and chemicals that are
manifested physically, and which may drive a
person to certain behavioral direction in dealing
with the stress.
3) as relational, stress is seen as a situation that a
person interacts with.

7. Positive Stress or eustress
 If it is positive, the person will see the
stress as challenge, can change the effect
of the situation, and then take necessary
action to lessen the stress.
 EUSTRESS eliminates stress
 When you experience eustress, you
become motivated to find ways to
address the problems causing stress.

8. Negative stress or distress
 If it is negative, the person will develop negative
emotions, which will aggravate the stressful situation
even more.
 DISTRESS aggravates stress
 When you become too affected and experience
distress, you worsen the stressful situation by running
away from stressor rather than facing them.

9. Some samples of possible stressor a teenager
faces:
School demands and expectations
Selecting a school, college course, or career
Separation anxiety
College life
Romantic relationships or the lack of it.
Family demands and expectations
Health concerns
Demands of social life
Bullying

10. It is not the stress that kills us; it is
our reaction to it.
Dr. Hans Selye (famous Austrian doctor)
oDr. Selye did pioneering research on the
responses and effects of stress on an
individual.
oHe first used the term “eustress”

11. Negative effects of stress
• Chronic stress or continued exposure to stressful
situation has been linked to certain physical
illness such as ulcers, high blood pressure, and
heart disease.
• Stress also impairs immune system causing
human bodies to be less capable of fighting
diseases.
• Stress plays half of all medical problems.
• Stress can also affect one’s well-being –
emotional,mental,social,and spiritual
• Extreme emotions could cloud your sound
judgment, taking over your mental stability.

12. Coping with stress
Coping is a way of a person to deal with stress in a healthy,
acceptable manner.
Coping is necessary to avoid psychological trauma and
mental diseases.
Coping may also be a combination of both problem-focused
and emotional-focused remedies. Here are some examples as
illustrated above:

13. 1. Conduct creative imagery of the
problem - look at the stressor as a
relational situation where you can
assess and change the way you
look at the stressful situation.

14. 2. Seek group or social support- talk to
people you know and trust, surround
yourself with friends who can offer you
sincere understanding and empathy.
Talk to an adult and share your
thoughts and feelings.

15. 3. Regular physical exercise, meditation,
yoga, self-hypnosis, reading a good book,
or listening to relaxing music.

16. 4. Create a situation where you can feel
more relaxed like a quiet environment
or a comfortable position, and project
a passive attitude toward the stressor.

17. 5. Learn to manage your time -
analyze how much time you are
spending for studying, for being
online, for texting or calling, for
watching TV, and see where you
are spending more time.

18. 6. Eat properly by
selecting nutritious,
healthy food. eat
regularly and avoid
skipping meals.