Only a handful of students were present for Psychology professor Phil Boissiere’s highly informative workshop on Managing Stress, located in the Don Bautista Room of the Hinson Campus Center Jan. 31.

Sponsored by Health Services and Psychological Services, the workshop was the first of five offered this quarter.

“Two-thirds of doctor visits have something to do with stress,” said Boissiere. Stress is defined as a reaction to changes, both positive and negative.

A PowerPoint presentation highlighted the four main domains of stress: workload, people, mind and body.

Workload, or work stressors, occur when students feel overwhelmed with coursework.

When asked why they chose to attend, students cited the need to “de-stress” themselves and “exams” as the main source of this stress.

Boissiere recommends consulting with a counselor about time management and priority setting or seeking out a tutor or other study skills help.

The second domain of stress, people, can occur through family tensions, incompatibility with a roommate, or the death of a family member.

“Avoidance is not always the best policy,” said Boissiere, recommending students talk to a friend or counselor or take an interpersonal communication class to improve their interactions.

Another way to cope with people stress is to maintain your emotional reserves:

Develop naturally supportive friendships and relationships, but also expect some frustrations, failures and sorrows.

Also, try to reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions, as you may find you are you expecting to please everyone.

Stress stemming from the mind commonly finds students spending more time thinking about what could or did go wrong within a situation, rather than thinking of what they can do in the future. 

It may also include motivational problems. To alleviate this, seek information or counseling on self-thought and irrational thoughts.

“Personal control, which is tied to our thoughts,” said Boissiere, “is how much we perceive we can affect our environment and subsequently change our lives.”

The final domain of stress, body, includes the symptoms of insufficient sleep, frequent colds and poor nutrition.

“When our body doesn’t feel well, our mind doesn’t feel well,” Boissiere said.

To combat the problem, he recommends regular exercise (cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week,) eating well-balanced and nutritious meals, changing your environment, and reducing or eliminating stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.

It is also important to learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.

Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.

Closing the workshop, Boissiere had the students in attendance practice taking “30 second breaths,” attempting to take in a deep breath for 10 seconds, holding for 10 and releasing for 10.

“Focus your attention on your breathing,” said Boissiere. “[It’s] extremely helpful with anxiety.”

The next workshop in the series, Managing Relationships, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 11:30a.m. in the Hinson Campus Center’s Don Bautista Room.