Stress Management & Suicide Prevention

Stress Management:

(Articles about stress: Link1—Link2)

• What situations cause you to stress out?

School, family obligations, church/community obligations, social roles, etc.  

• What is happening in your body when you are stressed?

I tense up in my lower back and my neck. I also get sinus headaches

• What are some strategies you can use to minimize stress?

I do breathing exercises. Sometimes I just twirl in circles the kitchen for 5+ minutes. It's really fun to do. I also like eating a yogurt or a fruit or just talking for a few minutes, not thinking about anything.

• What are the 2 types of stress?

Positive and negative stress. Positive stress is when your body feels the stress and prepares yourself to act level-headedly underneath pressing situations and also makes you handle normal situations better. Negative stress happens when the stress lasts a long time causing overload on your body making your immune system weak and tighten muscles in your body.

• Have you experienced eustress? When?

Just generally when I am doing schoolwork the stress helps me get everything done. 

• How can health and fitness influence stress?

Exercise can help release negative stress because it loosens your muscles and it also helps rebuild your energy. Eating healthy and having good posture also helps your stress to become positive. Bad eating habits and little exercises affects your energy level and when you are low on energy you become more stressed because you can't cope very well. 

• What can you do to help a friend who is stressed out?

Talk with them about what they're dealing with, take them out somewhere and laugh and have a good time, help them keep a regular schedule of working, playing, and exercising, etc.



Suicide Prevention:

(Article: Link3)

• What are some warning signs that someone may be considering suicide?

Their eating and sleeping habits are unusual, they continually put themselves down and think they deserve it, they are writing wills or letters to say goodbye, they've actually said they've thought about suicide or have planned to, getting addicted to harmful things like drugs, and giving away valuable possessions. 

• What can you do if you suspect a friend or classmate is considering suicide?

You need to find a trusted adult to help with the situation (a parent, counselor, teacher, mentor, nurse, relative, etc.) Then you create an appointment with that trusted person and tell them vital information they will need to handle the situation (how the friend has been acting, if they've said they are going to commit suicide, if they have access to a gun,). Talk with your friend and tell them how you feel about them and if you are worried. Support your friend, listen to them, and try to truly understand them. Encourage them to go find help or go meet the trusted person that you have found. Listen to the trusted person and other trusted adults you have spoken to, they also have your friends best interest at heart. Congratulate yourself– you had the courage to speak up. These situations are incredibly hard.

Emotional Intelligence Quiz Results

(link to Emotional Intelligence Quiz)

• What was your predicted score?

18/20

• What was your actual score on the quiz?

15/20

• List 5 things you learned from the quiz.

I learned the difference between love and flirtation- flirtation is the complete head tilt away but with a sideways glance and slight smile, love is only a slight tilt away from the head a full smile and eyes looking at the person in from of them.

I learned the difference between contempt and disgust. Disgust is where the lip is curled and the nose crinkles. Contempt is when somebody tilts their head to the side and takes a sideways glance at the thing they are contemptuous with, and the mouth tightens on only one side.

The difference between embarrassment and shame is with shame a person’s head hangs straight down, eyes averted, and no smile. Embarrassment is a head tilt to the side, aversion of the eyes, and a slight smile, and maybe a hand to the face (as a defensive gesture).

Compassion vs. Sadness: Compassion and sadness have similar eyebrow actions but with compassion the lips are tightened or pressed together, with sadness our mouth is pulled down into a frown,

Happiness vs. Politeness: With happiness the mouth is pulled up into a smile, but the eyes are scrunches up making what’s called crows feet at the corners of their eyes, also you can see joy in their eyes. With politeness there is a smile, but not quite as genuine as in happiness, and the eyes are not scrunched up together.

Self Concept & Self Esteem

(Link to the article I am previewing)

• Do you agree with the opening/headlining sentence?

I do agree with it, because the article that follows the headline has research and data to support it's claim, and it makes logical sense.

• Describe the difference between Self-Esteem and Self-Concept.

Self Concept is how the person sees themselves. It is an image created by the failure or success in domains that are important to the individual. Self Esteem is the value the person may have upon him or herself.

• How has your self-concept grown in the past 2 years?

My self concept has grown to be more accurate than it was when I was younger. Support from my parents, siblings, and peers has made it strong, and I am happy I have such a solid support system.

• What are your domains of importance?

My domains of importance are academics and behavior.

• What is the "normal-curve" that is referenced in the Reducing the Availability of Social Comparison cues? How does it apply to grading practices? 

Most likely what teachers and other well-respected adults might think is the "average performance" of a student. This article is saying not to focus so much on if the student is below or above-average but if they are improving from where their academic skills used to be. Maybe this article is saying focus grading according to the improvement of the student more than on comparison to other students.

• Do you agree with the method outlined, "avoiding grading that allows only a few students to achieve high grades?"

I agree with the article in saying that teachers should focus more on if the student is improving from last assignments or performances. And if this method is worrisome to teachers and parents, they can still know if the student is above- or below-average, but instead of emphasizing it to the student, help him by using this method- help him slowly improve his academic skills until he is at the performance level that he and his parents like, or even beyond that!