Personal Stress Management

Question 1

What is mental health? How common are mental health issues?

Answer 1

• Changes in thinking, mood, or behaviour associated with significant distress, dysfunction, and impaired thinking over an extended period of time
• Nearly 1 in 5 Canadians are affected by mental health issues on a yearly basis

Question 2

What is stigma towards mental health?

Answer 2

STOP

• Stereotypes people with mental health conditions
• Trivializes people with mental health conditions
• Offends people with mental health conditions
• Patronizes people with mental health conditions

Question 3

What are the categories of common mental health concerns of university students?

Answer 3

Anxiety
Attention disorders
Depressive disorders
Suicide
Schizophrenia

Question 4

Talk about anxiety.

Answer 4

Episodes of uneasiness stemming from anticipation of danger

1. Generalized anxiety disorder
   - Excessive or unrealistic apprehension that causes physical symptoms
   - Constant worry
   - Common onset in 20’s
2. Panic disorders
   - Feeling of intense fear with physical symptoms
   - Followed by apprehension about another
   - When attacks become recurring or apprehension becomes debilitating
3. Post-traumatic stress disorder
   - Re-experiencing terror or helplessness experienced in the past
4. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
   - A recurring thought or idea, or repetitive behaviour

Question 5

Talk about attention disorders.

Answer 5

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

• ADHD predominantly inattentive type: difficulty paying attention, finishing assignments, forgetful
• ADHD predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type: overactive, restless, acting before thinking
• ADHD combined type

Question 6

Talk about depressive disorders.

Answer 6

1. Major depression
   - A psychological disorder involving pervasive and sustained depression
   - 8% of Canadian adults will experience in their life
   - Pervasive and sustained
   - Treatable using exercise, psychotherapy and antidepressant medication
   - During university years, depression can develop due to stressful events, poor academic performance, loneliness, and relationship problems
2. Bipolar disorder
3. Premenstrual issues
4. Seasonal affective disorder
5. Schizophrenia

Question 7

Talk about suicide.

Answer 7

• Often a consequence of emotional and psychological issues (mental health, stressors, biological factors, drugs or alcohol)
• 9th leading cause of death in Canada in 2012
• 5-6 times higher in Indigenous youth
• Most people who have mental health issues do not attempt suicide
• Warning signs are problems with drugs/alcohol, feeling purposeless, feeling intense anxiety, feeling trapped or hopeless, avoiding family, feeling angry, engaging in risky activities, change in mood
• Treatment includes seeking support, build social support, strengthen coping skills, create a safety plan

Question 8

What are the types of therapists?

Answer 8

• Psychiatrists are licensed medical doctors with training in psychotherapy that can prescribe drugs
• Psychologists have completed a graduate degree program
• Psychoanalysts are the above with training in psychoanalysis

Question 9

What are the forms of therapy?

Answer 9

• Psychotherapy: suggestion, persuasion, reassurance, and support
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy: interpreting behaviours in terms of unconscious influences
• Psychoneuroimmunology: relationship between brain’s response to stress and our immune system
• Interpersonal therapy (IPT): develop communication skills and relationships
• Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): identify an individual’s beliefs and attitudes, recognize negative thought patterns, and educate in alternative ways of thinking
• Psychiatric drugs: medication that regulates a person’s mental, emotional, and physical functions to facilitate normal functioning

Question 10

Talk about the depressive disorder schizophrenia.

Answer 10

• Group of disorders with psychotic symptoms
• Delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thought patterns during the active phase of the illness, and for a duration of at least six months
• Strong genetic basis instead of environmental influences
• High frequency of cannabis use is a risk factor
• Treatment include antipsychotic medication, education, family support, rehabilitation, cognitive therapy, and integrated addictions programs

Question 11

Talk about the depressive disorder bipolar.

Answer 11

• Severe depression alternating with periods of manic activity and elation
• Symptoms include mood swings, changes in thinking, behaviour and physical condition
• Treatment includes professional therapy, and mood stabilizing medications

Question 12

What is technostress? What are some symptoms?

Answer 12

• Modern disease caused by people’s inability to manage new technologies in a health way
  o Struggle to embrace (elder people)
  o Stress from over exposure (young people)
• Brain overload, being overwhelmed, frustration, having a sense of never being finished

Question 13

What is stress?

Answer 13

A physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily/mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation, an internal state of arousal, or a physical state of the body to various demands

Question 14

What does stress do to the body?

Answer 14

• Cardiovascular health, immune network, gastrointestinal tract, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke
• Contributes to 80% of all major illnesses
• Mistrustful and angry people are twice as likely to suffer blockages of their coronary arteries

Question 15

What are examples of stressors?

Answer 15

• Discrimination
• Environmental stressors
• Technostress
• Workplace stress

Question 16

What are examples of stressors for university students?

Answer 16

• Test pressures
• Academic failure
• Financial problems
• Relationship problems
• Daily hassles
• Competition

Question 17

What are the stages of general adaption syndrome?

Answer 17

1. Alarm: body changes occur in response to stressor
2. Resistance: body tries to maintain homeostasis
3. Exhaustion: body cannot keep up with long stress

Question 18

What is cognitive-transactional model of stress?

Answer 18

An event will;

1. Trigger primary appraisal process where individual will see event as threat
2. Secondary appraisal process will assess person’s ability to handle the threat
3. Coping responses will be used to handle stress
4. Stress outcomes will feed back to second stage if needs are not met

Question 19

What are some healthy techniques for dealing with stress?

Answer 19

• Reframing: changing way you interpret events or situations
• Progressive relaxation: intentionally increasing and decreasing tension in muscles
• Visualization: creating mental pictures to calm and focus mind
• Meditation: the use of quiet sitting, breathing techniques, or chanting to relax
• Mindfulness: experiencing sensations of the present moment
• Biofeedback: usage of machines to measure temperature or international physiological activities in order to learn how to control them

Question 20

What are some symptoms of stress overload?

Answer 20

• Frequent illness
• Concentration problems
• Irritability/anxiety
• Working long hours
• Exaggeration
• Breaking rules, extremes

Question 21

What is the link of Type A people to stress?

Answer 21

• Type A: hard driving, aggressive, incessant struggle to achieve more and more, time is of the essence
• The predisposing factor to heart disease is hostility or anger