TRACKING YOUR STRESS In order to track your baselines (and your subsequent progress) you will need to transfer your list of stressors to the computer. Data about your stressors is stored in the computer on Stressor Information Cards. From the Opening Menu select the Stressor Counting Module. You will be presented with the following screen: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ File Print Quit Help File: STRESSOR ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ F1 = Menu Move Highlight Enter=Select Item ³ TIME ³ DATE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ This screen is a window that will be used to display and manage the list of your stressors. At the top of the screen you will see the Menu of options (File Print Quit Help). To access this menu press the F1 key. The first letter of each menu item will be highlighted and the first menu item File will be completely highlighted. You may use the arrow keys to move the highlight to the Menu item you want or you may simply press the first letter of the item. In this case press the F key or press the Enter key. Either one will work. Once a Menu item has been selected you will be presented with a pull-down submenu for that item. In this case you will see the sub-menu for the File option. Move the highlight to ADD RECORD TO FILE and press Enter. You will see a Stressor Information Card appear on the screen. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ STRESSOR INFORMATION CARD ³ ³ Stressor: ³ ³ Classification: ³ ³ Priority: ³ ³ Begin Date: ³ ³ End Date: ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ DESCRIPTION ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Although entering information onto the card is easy a few guidelines are in order. Stressor - Enter the name you have given to that stressor. Be as brief and descriptive as possible. Classification - Classify the stressor as to its' source (e.g. work family peer group etc.). Priority - Prioritize the importance of the stressor to you on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important. Begin date - Type in the date you start to keep baseline data. Description - Type in a brief but thorough description of the stressor the circumstances under which you normally encounter it and the coping strategies you have used in the past. When you have completed the entries press the Enter key. Automatically the data from the stressor information card will be stored in its own file and the name of the stressor will be shown on the index screen. Whenever you want to enter data about that stressor into the computer you will need to recall that card. To recall a Stressor Information Card simply move the highlight to the stressor name on the index screen and press the Enter key. With the stressor cards in place you can start making entries about the daily SUDS levels. To add SUDS levels data to the stressor card take the following steps: 1. Call up the stressor information card (see above). 2. Press (C)ount. A new screen will come up that will permit you to make data entries for the date of the occurrence of the stressor the frequency with which it occurred on that date and the SUDS level. To enter information about the SUDS level take the following steps: 1. Type in the date (using the Enter key to separate month day and year). The cursor will then move to the SUDS level. 2. Enter the SUDS level for the first occurrence of the stressor and press the Enter key. 3. Enter the SUDS level for any subsequent occurrences of the stressor on that date. The program will calculate and display the number of times the stressor occurred on that date from the number of SUDS level entries. 4. Use this same sequence each time you wish to enter new SUDS level data for subsequent days. Starting with your Baseline data then you should track and enter the data on a daily basis. The Self-Health program will only work as well as you allow it. Inadequate or incomplete data will obviously yield inadequate results. Be as systematic as possible in noting and entering the data into the computer. Remember that the F1 key gives you access to the Options menu. By using the Options menu you may add modify or delete stressor information cards at any time. Facts vs Subjective Opinion: Keeping Track Now that the data for each stressor is being entered into the computer on some regular basis we can do an analysis that indicates how these stressors function over time. This will tell us how your stress management program is affecting the stress. It is often the case that people will not recognize that significant change is occuring simply because they aren't able to get FACTS about the change. Let's face it this stuff is pretty subjective at best and our tendency is to go with our feelings when it comes to judging change. The Self-Health Systems program requires you to keep careful note of the occurrence of the stressors and gives YOU the feedback and objective analysis necessary to accurately judge the nature of the changes you are making. This is done by using a graphic display for the frequency of occurrence and SUDS level data for each stressor. Here is what one of the graphic displays looks like: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Period: 11/18/89 - 02/17/90 STRESSOR: Finances ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ °°............................................................³ ³ °°°°°.........................°°..............................³ ³ B°°°°°.°°.°°°.................°°.............................B³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°.................°°..............................³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°............°°..............................³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°.......°°..............................³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°......°°..............................³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°...³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°³ ³ °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°³ ³ FREQUENCY WEEKS B....B = BASELINE ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ Self-Health Systems Stress Management Software ³ TIME ³ DATE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ This display shows what has happened during a complete program to one stressor. Along the abscissa (that's the horizontal line at the bottom of the chart) are the weeks that the program was applied. The ordinate (the vertical axis) shows the frequency with which the stress was encountered. The greater the frequency of occurrence of the stress and the higher the stress level the higher the bars on the graph. The graph used as an example shows that there was a falling off of the frequency with which this stressor occurred (except for the period right in the middle of the training which must have been a heller). One could objectively infer that the overall effects of the stressor were significantly reduced over the period of the training but as has been mentioned many people experience rebounds - periods where the effect of the stressor returns to a very high level - and subsequently abandon their attempts at control (e.g. Here I am right back at the same old level... nothing has really changed!). As you can see from the graph however there is very little doubt that this person DID achieve significant stress control. If this person simply had access to the data they would NOT HAVE GIVEN UP! Therefore YOU SHOULD REVIEW YOUR PERFORMANCE FREQUENTLY so that you can see how well you are doing. (Don't trust your memory about your progress and don't trust your immediate feeling about it either. One way or another you'll probably lie to yourself if you do). When things are not going well try to analyze the problem and solve it. Use the graphic information to see your solutions are working. The graphs will display the pattern of your stress activity over time. Study these carefully. They will show you possible patterns of stress that you are not aware of. For instance you may notice that you are more stressed on particular days or at particular times of the day. Use the information in the graph to help you predict when and where you stress is likely to arise so that you can be better prepared to manage it.