Stress Management

This is a knowledge repository on Stress Management based on information recorded from Oakland Community College (OCC)'s PER-1300 course, "Stress Management: Neuromuscular Relaxation". The following is a description of the course from OCC's website:

"This course is for the person who wishes to learn how to relax (reduce muscular tension) through the scientific principles of applied progressive neuromuscular relaxation. Some topics covered will include tension and anxiety reduction without drugs, anxiety and ulcers, tension and high blood pressure, tension and heart attack, and fear and success. Through lecture, discussion, and neuromuscular relaxation practice sessions, the student will learn to control anxiety, conserve energy, and thereby reduce tension that leads to nervousness. Neuromuscular relaxation helps the student to better meet the stress brought about by the pressures of modern day living. Course/lab fees."

The textbook used in the course, where most of the information in this knowledge repository comes from, is "Comprehensive Stress Management, 13/e" by Jerrold S. Greenberg, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland. Copyright (c) 2016 McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved.

The information on this page is incomplete. Feel free to improve the page in any way.

• Glossary/Summary: Concepts postulated throughout the course.

• Chapter 8 -- Perception Interventions
  • Selective Awareness: Many people focus only on the negative. Every situation has both positive and negative elements. Take the exercise in the text to find a positive aspect to some typically distressing situations. Learn to focus on the positive aspects of each day.
  • Humor and Stress: People laugh less as they grow older. Humor can take several forms. Laughter produces many positive physiological effects. Laughter may improve functioning of immune system, increase tolerance of pain, and reduce the stress response.
  • Characteristics of Type A Behavior: This behavior contributes to early onset of coronary heart disease. Take Lab 8.2 to assess your own type A behavior. Change your behavior by punishing type A behavior and rewarding type B behavior.
    • Type A Behavior Pattern - a cluster of behaviors associated with the development of coronary heart disease that includes excessive competitiveness, free-floating hostility, and a sense of time urgency and is associated with the development of coronary heart disease.
  • External Locus of Control: the perception that one has little control over events that affect one's life.
  • Co-creator Perception Deficiency (CCPD): the belief that one is either the victim of circumstances or the master of circumstances, each of which is erroneous.
  • Anxiety: an unrealistic fear that manifests itself in physiological arousal and behaviors to avoid or escape the anxiety-provoking stimulus.
  • State Anxiety: anxiety that is either temporary in nature or specific to a particular stimulus.
  • Panic Disorder: a condition in which feelings of terror arise from unrealistic fear, resulting in symptoms such as feeling numb, sweaty, weak, and faint.
  • Social Phobia: overwhelming fear and excessive self-consciousness in everyday situations; a chronic fear of being watched by others and not performing well. Fear of public speaking is an example.
  • ABCDE Technique: a method of coping with anxiety that consists of examining irrational beliefs.
  • Hardy: a state of mind and body that includes three factors: commitment, control, and challenge.
    • The hardy view change as a challenge rather than a threat.
  • Self-Efficacy: confidence in the ability to manage a demand/threat.
  • Anxiety Management - Types: Take Lab 8.6 in the text to measure your general anxiety.
    • Test anxiety - take lab 8.7 in the test to measure your test anxiety; seek help if you score high on this test.
    • Trait and state anxiety - state anxiety describes anxiety that is either temporary or related to a particular stimulus; trait anxiety is a general sense of anxiety.
    • Panic disorder - feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly without warning; affects 6 million adult Americans; twice as common in women than in men; those who have panic disorder should seek treatment; one of the most treatable anxiety disorders.
    • Social phobia (social anxiety disorder) - overwhelming anxiety and self-consciousness in everyday social situations; take Lab 8.8 to measure social physique anxiety; can be treated successfully.
    • Specific phobias - irrational fear of something that poses little or no danger; affects 19.2 million adult Americans; highly treatable with targeted psychotherapy.
  • Anxiety Management - Coping techniques:
    • Environmental planning - adjust your life to reduce anxiety-provoking stimuli.
    • Relabeling - Re-label negative experiences as positive ones.
    • Self-Talk - Ask yourself the real risk in the anxiety-provoking situation.
    • Thought stopping - shut off negative thoughts.
    • Systematic desensitization - Imagine or experience the anxiety-provoking scene while practicing a stress-reduction technique.
    • Cognitive restructuring - assign a more accurate importance to our life events.
    • The ABCDE technique - identify the activating agent, belief system, and consequences; dispute irrational beliefs; and imagine changed effect.
    • Managing anxiety formula - use the five-step formula in the text.
  • Resiliency: the ability to identify and make use of strengths and assets to respond to challenges, thereby growing as an individual.
  • State-Anxiety: anxiety that is either temporary in nature or specific to a particular stimulus.
• Chapter 9 -- Spirituality and Stress
  • Spiritual Health:
  • Spirituality:
  • Primary Control:
  • Intercessory Prayer:
  • Spirituality and Primary & Secondary Control:
  • Self-Directedness:
  • Deferring:
  • Volunteerism:
  • Effects of Forgiveness:
  • Spiritual Disease:
• Chapter 12 -- Other Relaxation Techniques
  • Biofeedback:
  • Thermal Biofeedback:
  • Electromyographic Feedback:
  • Diaphragmic Breathing:
  • Body Scanning:
  • Massage:
  • Reflexology:
  • Aromatherapy:
  • Tai Chi:
  • Stages of Biofeedback:
  • Benefits of Having Pets:
  • Aerobic Exercise:
  • Effects of Aerobic Exercise:
  • Muscular Endurance:
  • Components of Physical Fitness:
  • Endorphins:
  • Effects of Overtraining:
  • Types of Aerobics:
  • RICE Injury Procedure:
  • Exercise Intensity:
  • Exercise Frequency:
• Chapter 14 -- Strategies for Decreasing Stressful Behaviors
  • Barriers:
  • Internal Locus of Control:
  • Material Reinforcement:
  • Social Reinforcement:
  • Tailoring:
  • Self-Contracting:
  • Lifestyle Behaviors:
  • Barrier to Success:
  • Health Belief Model:
    • Perceived Benefit:
  • Stages of Change Theory:
  • Effective Goal Setting:
  • Self Monitoring:
• Chapter 15 -- Diversity and Stress
  • Race:
  • Asian Cultural Contributions:
  • Racial Prejudice:
  • Hate Crimes:
  • Life Expectancy:
  • Years of Potential Life Lost:
• Chapter 16 -- Occupational Stress
  • Organizational Stress:
  • Grid of Occupational Stress Evaluation:
    • Psychological:
    • Sociocultural:
    • Interpersonal:
    • Physical Environmental:
    • Work Setting:
    • Biological:
  • Entitlement Mentality:
  • Role Overload:
  • Role Insufficiency:
  • Role Ambiguity:
  • Role Conflict:
  • Motivational Factors:
  • Workaholic:
  • Burnout:
    • Stages:
• Chapter 17 -- Family Stress
  • Emotional Needs Provided by the Family:
  • Extended Family:
  • Boomerang Children:
  • Dual Career Family: