Stress

Cognitive

• Difficulty focusing and concentrating
• Problems with memory
• Unable to be in the present moment – thinking about the past or future 

Emotional

• Worried
• Low mood
• Agitation
• Highly sensitive
• Easily agitated
• Overwhelmed 

Behavioral

• Changes in sleep, movement, and eating patterns
• Increased substance use
• Social withdrawal or can’t be alone
• Not going to class and/or work
• Not caring for personal hygiene
• Increased zoning out on social media, shopping, pornography, gaming, gambling. 

What are your common symptoms of stress? When was the last time you came into your relaxation response and what did it feel like? 

Continually ask yourself, “what would be helpful”?

Coping Skills 

You wouldn’t be in college if you didn’t have coping skills. Coping skills are things you do that help you get unstuck from stress so that you can find relief and move forward. 

“Wellness Backpack”

When you go on a trip or hiking, your backpack is filled with a variety of tools you need to get through the trek. Trekking through stress is the same, you will need a metaphorical backpack of coping skills. What worked one day may not work the next; the more tools you have, the better. 

Get Back to Basics 
The body’s stress response uses a lot of energy and contributes to feeling depleted.

• Food fuels the body with nutrients to increase the energy needed to face each day. Food is also pleasurable, which is a good coping skill for stress.
• Sleep helps the body and mind recover so that you are more alert and emotionally prepared to cope with each day.
• Movement moves energy through your body and releases good stress hormones to help you feel more energized, motivated, and confident. Find body movement you enjoy. 

Physical Wellness 

• Relax your body by looking for a “progressive muscle relaxation.”
• Slow down your breathing looking for “breathing practices for stress.”
• Pay attention to how you may be using substances to help you relax. Although they feel good in the moment, when the high wears off your experience of stress will probably be worse.
• Masturbation is a pleasurable stress reliever that releases good stress hormones and is the safest sex there is.
• Wash your hands and don’t touch your face so that you can prevent colds and flu – because being sick will really stress you out. 

Social Wellness 

• Connect with social support in your family and friends.
• Set boundaries by saying “yes” to what would enhance your well-being.
• Practice assertive communication by clearly stating your needs while also respecting others.
• Seek professional help. 

Intellectual Wellness

• Engage your brain in activities other than thinking about your stress or doing homework.
• Take a social media break, what we consume on social media can be toxic to our well-being.
• Think critically about the wellness information you learn online. 

Occupational Wellness

• Take study breaks, your brain will be more focused when you come back to your work.
• Start studying, your homework isn’t going to do itself.
• Work towards balancing effort and ease in how you put your energy towards your occupational wellness.
• Give yourself permission to change your mind about your major and/or career.
• Utilize CAPS.

Emotional Wellness

• Pause and name your mood. Self-awareness helps make skillful choices.
• Ask yourself, what is causing me stress? What’s at stake?
• Recognize that you are “feeling stress” you aren’t stress.
• Remind yourself that stress is natural and doesn’t indicate something is “wrong” with you.
• Practice mindfulness of your body, emotions, and surroundings to help you stay in the present moment.
• Practice self-compassion by treating yourself with the same care you offer a good friend.

  Environmental Wellness 

• Clear away clutter in your home, backpack, car, etc.
• Spend time in spaces where you feel safe, valued, relaxed, productive.

 Spiritual Wellness

• Go into the wild. Nature helps move your body to its relaxation response.
• Reflect on your gratitude to remember what is good in your life.
• Look around you and be in awe.
• Create or appreciate art.
• Pray.

Financial Wellness 

• Do your research before buying anything you see online that promises fast health and wellness.
• Budget your funds and spending.
• Understand your needs vs. wants.
• Access UNH Basic Needs if you need help. 

What are ways you care for yourself when you are stressed?

What was the last coping skill you deployed that helped you feel relief from your stress?

Your Relaxation Response 

When coping skills are applied, your nervous system moves out of its stress response and moves towards its relaxation response: 

• Effective coping strategies are implemented;
• Brain recognizes that it doesn’t need to focus on survival and safety;
• Stress hormones regulate;
• Heart rate decrease;
• Breathing slows;
• Muscles start to relax;
• Senses open to observe the totality of what’s around you;
• Your thinking expands so that you can take a larger perspective;
• Your body’s other systems (e.g., immune, digestive, reproductive) return to optional functioning because your resources are no longer going to your stress response;
• You feel a sense of relief, calm, and ease in your whole body;
• Your stress symptoms start lessening;
• You may feel tired, signaling that it is time to sleep. 

Rumination in the Relaxation Response 

It’s common in your relaxation response for your mind to to replay the stressful situation. This is your brain’s way of making meaning of your experience to prepare you for the next time you are faced with a challenge. Rumination about a stressful event, even if was a good stressor, like winning a game, is natural. 

Adverse Life Experiences and Stress

Some of us have had more stressful lives and our nervous system has been in stress response for a longer amount of time. If this is you, know that you can retrain your body to come more easily into your relaxation response. This can be done by continual practice of coping skills and seeking professional help. 

How do you know when you have moved out of your stress response and into your relaxation response?

Additional Resources 

• Wellness at UNH
• Emotional Wellness at UNH
• 3 Steps to Get Better at Stress (PDF)
• 5 Step Stress Mindset Practice (PDF)
• UNH Mood Meter (PDF)
• How Are You — Really?
• Recommended meditation apps (PDF)
• Greater Good Science Center wellness practices
• Student organizations at UNH
• UNH Basic Needs
• Lifetime Activity Program – College of Health & Human Services   

For more information about stress, please contact Dawn Zitney, Well-Being Educator/Counselor.

Use these resources to help you build your resilience. Keep in mind that each person's journey will be different - what works for you may not work for others.

• What is Stress? (PDF Download)
• 20 Ways to Cope with Stress (PDF Download)