Coping With

Stress In
Middle And
Late
Adolescence
 What is
Stress?
It is an emotional tension that arises when
there is a perceived threat to one’s safety.
(Dacey and Kenney 1997)

It is a form of demand that urges an

individual to do something in order to
adapt to the situation, or else, he will
experience ANXIETY (Spencer Rathus)
Things that ignite threat, danger or tension
are called Stressors.

Adolescence period is characterized as a

stage of meaningful changes and these
young people experience more stress
during this period and could cause distress.
 What are stressors?
In 1981, Newcomb listed 8 sources of Stress:
1. Family/Parents
 Being compared to
siblings; Sibling rivalry
 Financial Problem
 Being emotionally and
physically abused
 Broken families
 Pressure from
expectations
“preferring to be alone
!!!!!
2. Accident/Illness
 Having terminal condition
or being decapitated
 Being sickly
 Death
3. Sexuality
 Having sleepless nights
 Being friend-zoned
 Having to ask permission from the
parents
 Juggling dating and studying
 Early pregnancy
 Being involved in homosexual
relationship
 Discovering true personality – not
being ready to face to consequence
and not ready to assume
responsibility
4. Autonomy - a person's ability to
act on his or her own values and
interests.
• Longing for autonomy while
being carefree (conflicting)
• Being unsure if doing the right
thing because of little parental
guidance
• Problem in making decisions
(course to take and school to go
to)
• Living in an apartment/boarding
house and preparing everything
on your own.
5. Deviance
• Teenagers are expected to
develop deviant behaviors
during the stage of storm and
stress.
• Getting into trouble because o
excessive drinking that leads
to a fight
• Reckless driving showing that
one is old enough
CONSEQUENCES:
• Being kicked out of school
• Getting detained in jail
• Major life changing accidents
6. Relocation
• Moving from one place to
another causing stress to
adolescents
• Leaving one’s friend behind
and doubting if finding new
friends would be easy.
• Leaving the familiarity of
his/her present community
and the people living in it.
7. Distress
• Feeling distressed due to
problems is also one
cause of stress.
• Being too thin or too fat,
• Too popular and
unpopular
• Having pimples, acne,
excessive body hair and
unwanted fats.
• Having poor grades and
worrying about them.
8. Change
• Changes in the life of adolescents, who
in turn, are not yet ready.
• Future Shock – a term for an illness that
resulted from having to deal with too
much changes in too little time.
 EFFECTS OF STRESS
The following are the signs that can help
determine if an adolescent is under stress:
1. Having physical pain
2. Withdrawal from social settings, from his peers
3. Showing signs of anger and irritability
4. Having crying episodes
5. Showing signs of becoming hopeless to situations
6. Having difficulty sleeping
7. Manifesting signs of anxiety and nervousness
8. Changes in eating patterns
9. Having poor concentrations in studies
 STRESS MANAGEMENT SKILLS
The following are some skills to help teens cope with
stress:
1. Opening up with others
2. Take deep breaths and say aloud: “I can handle
this”
3. Perform progressive muscle relaxation
4. Setting small goals and break task into smaller
chunk
5. Exercise and have a proper diet
6. Get enough sleep
7. Break the habit of relying on caffeine or energy
drink
 SPENCER A. RATHUS
 In his book, Psychology, it was found out
that irritability or anger is the most
common sign of stress.
 For the Americans, listening to music was
said to be the a very effective technique
in stress management because he
believed that ART if a form of self-
expression that allows people to express
their feelings directly or indirectly to
others.
 5 IMPORTANT FACTORS ON HOW TO
MANAGE STESS according to RATHUS

A. SELF – EFFICACY EXPECTATIONS

• Self efficacy refers to our ability to do
something while Self- efficacy
expectations refers to our
perceptions of our ability to perform.
• If one expects that he can finish a
task, then he will indeed be able to
do it. He will avoid cramming and will
definitely follow his schedule
B. PSYCHOLOGICAL
HARDINESS
• Related to commitment,
challenge and control.
• People who are PH, usually resist
failure, accepts challenges and
posses a sense of control over
their lives.
• They do not give up but rather
face problems and overcome
them.
• Example: a student who has a
difficult subject will continue
studying instead of sulking and
C. SENSE OF HUMOR
• Research has proven that a person who has a sense of
humor has the greatest capability of alleviating stress.
• Biologically, the person who has the ability to laugh
has also the capability of stimulating production of
endorphins, the happy hormones, which makes the
person feel good.
• Psychologically, humor allows one to connect with
people and obtain a sense of belongingness with the
community
D. PREDICTABILITY AND
CONTROL
• Being able to prepare for
things that may happen can
also provide the ability to
control reactions.
• Example:
1. Preparing for exam because
he predicts that not doing so
may result to failure
2. Prioritizing education because
he predicts that his future lies
on this.
E. SOCIAL SUPPORT
• Aristotle believed that man
is a social being and a
political animal.
• He believed that if a person
would say that he does not
need anybody in order to
survive, then he must be
either a beast or a God.
• Because a man is a social
being, he cannot survive by
himself.
CAROL RYFF What is mental
According to her, the Health?
dimensions of psychological
well-being are:
Mental health
*self-acceptance
is actually made
*positive relations
*autonomy up of one’s
*Environmental mastery emotional,
*purpose in life psychological,
*sense of personal growth
and social well-
being.
When our mental health suffers,
psychological disorders may
occur!!!!!
Psychological Disorder – an abnormal behavior and a
mental process that results to distress or disability.

Abnormality according to Susan Nolen-Hoeksema

has 4 dimensions:
a. Dysfunction – when a person’s condition is causing
him to be dysfunctional (work, school, social and
personal settings)
b. Distress – when the person is aware he feels distress
when he fails to do something or making his life
difficult
c. Deviance – when a person is feeling strangeness
d. Danger – when a person’s behavior causes danger to
 MOST COMMON
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
A. EATING DISORDERS – characterized by
irregular or unhealthy eating habits
because of :
• Social factors such as strict standards
of body size
• Peer pressure
• Rules of society about beauty is
stricter on them than men
• Parenting style and parental
expectations
 ANOREXIA NERVOSA – a
person suffers from being
extremely underweight due
to self-starvation.
People with anorexia would
eat very little because they
have an intense fear of
becoming obese.

A person suffering from

anorexia will definitely be
suffering from an extreme
body weight loss that in
some cases can lead to
DEATH .
 BULIMIA NERVOSA – binge
eating episodes followed by
extreme guilt that results to
acts of purging in order to
Purging includes induced get rid of the consumed
vomiting, taking laxatives foods.
and taking diuretics (coffee
tea, soda, alcohol).
B. DEPRESSION – the primary
description of most people with
depression is the experience of
andehonia or the lack of interest
in everything in life.
It is not the same as grief,
sadness or disappointment
which are basic emotions and
not a health problem.
It is rather a mental health
problem that needs to be
managed
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a
persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.
Also called major depressive disorder or clinical
depression, it affects how you feel, think and
behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and
physical problems.
One may have trouble doing normal day-to-day
activities, and sometimes may feel as if life isn't
worth living.
 Common symptoms of depression:
 depressed moods (feeling sad or being empty)
 Diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities
 Significant weight loss when not dieting or significant
weight gain
 Insomnia (inability to sleep) or hypersomnia (excessive
daytime sleepiness or sleep periods)
 Psychomotor agitation (slowed speech, decreased
movement)
 Fatigue or loss of energy
 Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
 Diminished ability to think or concentrate
 Recurring thoughts of death, suicidal idea without
specific plan
C. MANIC EPISODE is a distinct period of abnormally
and persistently elevated and irritable mood and
abnormally increased goal-directed activity or energy
that is lasting a week. (EXTREME MOOD DISTURBANCE)
SYMPTOMS:
1. Inflated self esteem
2. Decreased need for sleep
3. More talkative than usual
4. Having flight of ideas
5. Easily distracted
6. Increase desire in goal-directed
7. Excessive involvement in activities
 D. MAJOR DEPRESSIVE
DISORDER
- A person is said to be
suffering from a major
depressive disorder if he
shows manifestations of at
least one major depressive
episode.
- When a person experiences
persistent and intense
feeling of sadness for
extended periods of time.
SUICIDE
- Third highest cause of death in teenagers
- One of the leading causes of morbidity in
the world and the rate of prevalence
increases each year
- Considered to be a grave offense that
churches would refuse giving blessing to
the body.
- Suicide comes from the two Latin words
SUI, which mean “self” and cedere, which
means to “formally surrender or give up”
SUICIDAL IDEATION – means that
a person is constantly thinking
about suicide and dying.

SUICIDAL PLANS – refers to the

acts of making a plan to commit
suicide using specific methods.

SUICIDAL ATTEMPT – occurs when

someone who commits suicide
survives.
  Depression, substance
abuse
DACEY AND  Personality maladjustments
KENNY –  Poor communication skills
DIFFERENT  Problem in school
RISK FACTORS performance
 Family problems and
FOR instability
COMMITING  Feeling of worthlessness
SUICIDE  Peer problems and pressure
 Presence of firearms that
can be used to commit
suicide
  Cognitive flexibility
 Strong social support
 Lack of precipitating events
BARLOW AND  No losses
DURAND –  Hopefulness
PROTECTIVE  Treatment of psychiatric
FACTORS disorders
 Treatment of personality
disorders
 THE END …

THANK YOU!!!!