Section 4. so I won t feel so stressed out. Is this a good way to cope with stress? A: Ignoring a problem might make you feel

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1 Section 4 Coping With Stress Objectives Before class begins, write the objectives on the board. Have students copy the objectives into their notebooks at the start of class. 1. Focus Warm-Up Advice Line After students finish writing, call on several volunteers to share their ideas with the class. Try to get a diversity of responses. Ideas might include making note cards and practicing in front of a mirror. Use the responses to make the point that there are many ways to cope with stress. Teaching Transparency W11 Section 4 Objectives Identify ways to control stress, reduce tension, and change the way you think about stressors. Explain why building resilience is important. Describe the value of seeking support from others when you are under stress. Vocabulary mental rehearsal biofeedback Coping With Stress Dear Advice Line, When I have to speak in front of a group, I panic. I begin to sweat and my heart pounds. My mouth gets so dry that it s hard to speak. Is there anything I can do about this problem? What advice would you offer to someone who is afraid of speaking in public? Take Control of Stress Many people tend to think that all stress is out of their control. This is not true. You can do many things to keep stress under control. In a sense, everything you do to maintain your health is a way to manage stress. It is important to distinguish between stressors that you can control and those that you cannot. You cannot control natural disasters or major life changes such as the death of a grandparent. The adults in your family control your physical environment. They decide where you live and who lives with you. There are, however, many stressors in your life that you can work to change. These stressors tend to be the everyday problems. For example, suppose you were in danger of failing math. What could you do? You could ignore the problem and pretend not to be worried or you could confront the problem and devise a plan to improve your grade. Your plan might include asking a friend for help, cutting down on other activities to focus more on math, and paying closer attention in class. If you direct your energy toward those things that are within your power to change, you may be surprised to see what a difference you can make. Two techniques that can help you keep stress under control are time management and mental rehearsal. 70 Chapter 3 Sensitive Issues After reading about the adverse health effects of stress, students may worry about the health of over-stressed loved ones. It may help students to share with loved ones what they learn in this section about coping with stress. TEENS Are Asking... Q: When I have a problem, I try to ignore it so I won t feel so stressed out. Is this a good way to cope with stress? A: Ignoring a problem might make you feel better for a while, but it will not solve the problem, and the problem may even get worse. It is better to face most problems head on. Decide whether the problem is something that you can control. If it is, take steps to resolve it. If necessary, ask a parent, teacher, or guidance counselor for advice. If the cause of the problem is not under your control, try to cope with the stress it causes in healthful ways, such as physical activity. 70 Chapter 3

2 Time Management Do you often wish there were more hours in the day? Do you tend to put things off until the last minute? If you answered yes to these questions, you may not be managing your time effectively. Poor time management is one of the biggest contributors to stress. The Building Health Skills on pages can help you learn to use time more productively. Not only will you get more done each day, but you will also feel more in control of your life. As a bonus, you might also end up with more time for fun and relaxation. Mental Rehearsal Suppose you have a big event coming up, such as a solo in a concert. If you are worried about your performance, you might use a technique known as a mental rehearsal to help you prepare. In a mental rehearsal, you practice an event without actually doing the event. The event takes place in your mind as you imagine yourself performing at your best. You might rehearse every aspect of the event a few times over until you feel confident that you can perform it as imagined. Of course, a mental rehearsal doesn t replace the need to actually practice for an event. Athletes often use mental rehearsal while preparing for a competition. This technique helps athletes stay focused on their performances during highly stressful times. You also can use mental rehearsal to prepare for a difficult conversation with a family member or a friend. When you first try this technique, it may be difficult to keep your mind focused on your rehearsal. You might find that you are easily distracted by outside events. With practice, though, you will improve your ability to focus and put all distractions aside. Connect to YOUR LIFE Have you used mental rehearsal before an event? If so, did it help your performance? FIGURE 10 Time wasters keep you from making the best use of the time you have to study. Evaluating Which example do you think costs you the most time? What other examples would you add to the list? Time Wasters Playing video games Talking on the phone Watching TV Listening to music Daydreaming Worrying Not having a plan Not following instructions Not being able to concentrate Agreeing to do too many things Managing Stress 71 L3 L2 2. Teach EL Reading/Note Taking 3-4 Adapted Reading/Note Taking 3-4 Take Control of Stress L3 Journal Writing Have students write a journal entry in which they list several stressors in their lives. Then have students draw a line through any of the stressors over which they have no control. Ask students to write a sentence or two stating how they might reduce or eliminate each of the remaining stressors. L2 Active Learning Review how to do mental rehearsal: find a quiet place without distractions, focus only on the task, and imagine yourself successfully completing each step of the task. Ask students to select a task that causes them stress, such as shooting a foul shot or giving a class presentation. Tell students to mentally rehearse the task at least once a day for a week. When they actually perform the task, they should assess whether mental rehearsal decreased their stress. L3 Visual Learning: Figure 10 Have students read the list of time wasters in the figure. Call on a few volunteers to answer the caption question. Discuss how wasting time contributes to stress. Point out that some of the time wasters in the figure can also be stress relievers when done in moderation. As a transition to the discussion of reducing tension, ask: Which activities do you think might be good for relieving stress? (Students might state any of the first four examples.) Caption Answer Answers will vary but should be one of the examples in the list. Other examples might include hanging out at the mall and trying to do everything perfectly. L2 Less Proficient Readers Help students create a detailed concept map to organize and record the most important information in the section. Use the headings and subheadings to start the concept map, leaving room where needed for additional information. Tell students to finish the concept map by adding details as they read. Check the completed maps for errors and omissions. Suggest that students use their concept maps when they review the section. Connect to Students who have used YOUR LIFE mental rehearsal are likely to say that it helped their performance. Managing Stress 71

3 Chapter 3, Section 4 Reduce Tension L3 Building Health Skills Advocacy Have students create short infomercials for teens in which they advocate the use of physical activity to reduce tension. Help students recall infomercials on television or radio for the appropriate style of writing. Tell students their infomercials should describe how physical activity reduces tension and suggest ways to increase physical activity, such as trying out for a team sport, walking short distances instead of driving, or taking stairs instead of elevators and escalators. Give students a chance to present their infomercials to the class. Urge students to apply the information to their own lives. L2 Cooperative Learning Divide the class into pairs, and ask each pair to practice deep breathing. While one member of the pair reads the instructions in the text, the other member can follow them. Then have partners change roles. After all the students have had a chance to practice the technique, take a class vote to see how many students feel more relaxed. L3 Cultural Connection The physical activities that people use to reduce tension can vary from one culture to another. So can relaxation methods. Ask students to describe relaxation strategies that they are familiar with from their cultural traditions. FIGURE 11 Being physically active improves physical fitness, provides an outlet for excess energy, and takes your mind off your problems. Reduce Tension Even when a stressor isn t under your control, there are things you can do to reduce the stress. When you recognize warning signs of stress, such as muscle tension or restlessness, you need to find a way to relieve the tension. Three strategies that can help you relieve tension are physical activity, relaxation, and biofeedback. These methods work by altering the physical state of your body. Physical Activity Bicycling, taking a walk, playing the drums these are some ways to release tension when you are under stress. By doing something physically active, you provide your body with a healthy outlet for built-up energy. At the same time, you shift your focus from your problems to the task at hand. This gives your mind a chance to relax, too. You do not have to be an athlete to use physical activity to manage stress. The activities you choose don t have to be competitive sports, and you don t have to be the best at them. Instead, select activities that you enjoy. If you enjoy an activity, you are more likely to do it on a regular basis. Try to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. That way, you will always have a way to work off the day s tension. Relaxation The goal of relaxation techniques is to give your mind and body a rest. When you are relaxed, you may be awake and alert, but you are not responding actively to stressors. You may relax your mind by reading a book, taking a nap, listening to music, or doing something creative, such as playing the guitar. You can relax tense muscles by taking a hot shower or bath, stretching, or having someone massage your neck. Deep breathing is a relaxation method that offers quick relief from stress. Take a few deep breaths in a row. Slowly breathe in as much air as you can through your nose. Hold the air in for a few seconds and then slowly exhale through your mouth. Place one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen as you inhale. Your abdomen should expand more than your chest. When you breathe deeply, you take in more oxygen, which helps your body to function better. 72 Chapter 3 and Health L3 Public Service Announcements Divide the class into several groups, and have each group write a public service announcement called Ways to Reduce Tension. Explain that a public service announcement is a brief, informative message to the public about an important issue that concerns many people. Each announcement should last about three minutes and present clear descriptions of two ways to reduce tension, including a physical activity such as brisk walking and a relaxation method such as stretching. Allow class time for groups to read aloud their announcements. 72 Chapter 3

4 Hands-On Activity Progressive Relaxation You can use progressive relaxation to release the tension that builds up in your muscles. Try This 1 Sit quietly in a comfortable chair or lie down and close your eyes. Make sure that your arms and legs are uncrossed. 2 Tighten each muscle group in your body, hold for 10 seconds, and relax. Follow the order in the bulleted lists. 3 Finally, tense all the muscles in your whole body. Hold for 10 seconds and relax. Wrinkle your forehead. Try to make your eyebrows touch your hairline. Close your eyes as tightly as you can. Form a frown with the corners of your mouth. Raise your shoulders up to your ears. Bend your elbows and tense your upper arms. Tightly clench your fists. Gently arch your back. Think and Discuss 1 Compare how you felt before doing this activity to how you felt after doing the progressive relaxation. 2 Think back to what you learned about the alarm stage of your body s response to stress. Why do you think progressive relaxation is an effective stress-reduction technique? 3 List some times during a typical week when it would be helpful to use progressive relaxation. Tighten your stomach muscles. Tighten your hip and buttock muscles. Squeeze your legs together. Curl your toes under as tightly as you can. Progressive Relaxation If students do the activity at home, they should lie on a comfortable surface and ask a friend or family member to read the steps aloud while they do the activity. If students do the activity in class, they should sit comfortably in their seats and you should read the steps aloud. Think and Discuss Answers 1. Students are likely to feel more relaxed after doing progressive relaxation. For example, their muscles may not feel as tight. 2. In the alarm stage, stress speeds up the heart and breathing and causes muscles to tighten, among other changes. Progressive relaxation helps to control these physical changes. 3. Sample answer: Progressive relaxation would be helpful to relieve stress before a big test or important competition. Biofeedback Some methods for coping with stress require training and equipment. An example is biofeedback. With biofeedback, people learn to control one or more body functions by monitoring their body s responses. The functions that they learn to control are ones that are often affected by stress, such as heart rate or blood pressure. A trained health professional usually teaches biofeedback. The health professional might, for example, attach a device to a patient s back muscles that measures muscle tension. The results are displayed on a monitor. The patient can see when the muscles are tense and identify thoughts that are causing the tension. The patient then learns to control the tension by changing his or her thoughts. In time, many people can recognize muscle tension and control it without using the equipment. For people who suffer from headaches or asthma, biofeedback can be useful. Studies have shown that people with asthma may be able to reduce their need for medication by learning to control their heart rates. Connect to YOUR LIFE What physical activities do you enjoy doing? Do they help you relax? Managing Stress 73 EL Building Vocabulary Analyze the word biofeedback so students will have a better understanding of the concept. First, explain that feedback is information that lets you know how you are doing. Give familiar examples of feedback, such as comments from a teacher written on a term paper or a student s score on a practice quiz. Then, explain that biofeedback is biological information that lets you know how your body is doing. The biological information could be heart rate, blood pressure, or muscle tension. Connect to Students can identify any YOUR LIFE physical activity they enjoy, such as hiking, playing basketball, swimming, or skiing. L4 Gifted and Talented Encourage interested students to learn more about biofeedback. Assign some students to investigate scientific aspects of biofeedback, such as how it was discovered and how it works. Assign other students to investigate practical aspects of biofeedback, such as where in your area it is offered, what types of problems it is used to treat, and how much it costs. Ask students to summarize their findings in a written or oral report. Managing Stress 73

5 Chapter 3, Section 4 Change Your Thinking L3 Online Activity PHSchool.com Use the Web Code to access an online activity about coping with stress. Have students complete the Web activity. L2 Building Health Skills Practicing Healthful Behaviors Describe stressful events teens might experience, such as taking a final exam or trying out for a play. For each event, state a negative way of thinking, and then call on a student to respond with a positive way of thinking. For example, you might say, I know I m going to fail this test, and a student might respond, I did my best to prepare for this test. Conclude by asking: How would the two different ways of thinking make you feel, and how might they affect your performance? (Students are likely to say that positive ways of thinking would make them feel and perform better than negative ways of thinking.) L3 Cultural Connection A culture s sayings often reflect positive or negative thinking. For example, the saying, Every cloud has a silver lining, reflects positive thinking, and the saying, When it rains, it pours, reflects negative thinking. Many cultures have similar sayings. Ask students to think of examples and identify whether they reflect positive or negative thinking. L3 Cooperative Learning Divide the class into groups, and ask each group to create a cartoon or comic strip that treats a common stressor with humor. Stressors might include being too busy, being annoyed by a younger sibling, or having to speak in public. Make sure groups do not select stressors that are violent, sensitive, or in bad taste. Post their cartoons and comic strips in the classroom, and use them to start a class discussion of the role of humor in stress reduction. For: More on coping with stress Visit: PHSchool.com Web Code: ctd-1034 FIGURE 12 Humor can be an effective way to ease tension and provide relief from stress. 74 Chapter 3 FYI! Positive Thinking and Longevity A study of 660 people aged 50 and older showed that positive thinking can affect the length and quality of life. Participants were surveyed about their attitudes toward aging. When the researchers followed up Change Your Thinking Do you tend to overreact to unexpected events or worry a lot about the future? Sometimes you can reduce your level of stress by changing the way you think about stressors. One way to change your thinking is to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. You can also use humor in some stressful situations. Avoiding Negative Thinking Think back to the last time you were in a stressful situation. What thoughts were going through your mind? Were you thinking things like I ll never be able to do this, or Everyone will think I m stupid, or I m not as good as the others? For many people, negative thoughts like these accompany stressful situations. Of course, such negative thinking only increases a person s stress level. With negative messages running through the person s mind, it becomes almost impossible to succeed. How can you stop yourself from thinking negative thoughts when you are under stress? One way is to monitor your internal conversations closely and substitute positive or realistic thoughts for negative thoughts. For example, instead of thinking I ll never be able to do this, you might think, more positively, I ve done things like this before. Another way to eliminate negative thinking is to act as a coach while you think about an upcoming stressful event. As you do a mental rehearsal of the event, give yourself positive messages such as You can do it. This will boost your self-confidence, which will help you during the actual event. Humor Finding humor in a situation can be an effective way to deal with stress. Have you ever laughed at yourself after doing something that was not really funny, such as slipping on a wet floor or saying something embarrassing in front of a group of people? If so, you probably realized that your laughter helped to relieve your feelings of stress. If you use humor carefully, it can be an effective tool for managing stress. Humor allows you to deal quickly with a stressor and keep it in the proper perspective. But don t use humor to cover up your true feelings. Also avoid laughing at serious situations. Remember that making fun of yourself is different than making fun of other people s problems. more than 20 years later, they found participants with positive attitudes toward aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer and had better health than those with negative attitudes. The researchers think positive thinking prolongs life by reducing stress. 74 Chapter 3

6 Build Resilience The strategies discussed so far for coping with stress may not be sufficient for dealing with all types of stressors. You need to build your resilience to help you deal with extreme or prolonged stress. The strategies listed below can help you increase your resilience. Pick the approaches that you think will work best for you. Even the most resilient person in the world will be unhappy or worried some of the time. However, knowing these strategies can help you bounce back from setbacks in your life. Take Care of Yourself Exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep. Find time for activities you enjoy. When your general health is good, you are better able to deal with stressful situations. Build a Support System Develop good relationships with family, friends, and other people who will care for and listen to you. Take Action Decide what needs to be done and act on your decision. Set short-term goals that you know you can accomplish. Help Somebody Volunteer to work on a project in your community or help a friend with a problem. Confide in Yourself Sometimes it is too difficult to talk with others about your feelings. You can confide in yourself by writing about stressful events in a journal. Go Easy on Yourself When something bad happens, your response to other stressors may be more intense. So cut yourself a little slack. Put Things in Perspective Look beyond a difficult situation to a time when things will be better. When you talk about bad times, remember to talk about the good times in your life, too. Find a Hassle-Free Zone Find someplace where you can feel free from stress your home, a relative s house, a community center, or the library. Stick to Your Routines During a major life change, keep to daily routines, such as a nightly conversation with a friend. FIGURE 13 A library can provide a quiet place to get away from the everyday hassles of school and home. Build Resilience L2 Active Learning Ask students to make posters illustrating several of the strategies for building resilience. Students can use pictures from newspapers and magazines or their own drawings to illustrate the strategies. For example, for the strategy Take Care of Yourself, they might use a food pyramid and a picture of someone exercising. Posters should include a brief explanation of how each strategy helps build resilience. Display the posters in the classroom. L3 Building Health Skills Setting Goals Have students select one of the resilience-building strategies they think would work best for them and make an action plan for adopting the strategy. For example, if students select the strategy Confide in Yourself, they might plan to start a stress diary, write in it at least three times a week, and reread their entries after a month to assess their progress. Urge students to adopt their action plans and work toward their goals. L4 Active Learning Ask interested students to interview a person, such as a firefighter, who has a highly stressful job. Ask the students to find out if the person uses any of the strategies for building resilience, and if these strategies help the person cope with stress at work. Have students write a short report summarizing what they learn. Give students a chance to share their reports with the class. Connect to YOUR LIFE Where are some places you can go to feel free from stress? Connect to Allow students to answer YOUR LIFE this question in their private journals. Managing Stress 75 EL English Language Learners Select one or two of the bulleted items on this page that may contain unfamiliar words, such as Find a Hassle-Free Zone. Ask students to try to rephrase the items, using simpler, more familiar words. Provide them with a dictionary so they can look up any words they do not know. You may want to work through an example with them first, such as Find a place where you will not be bothered for Find a Hassle-Free Zone. Make sure students rephrasings have the same meanings as the original items. Managing Stress 75

7 Chapter 3, Section 4 Reach Out for Support L2 Teacher Demo Demonstrate how to reach out for support. Role-play a teen calling a friend to talk about a problem. Ask students to think of people they could confide in. 3. Assess Evaluate These assignments can help you assess students mastery of the section content. Section 4 Review Answers appear below. Teaching Resources Practice 3-4 Section 3-4 Quiz L2 Reteach Call on students to identify the methods of coping, and list the methods on the board. Then, call on volunteers to demonstrate their understanding of the methods by describing, demonstrating, or giving an example of each method. Review any methods with which students appear to have difficulty. L4 Enrich Teaching Resources Enrich 3-4 Health at Home Building Resilience Sample answer: For Go Easy on Yourself, think more about your accomplishments than your setbacks. FIGURE 14 Sharing a problem with someone you trust can help you to better understand the problem. Just talking about your problems can often help reduce your stress. Section 4 Review Key Ideas and Vocabulary 1. List seven techniques you can use to cope with stress: a. two techniques that help you take control b. three strategies to help relieve tension c. two ways to change your thinking 2. What does biofeedback mean? 3. Why is it important to build resilience? 4. How can seeking the support of others help when you are under stress? Critical Thinking 5. Relating Cause and Effect Explain how relaxation techniques help to reduce stress. Reach Out for Support What if you try many of the stress-management techniques described in this chapter and nothing seems to work? Sometimes the stress in your life becomes too overwhelming for you to handle on your own. At those times, you may want to ask someone to help you with your problems. Sometimes all you need is someone to talk to. Sharing your problems can help you see them more clearly. Just describing your concerns to someone else often helps you to understand the problem better. Many people are willing to listen and lend support if you ask. a parent or other adult relative a teacher or a coach or a religious leader a school counselor or nurse a sibling or friend The person you choose to talk to may not be able to help you with your specific concerns. But he or she may be able to refer you to someone who can. At some time in your life, you may want or need some kind of counseling. Many specialists are available to work with people who need help coping with stress. Some specialists are trained to help you identify the stressors in your life and learn constructive strategies for coping with them. Health at Home Building Resilience Look at the list of strategies for building resilience on page 75. Describe specific ways that you could use four of the strategies to help manage your stress. 6. Making Judgments Do you think the saying Don t sweat the small stuff is good advice for coping with stress? Why or why not? 7. Applying Concepts Your best friend s father just lost his job. Your friend is worried that his family might have to move to a different city. How could you help your friend through this stressful time? 76 Chapter 3 Section 4 Review 1. a. time management and mental rehearsal b. physical activity, relaxation, and biofeedback c. avoiding negative thinking and using humor 2. controlling one or more body functions by monitoring the body s responses 3. Resilience helps you deal with extreme or prolonged stress. 4. Sharing your problems can help you see them more clearly. 5. provide outlet for energy; give mind a rest by shifting focus from problems 6. Sample answer: When you don t sweat the small stuff, you avoid worrying about little things and reduce your stress. 7. Students might write that they could listen to the friend s concerns and offer support. 76 Chapter 3