SM - Understanding Stress Lesson
Understanding Stress
Introduction
Marissa...
Seventeen-year-old Marissa is juggling many roles. She has a demanding part-time job, plays two varsity sports, is studying for the SATs, and is trying to decide where to go to college and how to pay for it. She also has a term paper and an Internet project due this week, needs to find a date and a dress for the prom, and is afraid that her best friend is mad at her. While Marissa used to feel confident and excited by life's challenges, she has recently been feeling overwhelmed, out of control and "stressed out”. In this microlesson, you will learn more about the importance of understanding stress.
Explore
Read the article below to learn more about common causes of stress.
"Causes of Stress in Teenagers" Links to an external site.
Explore the videos below to have a deeper understanding of stress.
Challenge
Imagine you have a big game after school, then you had to study for a history test, and write a paper that is due in English, and go to work for 3 hours. Or maybe your favorite shirt you intended to wear for your school picture was not clean, and you were late to school because you had to wash it. Think about a stressful experience you’ve had related to school. How did this make you feel and how did you handle it? At the time, did you realize it was stress? Was it distress or eustress?
Reflection...
Stress is the body’s reaction to a demanding situation. Most people do not understand or are aware of stress and the consequences of negative stress. Being informed can help you identify stressors and ways to cope. In the next microlessons, you will learn to identify the stressors in your life. What are physical and mental reactions to stress, and coping strategies?
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