Diocese of Baguio Schools

Saint Louis School of Sablan Inc.

Poblacion, Sablan, Benguet 2614
slssablan@[Link] Tel. # (074) 619-5379

H.O.P.E 11
Module 3

Macgile F. Covadis
(0927-973-1612)
Subject Teacher
 Stress, Symptoms, Signs, and Causes
Under this module, you are learn essentially what is stress? You are also going
to encounter the different things that causes stress. Lastly, helpful things to do in order
to cope with stress are also present in this module. This will give you a broader
perspective when dealing with stress.

Instruction to the User

1. Read and analyze carefully the presented concept notes and discussion about Stress, Symptoms, Signs
and Causes.

2. At the end of each concept, there will be Formative Assessment for you to answer. After answering, you
are to self-check your answers using the key answers provided.

3. At the end of Lesson 1, there will also be a Summative Assessment for you to answer. The Summative
Assessment will be passed and to be recorded.

4. Lastly, after the Summative Assessment, there will be a mini-task for you to do as an application of our
concept discussion. This will also be submitted and be recorded.

5. IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTIES IN ANSWERING THE SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT OR

DOING THE MINI-TASK, PLEASE CALL YOUR SUBJECT TEACHER.

Learning Competencies

1. Describes the role of physical activity assessments in managing one’s stress

2. Explains how to optimize the energy systems for safe and improved performance
3. Relates health behaviors (eating habits, sleep and stress management) to health risks factors and physical
activity assessment performance

Learning Objectives

a) Explain the effects of stress to an individual

b) Analyze the different causes of stress
c) Discuss the different signs and symptoms of stress
d) Apply the ways to improve sleeping patterns

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 What is Stress?
Stress is the body's reaction to any change
that requires an adjustment or response. The body
reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and
emotional responses. The stress response is the
body’s way of protecting you. When working
properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and
alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your
life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself,
for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to
avoid a car accident.
Stress can also help you rise to meet challenges. It’s
what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at
work, sharpens your concentration when you’re
attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study for your modules when you’d rather be
watching TV. Stress is a normal part of life. You can experience stress from your environment, your body, and
your thoughts.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health,
mood, productivity, relationships, and your quality of life.

Causes of Stress
The situations and pressures
that cause stress are known as
stressors. We usually think of
stressors as being negative, such as an
exhausting work schedule,
overwhelming school activities, or a
rocky relationship. However,
anything that puts high demands on
you can be stressful. This includes
positive events such as getting a
boyfriend or girlfriend, buying a new
phone, going to college, or receiving
an academic award.

Of course, not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be internal or self-generated, when
you worry excessively about something that may or may not happen, or have irrational, pessimistic thoughts
about life. Overthinking things can have a negative effect on our bodies and being a negative thinker is also a
common source of stress.
Finally, what causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that’s stressful
to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it. While some of us are terrified of conducting the
national anthem in front of the whole student body and the teachers, others love it to be the center of attention.
Since we are all unique individual, we all have our own set of things that causes us stress. So what are the things
that stresses you?

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Common external causes of stress include:
a) Major life changes
b) Work or school
c) Relationship difficulties
d) Financial problems
e) Being too busy
f) Children and family
Common internal causes of stress include:
a) Inability to accept uncertainty
b) Pessimism
c) Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility
d) Negative self-talk
e) Unrealistic expectations / perfectionism
f) All-or-nothing attitude

How does stress affect health?

The human body is designed to experience

stress and react to it. Stress can be positive, keeping us
alert, motivated, and ready to avoid danger. Stress
becomes negative when a person faces continuous
challenges without relief or relaxation between
stressors. As a result, the person becomes overworked,
and stress-related tension builds. The body's
autonomic nervous system has a built-in stress
response that causes physiological changes to allow
the body to combat stressful situations. This stress
response, also known as the "fight or flight response",
is activated in case of an emergency. However, this
response can become chronically activated during
prolonged periods of stress. Prolonged activation of
the stress response causes wear and tear on the body –
both physical and emotional.

Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress – a negative stress reaction.
Distress can disturb the body's internal balance or equilibrium, leading to physical symptoms such as headaches,
an upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, sexual dysfunction, and problems sleeping. Emotional
problems can also result from distress. These problems include depression, panic attacks, or other forms of
anxiety and worry. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.
Stress is linked to 6 of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of
the liver, and suicide.

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 Signs and Symptoms of Stress Overload

The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel
familiar, even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll. That’s why
it’s important to be aware of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress overload.
A. Cognitive symptoms:
 Memory problems
 Inability to concentrate
 Poor judgment
 Seeing only the negative
 Anxious or racing thoughts
 Constant worrying

B. Emotional symptoms:
 Depression or general unhappiness
 Anxiety and agitation
 Moodiness, irritability, or anger
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Loneliness and isolation
 Other mental or emotional health problems
C. Physical symptoms:
 Aches and pains
 Diarrhea or constipation
 Nausea, dizziness
 Chest pain, rapid heart rate
 Loss of sex drive
 Frequent colds or flu
D. Behavioral symptoms:
 Eating more or less
 Sleeping too much or too little
 Withdrawing from others
 Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
 Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
 Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Improving Your Ability To Handle Stress

People can learn to manage stress and lead happier, healthier

lives. You may want to begin with the following tips:
1. Keep a positive attitude
 Looking on the brighter side of things will
greatly help us reduce our stress levels.
Dwelling too much on the negative aspect of
things will weigh us down and will impact our
energy and motivation. Trust your abilities and
believe in yourself that you can overcome any
problems that will come in your way.

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 2. Accept that there are events/things that you cannot control
 There are things that will always go sideways and not the way we wanted to. Hurtful as it may,
we need to accept that this are part of the reality that we live in. Wishful thinking these things
will only hurt us and stress us more. In worst cases, being occupied with these things will make
us forget or not pay attention that are also important to us.
3. Exercise regularly. Your body can fight stress better when it is fit
 It has been pointed out that being physically fit will help us in coping up with the stress of the
everyday life.
4. Eat healthy, well-balanced meals
 Proper nutrition can also help us in coping up with the everyday stress of life. Foods mainly give
us energy that fuels us through the daily activities and nutrients and vitamins that help us repair
and maintain our bodies.
5. Learn to manage your time more effectively
 Finishing our work at the end of the day and doing our own set of personal activities is too
tasking. Most of the time, we did not even finish our work, we are already tired. So tired that all
we want to do is eat and sleep, disregarding the other things that we should supposed to be doing.
 Putting up a schedule of our daily tasks will help us organize things and will allow us to have
also a time for our own self. Being too submerged with works will only burn out ourselves,
having an extra time for ourselves at the end of the day will help us brush off some accumulated
stress and help us relax.
6. Make time for hobbies and interests
 Doing the things that we love releases happy hormones in our system which greatly helps us
calm down, feel relaxed, recharge and more importantly release some accumulated stress
throughout the day. So when you’re feeling stressed, take a break, leave the thing that you are
doing and do your own thing. And after, you have calm down and brushed off the stress, go back
to work and continue what you are doing.
7. Don't rely on alcohol, drugs, or compulsive behaviors to reduce stress
 Getting drunk will never solve one’s problem, if not it will just complicate things further. Sadly,
the common notion that we have is to drunk your problems away. Though it will help us forget,
it will be only for one night. The very moment we wake up to our senses, the problem still right
there. Overindulging in alcoholic drinks will have its impact on our liver. Over time, we will
suffer from complications because of too alcohol addiction. Our bodies is not perfect, it will also
start to deteriorate as we grew older.
8. Get enough rest and sleep. Your body needs time to recover from stressful events.
 Sleep serves as the recharging process of our bodies. Having an adequate hours of sleep will help
us recover our lost energy and be ready for the next day.
9. Seek out social support. Spend enough time with those you love.
 If you can’t already handle the pain or the stress, go and seek help from someone you love and
trust. Opening up relieves certain amount of tension and talking about it with someone will give
us advices and a new perspective of things that we can use.

End of Module 3
References:
 Physical Education and Health 1
 Health-Optimizing Physical Education 1 (Fitness)
 [Link]
 [Link]

Kindly check the attached Summative

Assessments and Mini-Tasks
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