Lesson 4

I Care; therefore, I am.

Learning Outcomes:
 Define stress;
 Differentiate types of stressors; and
 Sources of coping and strength

Time Frame: 6 hours

Introduction:
Welcome! In this lesson you will acquainted with the importance of self-care. As a student
going you are expected to balance your coursework, internships, work responsibilities,
and home life. Self-care refers to activities and practices that we can engage in on a
regular basis to reduce stress and maintain and enhance our short- and longer-term
health and well-being.

Activity: How Stressed Am I?

1. Answer honestly the College Student’s Stressful Event Checklist (Holmes & Rahe,
1967) questionnaire adapted by the Arizona State University (ASU).
2. Place an “X” in the column labelled Happened for those events that have occurred
in your life recently or that you expect to occur soon.
3. Total your score by adding the event values, and circle that category below in
which your score falls.

Rank Value Happened Score Life Event

1 100 Death of a close family member
2 73 Death of a close friend
3 65 Divorce between parents
4 63 Serious legal problems
5 63 Major personal injury or illness
6 58 Responsibilities for others, such as children/spouse
7 50 Threat to major source of income
 8 47 Difficulty with roommate(s)
9 45 Change in health of a family member
10 45 Pregnancy
11 44 Sexual problems
12 40 Serious disagreements with parents
13 39 Change in lifestyle for financial reasons
14 39 Difficulty in identifying a major
15 39 Serious argument with close family member
16 39 Problems with a girlfriend or boyfriend
17 37 Having to repeat a course
18 37 Increased workload at school
19 36 Outstanding personal achievement
20 35 First semester in college
21 31 Change in living conditions
22 30 Serious disagreements with an instructor
23 29 Lower grades than expected
24 29 Change in sleeping habits
25 29 Change in social habits
26 28 Change in eating habits
27 26 Chronic car problems
28 26 Change in number of family get together
29 25 Too many missed classes
30 24 Change in plans for a major
31 23 Dropped more than one class
32 20 Minor traffic violations
Total Score:
Interpretation: Mild Stress : < 150 Moderate Stress : 150 to 300 Severe Stress : > 300

Analysis:
Answer the following questions:
1. How do you feel while you were doing the checklist?
2. Is the result close to your present perceived stress level? How do you feel
with the result?
3. How do these identified life events affect your life now?
4. What is your reflection after sharing your answer with a classmate?
5. What is your perception about stress and self-care?

Abstraction:

I. Knowing Stress
a. Definition & Types of Stress
STRESS is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very
demanding circumstances. It is a mental and physical response to the demands of your
environment. Three kinds of stress are the following:
i. Eustress – It is considered as a good stress. A result from situation
or activity that you find motivating or inspiring. Ex. Finding the nerve
to talk to your crush
ii. Neustress - Sensory stimulus that has no direct consequences or
effect on the person. A situation or activity that you do not find
threatening yet not enjoyable. Ex. Incidents you hear in the news
iii. Distress - Situations or activities that you consider negative, harmful,
threatening. It could happen for just a short span of time or it could
linger from prolonged periods (hours, days, months, years). Ex.
Being mugged on the streets or a long-standing family quarrel.
b. Stressors
These are any situation, activity, or individual that gives you mental or emotional strain is
a stressor.
i. Good stressor - can make you feel both nervous and excited at the
same time.
ii. Bad stressor - can cause you to feel angry, petrified, or depressed.
It can make you feel constantly on the edge.
c. Major types of stressors
i. Life events – important, specific experiences that interrupt an
individual’s usual activity/ routine that he/she needs to adjust to
ii. Chronic Strains – problems that have been occurring for some time;
the person’s social role is strained or threatened
d. Types of Roles Strains
i. Role Overload – the role demands on an individual exceeds his/her
capacity to handle
ii. Interpersonal Conflicts within Role Sets – these are problems and
difficulties that arise in a relationship
 iii. Inter-role Conflict – the demands of two or more roles held by a
person are incompatible, and the demands cannot simultaneously
be met.
iv. Role restructuring - the demands of two or more roles held by a
person are incompatible, and the demands cannot simultaneously
be met
e. Signs & symptoms of stress
i. Physical
1. Low energy
2. Headaches
3. Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
4. Aches, pains, and tense muscles
5. Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
6. Insomnia
7. Frequent colds and infections
8. Loss of sexual desire and/ or ability
9. Nervousness and shaking, ringing the ear
10. Cold or sweaty hands and feet
11. Excess sweating
12. Dry mouth and difficulty in swallowing
13. Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
ii. Cognitive/ perceptual
1. FORGETFULNESS
2. Preoccupation
3. Blocking
4. Errors in judging distance
5. Reduced creativity
6. Lack of concentration
7. Lack of attention to detail
8. Orientation to the past attention deficit
9. Disorganization of thought
 10. Negative self-statements & negative evaluation of
experiences
iii. Emotional
1. Depression or general unhappiness
2. Anxiety and agitation
3. Moodiness, irritability, or anger
4. Feeling overwhelmed
5. Loneliness and isolation
6. Any other mental or emotional health problems

II. Sources of Coping and Strength

a. Coping - strategies you use to deal with real or imagined problems to protect
yourself against negative emotions
i. Problem-focused coping – targets on controlling or changing the
source of stress
ii. Emotion-focused coping – involves lowering, if not eliminating,
negative emotional responses
iii. Cognitive coping – involves a conscious intellectual activity of
managing stressful situations
b. Strategies for cognitive coping
i. Reframing
ii. Challenging
iii. Positive self-talk
iv. Count to ten
v. Smell the roses
vi. Keeping perspectives
vii. Reducing uncertainty
viii. Using imagery/visualization
c. Behavioral coping strategies
i. Physical exercise
ii. Relaxation
 iii. Breathing
iv. Time management
v. Social support/ friends
vi. Seeking professional help
d. 24 Positive Coping Strategies for Stress
i. Physical and lifestyle strategies
ii. Emotional strategies
iii. Cognitive strategies
iv. Philosophical/ Spiritual strategies

III. Stress and Filipinos

a. Filipino traits and values

Table 14

Filipino traits & how they were evaluated based on east-west cultures
FILIPINO TRAITS & WHY IS IT NEGATIVE IN WHY IS IT POSITIVE IN
VALUES WESTERN CONCEPT ORIENTAL CONCEPT
Hiya  It stops from taking action  It contributes to peace of
 It makes the person weak, mind
timid, and meek  Not trying to achieve makes
a less harried stressful life
Ningas cogon It makes a person an  This trait makes a peaceful
underachiever because he/she and tranquil life because
cannot persevere in seeing one is unruffled should
things (i.e. projects, tasks, or things go wrong
goals) to its fruition.  Being detached allows the
person to move on to some
other activities without
feeling like an absolute
failure
Pakikisama Filipinos are said to turn a blind  In the Filipino context,
eye to the wrongdoing of pakikisama means keeping
others for the sake of personal a polite distance from other
relationships (i.e., family, people’s lives with whom
friendship, co-worker) we share the same space
with to maintain peace and
harmony
Patigasan  It is about being stubborn A trait that makes us stand for
and resisting reconciliation. what is right and refuse to be
 
One stands his or her intimidated or forced to
ground (on issues) and wait submission
for the other party to take
the first step at
reconciliation
Bahala na It leaves everything to chance  Putting faith on a higher
with the help of a divine power being develops humility and
gratefulness
 The idea that he or she is
not alone in the struggle
strengthens the Filipino
psyche
Kasi  Disowns responsibility  Does not become overly
 Put blames on others stressed for failing
(people, things,  Failure is not personal
circumstances) because there are other
factors, not just “me”.
Saving face This is closely related to “hiya” It promotes mental therapy
and it encourages shirking because it allows the person to
from responsibility keep his/her dignity
Sakop  Never learns to be  Promotes unity, especially
independent in the family
 Relies on family and  Provides a sense of
relatives belongingness and security
 Prevents personal growth
 Encourages partisanship
Bukas na (Mañana  Promotes laziness  Filipinos know how to keep
habit)  Will not act when a problem things in stride rather than
is still small, thinking that it be stressed or tensed
will go away by itself.  One learns to go with the
flow and take what comes
naturally
Utang na loob It makes the person overlook This trait personifies the Filipino
moral principles because he or saying,
she is beholden to those who “Ang hindi marunong lumingon
gave him/her favor sa pinaggalingan ay hindi
makakarating sa kanyang
patutunguhan.”
Kanya kanya Seen as selfish with no regard This trait is still in a collective
for the world’s well-being context. Kanya-kanya means I
take care of my own (i.e., those
that are important to me); you
take care of yours. Family is
central to the Filipino psyche;
thus the family is always given
 1st priority before the self and
everyone else.

IV. Social Stress

It is the state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very
demanding circumstances arising from the person’s social and environmental
relationships
a. Sources of social stress
i. Problems with work or earning an income
ii. Parenting
iii. Education
iv. Sex and socialization; immigration status of language
v. Personal, physical, and psychological health
vi. Social marginalization
b. Suicide
i. Egoistic suicide – occurs when a person feels he or she is not
accepted by or does not belong to society.
ii. Altruistic suicide – occurs when a person ends his or her life for
others
iii. Anomic suicide – occurs when a person ends his or her life for
others

V. Stress appraisal (symbolic interactionism)

Sociological perspective that focuses on the language and symbols to help
give meaning to life experiences.

VI. Mediators of stress: Coping & Social Support

Coping refers to personal responses that can be activated when stressful
circumstances arise. It also refers to things people do to prevent, avoid, or
control emotional distress.
a. Basic objectives of coping (Weiss & Lonnquist, 2015):
 i. Eliminate of modify the stressful situation so that it will not be a
continuing problem
ii. Control the meaning of the problem, by “cognitively neutralizing” the
situation
iii. Control the stress created by situations (e.g. through stress
management)

VII. The role of social class, race, and gender in social stress
a. Social class - Those who are in the lower social class have higher mental
and emotional stress than those who are affluent. Three common factors
are:
i. Inadequate financial resources;
ii. Greater use of ineffective coping strategies; and
iii. Less access to social support
b. Race - research show that responses to stress vary, and the person’s
ethnicity is relevant to his/her stress response.
c. Gender - Women were found to have higher rates of psychological
distress and depression compared to men (Rosenfield,1999). Possible
causes for the high disparity between women & men are:
i. Women tend to be delegated to the caregiver role more than men
ii. Women are more inclined to be emotionally involved in the lives of
the people around them
iii. Women introject rather than express anger
iv. Continuing power differences between women and men in society

VIII. Cultural Difference in Stress response

a. Culture - the set of ideas, belief, and behaviors shared by a particular
group of people (Yoost & Crawford, 2015). How culture affects a person’s
experience to stress:
i. The type of stressor to which a person may likely be exposed
ii. How a stressor will be perceived
 iii. Coping mechanisms available to deal with stress
b. Type of stressor - the types of stress a cultural group is exposed to will
also depend on their general location
c. Perception of stressors - cultures differ according to what their members
perceive as stressful
d. Coping mechanisms - some ways that cultures differ in the way they make
available different coping mechanisms to their members are:
i. Beliefs that allow them to make sense of stressors
ii. Beliefs about how stressors should be coped with
iii. The availability of social support

IX. Taking care of the self: the need for self-care and compassion
a. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 1. Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs by Saul McLeod, 2007 (https://bit.ly/32kywv4), CC0

b. Deficiency vs. growth
i. Deficiency Needs – the four bottom levels. The person does not
feel anything if these needs are met, but he/she becomes anxious if
these needs are not met.
ii. Growth Need – Self-actualization. It enables the person to reach his
or her full potential as human being.
c. Motivated by unsatisfied need

Table 15

Probable reaction to unsatisfied needs

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS IF NOT SATISFIED
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS  Feel sick, irritated, uncomfortable
(A need that must be met every day)  If pathological, we can eat, drink too
much or engage in hoarding behaviors
 Will cause death
SAFETY NEEDS  Can affect our perception, eg.
paranoia
 Can lead to neurosis, insecurity
 If pathological, can develop phobias,
such as agoraphobia
BELONGING – LOVE NEEDS  Become increasingly susceptible to
loneliness and social anxieties
 If pathological, can lead to antisocial
behaviour
ESTEEM NEEDS  Low self-esteem
1. Lower-form needs:  Inferiority complex
Such as respect from others, for status, fame,  If pathological, can lead to depression
glory, recognition, attention, reputation,
appreciation, dignity, even dominance.
2. Higher form:
Involves self-respect, including such as
confidence, competence, achievement, mastery,
independence, and freedom
SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS  Can cause feelings of lack of meaning
in life
 If pathological, metapathologies, such
as boredom, cynicism,, alienation
(feeling isolated, detached, lack of
sympathy, estrangement)

d. Self-care
As described by the University of Kentucky (WEB), entails taking
deliberate acts of looking after your mental, emotional, and physical health.
e. Importance of self-care
i. Proper self-care is taking a very active and powerful choice to
engage in activities that will result in acquiring or maintaining optimal
health that cover the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and
spiritual components
 ii. Self-care is vital for the management of daily stressors and
challenges, as well as overall health and wellness.
iii. The keyword to self-care is balance; being good to yourself will
enhance the likelihood of living to your fullest potential
f. Compassion: neutral or Learned
i. Compassion, framed as an emotion, is the felt response to perceiving
suffering that involves an authentic desire to ease distress (Goetz,
Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010).
ii. It is kind and caring emotional response to perceived suffering that
acknowledges the shared human experience of imperfection, and
that involves an authentic desire to help.
iii. Compassion is often confused with that of empathy and altruism
although compassion does involve empathy and altruistic behavior1
iv. In reading a sense, it is an automatic mirroring of another’s emotion,
like feeling sad when reading a soldier’s goodbye letter to his family,
even though the soldier and his family are unknown to you.
g. Benefits of compassion
i. Research suggests that compassion may have ensured our survival
because of its tremendous benefits for both physical and mental
health and overall well-being (Seppala, 2013).
ii. It is suggested that connecting with others in a meaningful way help
us enjoy better mental and physical health and speeds up recovery
from disease (Dienner & Seligman, 2013) and may even lengthen
our lifespns (Brown & Konrath, 2013).

iii. The parts of the brain that are active when a person experiences
pleasure (pleasure centers) were found to be equally active when the
person is doing acts of kindness

Application:
1. Self-care plan. Design your self-care plan for the whole school year.