Managing Stress

Everyone experiences stress. Sometimes it can help you focus and get the task at hand done. But when stress is frequent and intense, it can strain your body and make it impossible to function. Finding effective ways to deal is crucial to living well.

How Stress Affects You

Stress affects your entire body, mentally as well as physically. Some common signs include:

• Headaches

• Trouble sleeping

• Jaw pain

• Changes in appetite

• Frequent mood swings

• Difficulty concentrating

• Feeling overwhelmed

When experiencing long-term stress, your brain is exposed to increased levels of a hormone called cortisol. This exposure weakens your immune system, making it easier for you to get sick.

Stress can contribute to worsening symptoms of your mental illness. Knowing what situations cause it is the first step in coping with this very common experience.

When You Are Most Vulnerable To Stress

People are most susceptible to stress when they are:

• Not getting enough sleep

• Not having a network of support

• Experiencing a major life change such as moving, the death of a loved one, starting a new job, having a child or getting married

• Experiencing poor physical health

• Not eating well

Everyone has his own threshold. Certain things that may upset you out might not even make one of your friends raise an eyebrow. Some people are affected when they experience large crowds and noisy environments, while others react to silence and free time.

Ways To Reduce Stress

Developing a personalized approach to reducing stress can help you manage your mental health condition and improve your quality of life. Once you've learned what your triggers are, experiment with coping strategies. Some common ones include:

• Accept your needs. Recognize what your triggers are. What situations make you feel physically and mentally agitated? Once you know this, you can avoid them when it's reasonable to, and to cope when you can't.

• Manage your time. Prioritizing your activities can help you use your time well. Making a day-to-day schedule helps ensure you don't feel overwhelmed by everyday tasks and deadlines.

• Practice relaxation. Deep breathing, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation are good ways to calm yourself. Taking a break to refocus can have benefits beyond the immediate moment.

• Exercise daily. Schedule time to walk outside, bike or join a dance class. Whatever you do, make sure it's fun. Daily exercise naturally produces stress-relieving hormones in your body and improves your overall physical health.

• Set aside time for yourself. Schedule something that makes you feel good. It might be reading a book, go to the movies, get a massage or take your dog for a walk.

• Eat well. Eating unprocessed foods, like whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruit is the foundation for a healthy body and mind. Eating well can also help stabilize your mood.

• Get enough sleep. Symptoms of some mental health conditions, like mania in bipolar disorder, can be triggered by getting too little sleep.

• Avoid alcohol and drugs. They don't actually reduce stress: in fact, they often worsen it. If you're struggling with substance abuse, educate yourself and get help.

• Talk to someone. Whether to friends, family, a counselor or a support group, airing out and talking can help.

Source: https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Living-with-a-Mental-Health-Condition/Managing-Stress

School Counseling Team & Resources

If you want to let the Franklin High School counseling team know about specific student or friend you are worried about you can tell your counselor or teacher directly or complete an iCare Form (available in Counseling or from your teacher) and drop it off in the blue box behind the student services building during regular school hours. Please click here for a copy of our You Are Not Alone Flyer with some additional resources and crisis numbers. 

You can also submit an online (anonymous) incident report by clicking here, and if it is an emergency please tell an adult and call 911 right away. Counselors are only available during normal school hours when school is in session.

EGUSD has partnered with CareSolace. Care Solace is an online resource with a live 24-7 concierge line to assist individuals in finding local mental health related programs and counseling services. To use Care Solace, individuals answer ten basic questions in order to receive an extensive list of referrals to applicable care providers. Care Solace takes into account all types of private insurance including Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and Medicare and those that have no insurance. EGUSD’s partnership with Care Solace provides access to services for our students, staff, and families at no cost by visiting www.caresolace.com/site/egusdfamilies.

If it is an immediate emergency, please call 911. 

Wellness Videos

School counselor Mr. Autenrieth has recorded some mindfulness, wellness, and peak performance videos that you can check out below.  These videos can help with stress, wellness, and peak performance on tests and other activities.

1. Click here for the guided Brief Breathing Pause Video (3 mins). Please click here for the MP3 audio only.

2. Click here for the Stress and Peak Performance Tips Video (7 mins).

3. Click here for the guided Peak Performance Pause Video (6.5 mins). Do this before a big test, speech, or performance to be at your best!

4. Click here for the Mindful Mondays Video with a breathing exercise and guided stress visualization (18 mins).

Ms. Montes our previous school social worker has also created a Calming Techniques video that you can check out by clicking here. In her video Ms. Montes will go over the five senses activity along with a very relaxing body scan.