1. Stress.gif yell.gif funny_new_11.gif 482284845_s.gif 772496.png gif-2.gif headbangsoncomputer_t.gif spacer.gif gif-2.gif gif-2.gif gif-2.gif gif-2.gif gif-2.gif 007.gif Stress M nagement By: Andrew Tyson William Colford Kevon Forbes Asif Sohail Javier Sanchez & Harris Sohail

2. So…. What Exactly is.. STRESS?!! Stress is mental, emotional, or physical strain caused, e.g. by anxiety or overwork. It may cause such symptoms as raised blood pressure or depression.

4. Statistics According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: 65% of workers said that workplace stress had caused difficulties and more than 10 percent described these as having major effects; 10% said they work in an atmosphere where physical violence has occurred because of job stress and in this group, 42% report that yelling and other verbal abuse is common; 29% had yelled at co-workers because of workplace stress, 14% said they work where machinery or equipment has been damaged because of workplace rage and 2% admitted that they had actually personally struck someone;

5. While we’re on the subject of machinery damage, lets watch a quick video…(Internet Connection Required)

6. 19% or almost one in five respondents had quit a previous position because of job stress and nearly one in four have been driven to tears because of workplace stress; 62% routinely find that they end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% reported stressed-out eyes, 38% complained of hurting hands and 34% reported difficulty in sleeping because they were too stressed-out; 12% had called in sick because of job stress; Over half said they often spend 12-hour days on work related duties and an equal number frequently skip lunch because of the stress of job demands.

7. How to Reduce Stress Research has shown that effective management is the most effective way to reduce workplace stress as it has been proven that good performance and productivity is directly related to effective management of people.

8. The Causes and Affects of Stress Maslow’s Pyramid of needs is important in a person’s level of stress. It is possible to assume that if a person is unhappy with their life then external forces from their job, family, personal life and other areas can cause them to feel stressed out and unfulfilled. Stress is caused by varies reasons and it is the individual that determines the stress factor as a reaction to these external forces. There are varied causes of stress and based on these causes and the resilience of the individual the response can be simple or extremely severe, like a health problem. Despite the cause of stress or the reaction to it, the behavior of the individual is what makes it negative or positive. Stress is caused mainly by an individual’s inability to cope with these outside circumstances. According to the authors of Medicine Net stress is simply a factor of nature the affect of forces in the outside world on the individual. Stress is a common occurrence among humans, which causes are varied and can be related to anything related to a minute incident such as losing a pen or something major like divorce.

9. The Causes and Effects of Stress There are many causes of stress and these can be anything within a person’s life. These stress factors include but are not limited to workplace stress factors or stress factors associated with family life. Some work place stress factors include: boss, coworkers, deadlines or difficult customers. Stress factors associated with personal or family life can include: children, finding and maintaining a romantic life, various errands, and bills.

10. The Causes and Effects of Stress All of these stress factors can be affected and augmented by poor diet and poor sleep habits. Maslow’s Pyramid of needs is a five stage pyramid which categories the needs of humans into five categories. These categories are (from bottom to top): Biological and physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs and self-actualization. A person at the bottom of the pyramid is likely to be very stressed because many of their needs have not been met, while a person at the top of the pyramid will be the least stressed of all because most of their needs are being met.

11. The Causes and Effects of Stress The effects of stress can manifest itself in varied ways whether through personal interaction with others, performance on the job or in physical and mental health. Some possible signs that you are under stress can include but are not limited to: increased irritability, inability to keep track of tasks at both home and work, sporadic changes in behavior patterns, loss of focus and loss of memory. It begins to become a serious problem when stress causes an individual to seek medical health. Stress that affects an individual’s medical health can lead to serious effects such as High blood pressure, and place the individual at risk for heart problems and a potential stroke. It is important that the individual seek medical attention and find alternative outlets to relieve stress.

12. The Causes and Effects of Stress Stress is a common factor that many individuals deal with; coping skills are based on an individual’s ability to handle stress well. In order to function properly and take preventative measures against the stress risk factors, and individual must seek counseling, start an exercise regime, change diet and try to get a full night’s rest.

13. Stress Prevention Now you ask yourself, How and can I prevent stress? When people think of that question, they become dumbfounded and their minds become utterly perplexed. They tell themselves, “Such a thing can’t exist!” But that is incorrect. There are ways to prevent stress! But before you prevent stress, you must first identify the sources of stress in your life.

14. Stress Prevention In order to identify your stresses, you must look closely at your habits, attitude and excuses. Do you explain your stress as an integral part of your work or home life? (“Things here are always fast paced and complicated.”) Do you blame stress placed upon you on others or even outside events, or view is as entirely normal and unexceptional? Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?

15. Stress Prevention The rent is due. Your paycheck comes next week. You're fighting with your spouse. Work is crazy lately. Your car is having trouble starting. Your house is a mess. You have five errands to run - or is it six? We've all days or weeks like this, overburdened by too many things at once. Different people have different coping mechanisms when this happens. First let's look at the bad ones:

16. Smoking Smoking will only increase your stress, according to studies done by the American Psychological Association. Plus, emphysema is no fun.

17. Alcohol Consumption drinking.gif drink.gif Substance Abuse: puts more stress on your body to rid itself of the toxins you put in. This could easily lead to a habit, job loss, and derailed social life

18. Becoming a couch potato cat.gif No words necessary…

19. Overeating 1642.gif You've had a rough day. You deserve that brownie - and the ice cream, and cookies, a donut, six cans of cola, and a third helping of cheesy lasagna for dinner. "I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat!"

20. Withdrawing from your social life Sometimes we forget the reason we are working, to enjoy life.

21. Using pills or drugs to relax

22. Losing Sleep Losing Sleep to get things done increases chance of errors and injury, and obesity. According to researchers for the Franklin Institute, "One complete night of sleep deprivation is as impairing in simulated driving tests as a legally intoxicating blood-alcohol level."

23. Unleashing your stress aggressively on others cat2.gif fight.gif Starting Arguments with or yelling at people to let off some steam should have obvious social consequences, especially if you do it at work.

26. Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress Not all stress can be avoided, but the less you deal with the happier you will be. Learn how to say “no”. Know your limits, such as responsibilities. Taking on more than you can handle is very common among workers. Avoid people who stress you out by reducing the time you are around them.

27. Stress management strategy #2: Alter the situation Vent feelings instead of building them up. Just think of a balloon, if air pressure continues to build without proper ventilation, it will explode. Manage your time better. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.

28. Stress management strategy #3: Adapt to the stressor Look at the big picture; does this really matter for me to get stressed about? Will it matter to me in a month, or a year? Perfectionists are also a big problem and stressor. Adjust your standards. And one of the most popular is to be positive. If you think positive, the outcome will be positive and vice versa.

30. Stress management strategy #5: Make time for fun and relaxation Everyone needs some sort of relaxation period. Such things can be a gentle massage, play with a loved pet, spend time in nature, sweat out tension with a good workout, watch a funny comedy or spend time with friends.

31. Stress management strategy #6: Adopt a healthy lifestyle One thing you can start with is exercising regularly. This will improve stamina and appearance. Reduce caffeine and sugar. These can tire you even though they can provide you with a temporary energy boost. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Don’t try to mask the stress you got built up even thought these provide temporary stress relievers. Deal with problems with a clear head. Enough sleep fuels your body and provides you with a fresh start on life. Starting your stress free day with a bad stamina status isn’t a good choice. With all these strategies for you to try, you must make the first step to changing your life.

32. To Sum it all up... Stress is not something to take lightly, stress is like a path. If you take the wrong road, it can lead to disaster, however if you take the correct path, you can return home. We would like to conclude this presentation with a summary of the main points covered today. Firstly, we want to discuss the main causes and effects of stress. The main causes of stress come from family life, your boss, coworkers, deadlines and difficult customers. Each of these causes has a ripple effect on all your other causes.

33. One way to help ourselves from stress is by preventing stress and reducing stress. Stress Prevention and Reduction is the key action to help ourselves. It is common to ask a smoker why they smoke, and the common answer is “because I am stressed out.” There are many bad choices we choose to relieve our stress, some being smoking, alcohol abuse, over eating, not getting enough hours of sleep and displacing your anger on friends and family. These are bad choices and will eventually add more weight to your shoulders.

34. We discussed the six steps in preventing stress which are listed below. Of all the six steps listed above, we believe that the most important step is to adopt a healthy lifestyle. It is mind boggling how less stressful your day will be when you exercise and eat well. You feel good mentally and physically. Avoid Unnecessary stress Alter the situation Adapt to the stressor Accept things that you cannot change Make time for fun and relaxation Adopt a healthy lifestyle.

35. Here’s a quick video of some real life office stress (Internet Connection Required)

36. We hope that you now have a better understanding about Stress Management and your days will be less stressful using all the methods that we’ve listed. There is always going to be stress in our busy lives, but it is up to us to prevent the cup from overflowing and limit the amount we take in. We hope you have enjoyed our presentation. -The Stress Management Team