Behaviors
SECTION I:
The following list contains many of the signs of immediate stress reactions. Click here for a list you
can print and put a
check beside those that you recognize as yours.
- Rapid pulse
- Tightened stomach
- Tenses muscles
- Shortness of breath
- Clenching of jaw
- Inability to concentrate
- Inability to sit still
- Heightened emotions
- Light-headedness
- Trembling hands or fingers
- Increased perspiration
- Nausea
- Pounding heart
- Gritting of teeth
- Dry mouth
- Chills
- Cold hands or feet
- Faintness
- Blushing
- Flushed face
SECTION II:
The next list contains signs of stress build-up. These symptoms may occur and continue after the
stressor has passed. These symptoms may also occur due to too little stress in one’s life. Click
here for a printable version then read
each item on the list and indicate how often this occurs for you.
- Tension headaches
- Migraine headaches
- Fatigue
- Change in appetite
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Skin rashes or hives
- Indigestion
- Aching neck and shoulders
- Menstrual distress
- Sleeplessness/interrupted sleet
- Any other signs______________
EMOTIONAL SIGNS:
- Nervousness
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Depression
- Anger
- Boredom
- Apathy
- Withdrawal
- Reduced motivation
- Nightmares
- Excessive daydreaming
- Rigid or narrow point of view
- Inability to remember details
- A sense of inadequacy
- Feeling emotionally drained
- Loss of sense of humor
- Excessive fantasizing
- Any other signs____________
BEHAVIORS:
- Reduced performance at work
- Reduced productivity at work
- Inappropriate mistrust of others
- Outbursts of temper
- Missing appointments or deadlines
- Shirking responsibilities
- Absenteeism
- Increased errors
- Minor accidents
- Indecisiveness
- Obsessively working longer hours
- Romantic or sexual indiscretions
- Problems with sexual performance
- Use of mood-altering drugs
- Excessive use of alcohol/tobacco
- Any other signs________________
The next step is to analyze the three areas: physical, emotional and behavioral. Click here
to print and idenitfy which signs you experience the most frequently. Note which signs you
experience with the most intensity? Learn what are the circumstances surrounding these signs?
List your responses in the spaces provided on the printable form.
In order to try to determine the seriousness of your stress level, answer the following questions as
you think back over any changes which have happened in the past six-eight months. Think of all
aspects of your life…family…work…social situations… etc. Think about the questions for 30
seconds and then give it a score from one (1) (for little or no change) to five (5)
(for a great deal of change) to indicate the amount of change which you perceive. There are no
right or wrong answers. Click here for the printable form for you to complete.
- Are you working harder and accomplishing less?
- Are you increasingly cynical or negative?
- Are people telling you that you do not look like you are feeling well lately?
- Do you tire more easily?
- Are you often overcome by a sadness you can’t explain?
- Are you forgetting (appointments, deadlines)?
- Are you seeing friends/family less because you just do not have the interest or energy?
- Are you too busy to do even routine things like return phone calls?
- Are you suffering more physical complaints (colds, headaches, backache)?
- Does sex seem like more trouble than it’s worth?
As you look back over your scores, note the number of times you marked a five (5) for your
answer. This will give you an indication as to how stressed you are feeling and have been feeling
for some time. Unresolved stress can become chronic stress and lead to burnout. With
appropriate steps, however, even chronic stress can be resolved.
BURNOUT
Burnout is a frequently used term that needs to be explored in looking at stress. Burnout occurs
when an individual is in a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by a devotion to a cause, a
way of life or a relationship that failed to produce the expected reward. A burnout experience
usually has its roots in the area of a person’s life that seemed to hold the most promise. The
individuals who usually experience burnout are individuals who have pushed themselves too hard for
too long. They have striven hard to reach a goal, always being counted on to do more than their
share to reach the goal. They started out with great expectations and refused to compromise along
the way. The people who burn out are often the leaders among us who have never been willing or
able to admit that they have some limitations.
How does burnout begin? Slowly! Even though the individual may erupt suddenly, the process of
burnout begins slowly and develops over a period of weeks, months, years. Burnout is seldom
acute. In order to measure your burnout level, click here, print the form, and answer the following
questions:
- Are you always worried about preserving your image?
- Do you feel yourself under pressure to succeed all the time?
- Are you unable to relax?
- Do you need to generate excitement again and again to keep from feeling bored?
- Is one area of your life much more important than all others?
- Are you taking yourself too seriously?
- Do you feel a lack of intimacy with the people around you?
- Are you inflexible once you have taken a stand on something?
- If your activities fall apart, do you fall apart because you are so closely tied with your
activities?
- Are your goals unclear, shifting frequently?
Once you have answered the questions, ask yourself if this is the way you want to be. Is it the way
you started out? When did it change? Are you in charge of your life, or has your life taken charge?
Think about the answers.
Now is a good time to consider your personal concerns and objectives
for this course. This is the approach that also may be taken with a patient. You have just
completed four assessments about yourself. On the form you downloaged and printed, now
complete the following:
- WHICH AREA(S) CONCERNS YOU IN TERMS OF STRESS-RELATED
PROBLEMS?
- Physical health
- Job or career
- Home life
- Interpersonal relationships
- For each of the areas you checked in number one, write down three or four
of your specific concerns.
If the above assessments do not give you adequate information for you to isolate times of stress or
if you are aware that you have stress, but are not sure as to what was the cause of it, keep a daily
stress log for two weeks. Click here to download and print a sample daily stress log. Make
additional copies of it so that you can keep a daily stress log for one to two weeks.
Reminders:
- Fill in the stress log immediately after any stressful event or every two hours if no stressful
event has happened.
- Describe the activities that occurred. Be brief, but include enough information to enable you
to remember the event.
- Note the location of the activity.
- Note all persons involved in the activity.
- Briefly describe your physical/emotional responses.
- Do the rating as soon as possible after the activity. If you wait until later to make the entries,
the stress issues will be more unclear and the log will be less useful to you.
- Make an appointment with yourself to do another stress log three months after you complete
this course. This will enable you to see if your stress factors change. Look at stress triggers
. Are they the same or have they changed? Are your reactions the same or do you now
have different reactions to the stress? Are the people the same or have they changed?
- You may find it helpful to do a stress log every three months for a year or two. Remember,
you didn’t develop the stress you now have in a month or two. It takes time to remedy the
situation.
The next sections will discuss methods used to reduce the amount of stress a person experiences.
The use of any or all of these is highly individual. Explore all of them as stress reducers and ways of
improving your health.
Next: Exercise |