Personal Action Plan: Stress Management
Rachel Mizic
Southern New Hampshire University
Literature Review
In this section, define stress and discuss what you learned about stress from the course materials. Make sure to include relevant information from each module relating major course concepts to stress in general, the effects of stress, stress reduction, or stress management. Use APA style in-text citations and include matching APA style references at the end of the paper.
Introduction
The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale was developed to help measure the amount of stress we carry at a given time. I recently took the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale self-assessment and my score was in the 300+ range (218), indicating that I have a “high or very high risk of becoming ill in the near future”. These results seem to be fairly accurate; during the past year I have had a high number of stressors in my daily life. Currently I am beginning to come out of a particularly stressful period. However, I am still experiencing a moderate number of stressors. My parents recently separated, and my mother moved out of our home, which simultaneously caused stress in some areas, and relieved stress in others. I am also experiencing issues with my health. I have been visiting different specialists this past year, but I have not been given a definitive diagnosis, which is extremely stressful at times. I have also had several people close to me ask for my help in dealing with substance abuse issues. I have dealt with addiction in my past, and am currently in recovery. Two members of my family are progressing in their addiction recovery; a third relapsed shortly after leaving an in-patient detox program, and continues to cause stressful situations for myself and other members of our family. Additionally, my partner has not been working as much as we have become used to, which has caused us to suffer some financial issues. He is in the process of applying for stable employment, and waiting to hear from perspective employers can be extremely stressful. And, as these things tend to go, the stress I am experiencing due to these issues .then describe your ideal situation (how you would like things to be). Journal- Action Plan Step 1 should be used as the basis for this section of your action plan.
Analysis
What would be the results if you do nothing with regard to your current situation regarding stress? What could you potentially gain as a positive in your life from making a change with regard to stress? What do you perceive as potential challenges to making changes with regard to stress? How could you overcome those challenges? What resources/strategies am I currently using to manage and reduce stress? Journal- Action Plan Step 2 should be used as the basis for this section of your action plan. Include the table from your journal entry:
Table 1. Current Resources and Strategies for Stress Management.
Resource/Strategy
When used (daily, weekly, monthly, annually)
Results
How effective are your current resources and strategies? How do you know?
Action Planning
What would it take to reach your ideal vision for stress reduction and management? Write this part out in words- you are summarizing the information that will appear in the tables that you include from Journal- Action Plan Step 3: Identify three goals (DAPPS): dated, achievable, personal, positive, specific; Prioritize the goals: List in order of priority; Specific action steps; What resources will you need to achieve your goals?; People besides yourself who could help you achieve your goals (family, friends, advisors, instructors, etc.); How will you know if you achieved the goal? (What will you see, feel, know, or experience?).
Table 2. Three DAPPS Goals
Goal
