1.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
BY:
ABRAHAM MARANGU NCUNGE

2.
DEFINATION
‘Stress is a condition or a feeling experienced
when a person believes s/he doesn’t have the
capacity to cope with the demands being placed
upon them in a certain situation. ’

3.
Stress at glance
• Stress is a normal part of life that can either
help us learn and grow or can cause us
significant problems.
• Stress releases powerful neurochemicals and
hormones that prepare us for action (to fight
or flee).
• If we don't take action, the stress response
can create or worsen health problems.
• Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and
unmanageable stresses are the most
damaging types of stress.

4.
Is stress inevitable?
• stress is not always an inevitable
consequence of an event, as it depends a lot
on a person’s perceptions of a situation and
their ability to cope with it. Some people are
natural worriers and are prone to being badly
affected by problems — and are therefore
likely to become stressed — while others just
seem to be able to resolve a problem without
it having a massive impact on them.

5.
Can stress be a postive experience?
• Although stress is usually viewed as a negative
experience, it can actually create both positive
and negative feelings.
• From a biological point of view, stress can be a
neutral, negative, or positive experience.
• stress is related to both external and internal
factors.

6.
TYPES OF STRESS
Stress management can be complicated and
confusing because there are different types of
stress i.e. acute stress, episodic acute stress, and
chronic stress ; each with its own characteristics,
symptoms, duration, and treatment approaches.

7.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
1. Acute Stress:
• Acute stress is the most common form of
stress. It comes from demands and pressures
of the recent past and anticipated demands
and pressures of the near future. Acute stress
is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but too
much is exhausting.
• Because it is short term, acute stress doesn't
have enough time to do the extensive damage
associated with long-term stress.

8.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
Common symptoms of acute stress:
• Emotional distress of some combination of
anger or irritability, anxiety, and depression,
the three stress emotions;
• muscular problems including tension
headache, back pain, jaw pain, and the
muscular tensions that lead to pulled muscles
and tendon and ligament problems;

9.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
• stomach, gut and bowel problems such as
heartburn, acid stomach, flatulence, diarrhea,
constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome;
• transient over arousal leads to elevation in
blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweaty
palms, heart palpitations, dizziness, migraine
headaches, cold hands or feet, shortness of
breath, and chest pain.
• Note: Acute stress can crop up in anyone's life,
and it is highly treatable and manageable.

10.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
2. Episodic Acute Stress:
The symptoms of episodic acute stress are the
symptoms of extended over arousal: persistent
tension headaches, migraines, hypertension,
chest pain, and heart disease. Treating episodic
acute stress requires intervention on a number
of levels, generally requiring professional help,
which may take many months.

11.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
• Sufferers of episodic acute stress can be
violently resistant to change. Only the promise
of relief from pain and discomfort of their
symptoms can keep them in treatment and on
track in their recovery program
• Often, lifestyle and personality issues are so
ingrained and habitual with these individuals
that they see nothing wrong with the way
they conduct their lives. They blame their
woes on other people and external events..

12.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
3. Chronic Stress:
While acute stress can be thrilling and exciting,
chronic stress is not. This is the grinding stress
that wears people away day after day, year after
year. Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds and
lives. It wreaks havoc through long-term
attrition. It's the stress of poverty, of
dysfunctional families, of being trapped in an
unhappy marriage or in a despised job or career.
It's the stress that never-ends.

13.
TYPES OF STRESS – (cont’d)
• Chronic stress comes when a person never
sees a way out of a miserable situation. It's
the stress of unrelenting demands and
pressures for seemingly interminable periods
of time. With no hope, the individual gives up
searching for solutions.
• Some chronic stresses stem from traumatic,
early childhood experiences that become
internalized and remain forever painful and
present. Some experiences profoundly affect
personality.

14.
What causes stress

15.
What causes stress?
.

16.
EXTERNAL FACTORS
Physical environment including:
• your job,
• your relationships with others,
• your home, and
All the situations including:
• challenges,
• difficulties, and
• expectations you're confronted with on a daily
basis.

17.
INTERNAL FACTORS
Internal factors determine your body's ability to
respond to, and deal with, the external stress-
inducing factors. They include:
• nutritional status,
• overall health and fitness levels,
• emotional well-being, and
• the amount of sleep and rest you get.

18.
Areas of the body affected by stress

19.
WHAT CAUSES STRESS
1. Not having enough time:
Many tasks on the list are left unattended
against the schedule due to poor time
management and not setting your priorities

20.
2: Unhealthy lifestyle:
Whatever the reason, an unhealthy lifestyle can
reduce your ability to cope with stress, and in
some circumstances it may actually increase
your stress levels.

21.
3. Taking on too much:
You may have a tendency to take on too much
both at work and in your home life, perhaps
because you don’t want to let people down. If
you do this, however, it will frequently lead to
you stressing about having too much to do and
not managing to achieve everything you have
taken on.

22.
4: Conflicts in the workplace or at
home:
If relationships are strained at home or in the
workplace, then it’s more than likely that you’ll
be stressed about them. Conflicts might occur
due to disagreements about how things should
be done — and so you might feel that you have
to stand your ground to make progress — but
ultimately a lot of hot air will only contribute to
your stress levels.

23.
5: Inability to accept things as they
are:
Some people don’t have the ability to accept things
as they are or realise that certain situations are out
of their control. If you try to change something that
you really can’t change, then you’ll just be creating
unnecessary stress that you can do without.

24.
6: Failure to take time out and
relax:
Being constantly on the go means that you will
be in a heightened state of tension all the time
and your body will never have the chance to get
rid of your stress. Failing to take time out will
also reduce your effectiveness in the long run.

25.
7: Non-work-related issues:
Stress may be caused by a non-work-related issue
such as a serious illness in the family, having to care
for dependents, a bereavement, moving house, or
debt problems. Often these issues are unavoidable
and not something that you can readily deal with —
but it’s worth trying to deal with them rather
putting them off or trying to ignore them.

26.
8: Failure to see the humour in
situations:
Some people are often able to laugh in the face
of adversity and seem to be able to brush aside
problems and deal with them effectively. They
essentially don’t allow themselves to become
overly stressed. However, other people may not
see the humour in some situations, and this may
cause them to become more stressed.

27.
9: Particular situations that cause
stress:
Becoming stressed in some situations is
sometimes unavoidable, and inevitably there
are situations in which we can expect to be
stressed from time to time, such as in the
workplace or when you’re stuck in traffic and
you need to get somewhere quickly.

28.
10. Major life changes
Significant changes in things that we have
become accustomed to can be a real cause of
stress. For example, changing your job or
moving house may be among the most stressful
things you will do in your lifetime — which is
possibly why most of us try to do it infrequently!
Also, the process leading up to the change may
be stressful in itself.

29.
COPING WITH STRESS
The duty of stress coping is to hold down the
body when the stress reaction becomes harmful
to the body due to the overwork of the body
reacting to the stressor. But, if the stress coping
does not work, the coping itself becomes a new
stressor, which will cause a vicious circle.

30.
.
.

31.
Drink less
.

32.
Choose an Exercise You Enjoy
.

33.
Exercise With Others for Support
.

34.
Become Actively Involved
Being involved with others can help you regain a
sense of purpose.

35.
Get the Healthy Sleep You Need
Start by going to bed and getting up the same
time each day.

36.
Avoid Alcohol and Drugs
.

37.
Keep grief short
Let yourself grieve. Express your feelings to
friends, in a support group, or to a grief
counselor.

38.
Be a jovial person
A good laugh can relax muscles, reduce stress,
and relieve pain.

39.
Sex and stress are linked in several ways.
Decreasing stress and increasing the quality of
your sex life can benefit you in many ways.

40.
Sex (cont’d)
Within a healthy relationship, sex can be a
fantastic stress reliever, as it incorporates several
other stress relief ingredients--breathing, touch,
social connection, and a few others--and brings
a rush of endorphins and other beneficial
chemicals with orgasm. It's another one of the
more "fun" stress relievers that can also be quite
effective.

41.
Volunteer
• Helping others can help you forget your own
problems alongside other benefits.

42.
Meditation
Meditation brings short-term stress relief as well
as lasting stress management benefits. There
are many different forms of meditation to try--
each one is unique and brings its own appeal..

43.
Swimming

44.
Thank you
for
lending me your ears.
You can now have them back.
God bless you. God bless Kenya.