stress coping & resilience for educators · stress can make us stronger ... self-focused goals...
TRANSCRIPT
Stress Coping & Resilience for Educators
Brian H Smith PhD
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — Maya Angelou
Typical View of Stress
Typical View of Stress
Typical View of Stress
Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory
The American Institute of Stress
Major injury, jail or prison, death of close friend
Marriage, retirement, major change in financial state
Outstanding personal achievement!
Life is Stressful
Wait a Minute… How did we get here?1918 Influenza Epidemic:
➢ 50 million deaths worldwide ➢ 675,000 deaths in the United States
➢ From 1917 to 1918, life expectancy in the United States fell by 12 years
Childbirth and child mortality
Most common medical practice performed by surgeons until the late 19th Century?Bloodletting
Wait a Minute… How did we get here?
The Real Story of StressWe are designed by evolution to learn & grow from stress
Gallup World Poll: More Stress = Greater well-being, longevity, happiness, satisfaction with life,& health
More stress = More anger, sadness and worry but also more joy, love and laughter
Is the Stress-free life the perfect life?
A stressful experience or part of life you welcome
Stress Can Make Us Stronger
You can’t create a meaningful life without stress
“Engagement meter”
History of adversity buffers impact of trauma
Growth through adversity = Resilience
Your Stress Response is Key
Physiological & Psychological
Two options:
➢ Threat Response➢ Challenge Response
Threat Response
Source of health problems
from stress
Prepare for injury
Blood flow
Inflammation
Attention to negatives
Cycle of fear and anxiety
Challenge Response Helps you learn from experience
Blood flow
Heart rate
Adrenaline
Focus
Self-confidence
Performance
Positive coping
Harnessing the Challenge Response
Can you can handle it?
Impacted by Mindset –
Is stress toxic?
Can stress help you grow?
Your Personal Strengths, Resources & Stress Coping History
Stress Coping is something you DO
Avoidance - Often worse than stress itself
Trying to Avoid Stress =
More depression, conflict at work & negative outcomes like fired or divorced
Anything linked to stress becomes a problem instead of an opportunity
Embracing stress is an act of bravery
Growth through Stress
Actively coping with stress is #1
Fix the ones you can - cope, grow and learn from the ones you can’t
Resilience Skills
(It’s really Stephen Covey)
Neuroscience and Stress: The Amygdala Hijack – Flipping Your Lid
21
PREFRONTAL CORTEX •Logic• Planning• Self-regulation• Weighing consequences• Suppress urges• Thinking into the future
LIMBIC SYSTEM •Emotional drive• Pleasure seeking• Mood swings• Gut feelings• Response to rewards (eat/sex)
Upstairs or Downstairs Brain
Hot or Cold Processing
Can We Trust our Thoughts?
Thoughts and Feelings
Respond not React
Pause, Observe, Reflect, Act
Coping with Emotional Challenges
Can we make unpleasant emotions disappear?
“Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders”
Anxiety, OCD, depression, trauma or PTSD
Emotion Tolerance
“The ability to act in desired ways regardless of emotional state”
Coping with Emotional Challenges
Deep Breaths
Stress Alchemy – Threat or Challenge?
Name It to Tame It
Neuro-imaging:
Less activity in the amygdala
More activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
(It’s really Stephen Covey)
Space – The Final Frontier
Self-Distancing – Thoughts & Emotions
“What would Batman Do?”
Who’s your Batman?
Talk about yourself – Second Person
Talk about yourself – Third Person
What would you tell your best friend?
Mindfulness & Meditation
Headspace10% HappierCalmSmiling Mind
Mindfulness & Meditation
Reduces Stress
Means to an end or end in itself?
Attention and awareness training
Reduces hijacking & impulsivity
More aware of stressors, thoughts, feelings, impulses
Helps with Pause, Notice, Reflect, Act
Apps & Guided Meditations
We are Social Beings
Interpersonal Emotion Regulation
Quickest, most efficient way to calm nervous system, rein in stress and avoid overreacting
Social neuroscience
Key factor in resilience
Friends = better mental health and immune function, quit smoking, overall less stressed
Avoid Co-Rumination
The Pain and Price of Loneliness
Reduced longevity:
Obesity = 20%
Heavy Drinking = 30%
Smoking = 50%
Loneliness = 70%Loneliness registers as physical pain in the brain
The most important factor in work happiness is positive social relationships with coworkers
Tend & Befriend Response - Oxytocin
Power of Meaning
Highly meaningful life = 30% less mortality
US study: More stress = more meaningful life
“People with very meaningful lives worry more and have more stress than people with less meaningful lives.”
Stress - measure of engagement in personally meaningful activities and relationships
Why did you want to become a teacher?
How does teaching make your life more meaningful?
Beyond Selfishness
Self-transcendent goals transform stress
Self-focused goals make people more confused, anxious, angry, envious, lonely
Focusing on bigger than self goals increases meaning, makes you more hopeful, curious, caring, grateful, inspired and excited
Source of Motivation and Strength
Power of Sleep
“Single most important thing” for brain and body health
Less than 7 hours = measurable harmful effects
Sleep deprivation = heightened emotional reactivity & suppressed cognitive control
REM sleep – brain is free of stress neuro-chemicals
SLEEP IS LIKE FREE THERAPY
Power of Gratitude Physical• Stronger immune systems• Less bothered by aches and pains• Lower blood pressure• Exercise more and take better care of their health• Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking
Psychological• Higher levels of positive emotions• More alert, alive, and awake• More joy and pleasure• More optimism and happiness
Social• More helpful, generous, and compassionate• More forgiving• More outgoing• Feel less lonely and isolated
Gratitude journaling -What went well - Three blessings
Write down three things you’re grateful for today
Big or small
What are you grateful for from this conference?
