Jose Agapito dela Cruz

 Stress Management: Strategies on how to Relieve Stress Web Quest Topic My Web Quest topic is about stress management. I will present strategies or ways how to relieve from stress which is pervasive in our modern day life that could bring negative health effects to our mind and body. Stress management knowledge and learning strategies to avoid, relieve, and cope up with stress can provide us with health and wellness benefits both physical and mental for all ages. I. Introduction Stress is a normal physical response to an intense and unusual situation which you feel is too much for you to handle under normal condition. According to Psychologist Richard S. Lazarus “Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that "demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize”. In other words, we feel stressed when we feel that "things are out of control". When we are stressed, “our body responds like we are in danger. It produces hormones that speed up our heart rate, breathe faster, and give us a burst of strength which is called the fight-or-flight stress response” (WebMD, 2014). However, stress is not at all bad occasionally but when it is frequent and prolong and we don’t have control of its occurrence, we must know how to manage it. Learning how to manage stress makes a big difference in how we feel and provide positive effect on our blood pressure, blood sugar level, and mental wellness. This WebQuest aim to guide people who wanted learn about stress management, how to avoid and relieve from stress as part of everyday life to live a happy, healthy and less stress life. II. Task Identify your life situations when you think you are stress. Identify the causes of your stress. Identify what do you feel when you are stress. Perform the stress relieving strategies listed in this webquest Perform the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale to evaluate your stress level. III. Process For better understanding of the topic on stress management, I listed detailed knowledge base information check list of the topic of this WebQuest and provided useful links in the resources section. 1. What is stress and its causes? 2. What are the common warning signs and symptoms of stress? 3. How can we avoid stress? 4. What are the different coping strategies to relieve from stress? a. Physical activities b. Breathing exercises c. Relaxing Music d. Meditation 5. What is “The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale” and how is it used to determine the level of stress. IV. Resources Complete the task with the help of insightful online sources as follows: 1. Follow the link for the definition and description of stress at: http://www.stress.org.uk/What-is-stress.aspx 2. Follow the link for common warning signs and symptoms of stress at: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm 3. Follow the link for the how to avoid stress at: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/stress-and-tips-on-how-to-avoid-it 4. Follow the link for the strategies to relive from stress: a. Follow the link for Physical Activities and exercise at: http://www.stress.org.uk/Exercise.aspx b. Follow the link for Breathing exercise at: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/07/22/reduce-your-anxiety-this-minute-3-different-types-of-deep-breathing/ c. Follow the link for Relaxing Music at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrx1vyvtRLY d. Follow the link for Meditation at: Meditation http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/meditation-heals-body-and-mind 5. Follow the link to perform The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale assessment at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_82.htm V. Evaluation Psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed the Social Readjustment Rating scale (SRRS) called Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, which was first used in a study conducted in 1967. It is a stress assessment tool which is a series of questionnaire composed of about 43 life events called a Life Change Unit (LCU) experienced by the patient in the previous two years. Each Life Change Unit (LCU) event had a corresponding score or weight of stress. The more events the patient experienced, the higher the score he gets which predict the likelihood of that the patient of developing illness. In the Stress Scale, patients simply need to check the corresponding box next to the Life Change Unit (LCU) event, the level of stress is determined by the score obtained. Score Interpretation: VI. Conclusion: Death of love ones, broken relationships, disappointments, health problems, beating deadlines, and more are already part of modern day living. Everyone is subject for stress and no one is exempted to feel stress but knowledge and proper management of stress can alleviate the feeling before it takes toll in our health and wellness. Stress is not at all times negative, sporadic stress hastens us to perform under pressure and motivate us to perform our best. But it is the frequent and for longer time runnings stress that is harmful for the mind and body. This webQuest presented knowledge about stress, how to avoid it and strategies to relieve stress. I hope to spread the prevention and solution to stress with the strategies such as physical activities or all sorts of exercises, breathing methods, relaxing music, and meditation such as yoga. It aims to protect us by recognizing the signs and symptoms of stress, avoid stressors if possible, and take strategies to relieve and reduce its harmful health effects. I am encouraging everyone to manage stress as part of our daily life, live with it but manage it wisely to lead a happy, healthy life.