Reading a Textbook Chapter

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1 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 1 APPENDIX B Reading a Textbook Chapter Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In. 1 2 Read the following hapter from the ollege textbook Total Fitness: Exerise, Nutrition, and Wellness.As you read, omplete the labels in the four figures with information from the passage. After you finish the reading, answer the questions that follow the passage. Stress Management and Modifying Unhealthy Behavior Although many behaviors affet your health, the five that are most important for promotion of good health are: regular exerise, good nutrition, weight ontrol, stress management, and modifiation of unhealthy behaviors that inrease your risk of disease or inrease your risk of an aident. Earlier hapters have foused on improving health through physial fitness, proper diet/weight ontrol, and atively reduing the risk of aner and heart disease. This hapter expands on these strategies by introduing the onepts of stress redution and behavior modifiation aimed at reduing your risk of disease. Let s begin our disussion with an overview of stress management. STRESS MANAGEMENT Studies suggest that 10% to 15% of U.S. adults may be funtioning at less than optimal levels beause of stress-related anxiety and depression. Indeed, millions of people take mediation for stress-related illnesses. Stress-related problems result in annual losses of billions of dollars to both businesses and government due to employee absenteeism and health are osts. Therefore, stress is a major health problem in the United States that affets individual lives and the eonomy as a whole. In the following setions, we will disuss several key aspets of stress management. Stress: An Overview Stress is a physiologial and mental response to something in our environment that auses us to beome unomfortable. The fator that produes stress is alled a stressor. Stressors an be physial in nature (suh as an injury) or mental (suh as emotional distress result- 1 3

2 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 2 2 APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER Figure 14.1 Health Effets of Stress Chroni Stress Potential Negative Effets on Physial Health Lowered disease resistane Elevated blood pressure Hormonal imbalane Bak and nek pain Potential Negative Effets on Mental Health Emotional disorders Eating disorders ing from a personal relationship). Regardless of the nature of the stressor, the physiologial and mental responses to stress usually inlude the feelings of strain, tension, and anxiety. From a medial standpoint, stress an impat both emotional and physial health. Chroni (persistent) stress has been linked to elevated blood pressure, hormonal imbalanes, redued resistane to disease, eating disorders, and emotional disorders (see Figure 14.1). There are many soures of stress in everyday life. Driving in heavy traffi, being involved in an automobile aident, enountering emotional onflits at work or shool, and experiening personal finanial problems are just a few. Let s ontinue our disussion of stress by examining your stress profile. Assessment of Stress Stress an be aute (e.g., the death of a loved one), umulative (suh as a series of events leading to a divore), or hroni (suh as daily job-related stress). Although it is lear that hroni or extreme stress is unhealthy, some degree of stress is required to maximize performane. For instane, athletes and business professionals often perform better when faed with mild-to-moderate stress. A stress level that results in improved performane is alled eustress or positive stress. Although some level of stress is desirable, eah of us has a breaking point in terms of stress. This idea is illustrated in Figure When we surpass the stress level needed to optimize performane (optimal stress), we reah our stress break point and distress (negative stress) results. Distress promotes a deline in performane, and hroni distress an inrease the risk of disease. Different people may reat differently to the same stressful situation. For example, a violent movie may evoke anger in one person and no emotion at all in another. This differene in stress pereption is due to personality differenes. When it omes to stress, individuals an be lassified into one of three personality ategories: type A, type B, and type C (Figure 14.3). Type A individuals are highly motivated, time-onsious, hard driving, sometimes hostile, and impatient. They have a 7 8 9

3 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 3 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR 3 heightened response to stress. Beause stress is a risk fator for heart disease, type A people exhibit this risk. In ontrast, type B individuals are easygoing, nonaggressive, and patient. Type B personalities do not generally respond greatly to stress and are onsidered to be at low risk (from a stress perspetive) for heart disease. People with type C personalities have Figure 14.2 The Conepts of Eustress and Distress Optimal Stress Stress Break Point Performane High Moderate Eustress Distress Distress results in diminished performane Low Low Moderate Stress Level High Figure 14.3 Personality Types Personality Types Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In. Type A Impatient, Competitive, Aggressive, Highly Motivated, and Sometimes Hostile High Risk for Heart Disease Type B Patient, Nonaggressive and Easygoing Low Risk for Heart Disease Type C Competitive, Highly Motivated, High Level of Confidene, and Maintains a Constant Level of Emotional Control Low Risk for Heart Disease

4 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 4 4 APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER many of the qualities of type A people. They are onfident, highly motivated, and ompetitive. However, these unique individuals use their personality traits to their advantage by maintaining a onstant level of emotional ontrol and hanneling their ambition into reative diretions. Interestingly, although type C personalities are highly driven, they experiene the same low stress-related risk for heart disease as type B personalities. The first step in learning to deal with stress is to examine your stress level. Laboratory 14.1 is designed to aomplish this goal. 1 Steps in Stress Management Now that you have examined your stress level, it is time to deal with stress by using tehniques known olletively as stress management. Although there are no magi formulas or nutritional supplements apable of eliminating stress, there are two general steps to managing stress: Redue the amount of stress in your life, and learn to ope with stress by improving your ability to relax. Let s disuss eah of these steps individually. Stress Redution. Reduing soures of stress is the ideal means of lowering the impat of stress on your life. The first step in stress redution is to reognize those fators that promote daily stress. After identifiation of these fators, you should eliminate ativities that result in daily stress. While it may not be possible to avoid all soures of stress, many unneessary forms of stress an be eliminated. A lassi example of stress that an often be avoided is overommitment, a frequent ause of stress in ollege students. Plan your time arefully and prioritize your ativities. It 1 Laboratory 14.1 is not inluded here. may not be possible to do everything that you want to do during a given day or week. Plan a daily shedule that permits doing the things you need to aomplish without being overwhelmed with less important ativities. Coping with Stress: Relaxation Tehniques. Beause it is impossible to eliminate all forms of stress from daily life, it is neessary to use stress management tehniques to redue the potentially harmful effets of stress. Most of these tehniques are designed to produe relaxation, whih redues the stress level. The following are some of the more ommon approahes used in stress management. Progressive relaxation. Progressive relaxation is a stress redution tehnique for reduing musular tension using exerises designed to promote relaxation. In essene, the tehnique is pratied as follows. While sitting quietly or lying down, ontrat and then relax various musle groups one at a time, beginning with your feet and then moving up the body to the hands and nek, until a omplete state of musle relaxation is ahieved. The proponents of progressive relaxation tehniques for reduing stress argue that relaxing the musles in this manner will also relax the mind and therefore relieve stress. The theory behind this onept is that an anxious (stressed) mind annot exist in a relaxed body. Breathing exerises. A simple means of ahieving relaxation is by performing breathing exerises. A sample exerise designed to redue stress is performed as follows: 1. Assume a omfortable position, sitting or lying down, with eyes losed. 2. Begin inhaling and exhaling slowly. Count from one to three during eah

5 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 5 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR inhalation and eah exhalation to maintain a slow and regular breathing pattern. 3. Now ombine strething and breathing to provide greater relaxation and stress redution. For example, streth your arms toward the eiling as you inhale, then lower your arms during exhalation. Try this exerise for 5 to 15 minutes in a quiet room. Although breathing exerises may not redue all stress, they have been shown to be a simple means of stress redution. Rest and sleep. One of the most effetive means of reduing stress and tension is to get an adequate amount of rest and sleep. How muh sleep do you need? It appears that individual needs vary greatly; however, a good rule of thumb is 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep per night. Further, beause of the body s natural hormonal rhythms, it is reommended that you go to bed at approximately the same time every night. In addition to a good night s sleep, 15 to 30 minutes of rest per day is useful in stress redution. This an be ahieved as simply as putting your feet up on a desk or table and losing your eyes. A well-rested body is the best protetion against stress and fatigue. Exerise. Although prolonged or highintensity exerise an impose both mental and physial stress, researh has shown that light-to-moderate exerise an redue many types of stress. The reommended types of exerise for optimal stress redution are lowto moderate-intensity aerobi exerises (suh as running, swimming, and yling). How good is exerise at reduing stress? Studies have shown that exerise is a very effetive form of stress redution. Figure 14.4 ompares the effets of a 30-minute bout of Figure 14.4 Exerise and Stress Redution Exerise and Stress Redution Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In. Stress Level Before Stress Redution Tehnique Rest and Reading 30 Minutes of Exerise Meditation After Stress Redution Tehnique

6 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 6 6 APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER light-to-moderate exerise (running) to three other ommon forms of stress redution: rest, reading, and meditation. In this study, meditation provided the greatest stress redution, with exerise finishing a lose seond. Why does regular exerise redue stress? Several possibilities exist. One theory is that exerise auses the brain to release several naturally produed tranquilizers, alled endorphins, whih redue stress levels. Endorphins work by bloking the effets of stressrelated hemials in the brain. Another theory is that exerise may be a diversion that frees your mind from worry or other stressful thoughts. Another possibility is that regular exerise results in an improvement in physial fitness and self-image, whih inreases your resistane to stress. A final possibility is that all of these fators may be involved in the benefiial effets of exerise on stress management. The next time you feel stressed, try exerise; you will feel and look better as a result. Meditation. Meditation has been pratied for ages in an effort to produe relaxation and ahieve inner peae. There are many types of meditation, and there is no sientifi evidene that one form is superior to another. Most types of meditation have the same ommon elements: sitting quietly for 15 to 20 minutes twie a day, onentrating on a single word or image, and breathing slowly and regularly. The goal of meditation is to redue stress by ahieving a omplete state of physial and mental relaxation. Although beginning a suessful program of meditation may require initial instrution from an experiened individual, the following is a brief overview of how meditation is pratied. 1. To begin, you must hoose a word or sound, alled a mantra, to be repeated during the meditation. The idea of using a mantra is that this word or sound should beome your symbol of omplete relaxation. Choose a mantra that has little emotional signifiane for you, suh as the word red. 2. To begin meditation, find a quiet area and sit omfortably with your eyes losed. Take several deep breaths and onentrate on relaxation; let your body go limp. 3. Conentrate on your mantra. This means that you should not hear or think about anything but your mantra. Repeat your mantra over and over again in your mind and relax. Avoid distrating thoughts and fous only on the mantra. 4. After 15 to 20 minutes of onentration on the mantra, open your eyes and begin to move your thoughts away from the mantra. End the session by making a fist with both hands and saying to yourself that you are alert and refreshed. Visualization. Visualization (sometimes alled imagery) uses mental pitures to redue stress. The idea is to reate appealing mental images (suh as a quiet mountain setting) that promote relaxation and redue stress. Visualization is similar to meditation exept that instead of using a mantra, you substitute a relaxing sene. To pratie visualization, simply follow the instrutions presented for meditation, substituting your relaxing sene for the mantra. If you fail to reah a omplete state of relaxation after your first several sessions, don t be disouraged. Ahieving omplete relaxation with this tehnique may require numerous pratie sessions

7 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 7 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR 7 27 In summary, there are many ways to suessfully manage stress. The key is to find the tehnique that is best for you and stik with it. Regular exerise may be the only type of stress management you require. However, if exerise alone is not suffiient, try one of the other forms of stress management as well. Remember, regardless of your personality type or your lifestyle, you an suessfully manage stress by applying one or more of the previously disussed tehniques. Table 14.1 General Steps in Behavior Modifiation Step No. Ation 1 Identify problem. 2 Desire hange. 3 Analyze history of problem (past and urrent). 4 Establish short-term goals (written). 5 Establish long-term goals (written). 6 Sign ontrat (with friends) 7 Identify strategy for hange. 8 Start strategy and learn new oping skills to deal with problem. 9 Evaluate your progress in making behavioral hanges. Provide friends with progress reports. 10 Plan long-term maintenane for behavior hange. 28 MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR A healthy lifestyle is ahieved by eliminating unhealthy behavior; this requires behavior modifiation. Behavior modifiation is the proess of hanging an undesirable behavior to a more desirable behavior. In the next two setions, we will disuss behavior modifiation and provide speifi examples of how unhealthy behavior an be eliminated. Model for Changing Behavior The general plan to modify behavior is similar for all types of behavior modifiation (see Table 14.1). A logial starting point in eliminating unhealthy behavior is to analyze your urrent behavior and identify problem areas. Laboratory 14.2 is designed to assist you. 2 The desire to hange is the key point in any behavior modifiation plan. Without a personal desire to make lifestyle hanges, any behavior modifiation plan is doomed to fail. After identifying the problem and establishing a desire to hange a speifi behavior, the next move is to analyze the history of the problem. The objetive here is to learn what fators ontribute to the development of the Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In Laboratory 14.2 is not inluded here. behavior to be modified. Learning the ause is useful when developing a strategy for hange. The next two steps (steps 4 and 5 in Table 14.1) in the behavior modifiation plan are the development of both short- and longterm goals for behavior hange. Short-term goals establish the need for a rapid hange in behavior. Long-term goals provide the inentive required to maintain behavior hanges. The importane of goal setting in behavior modifiation annot be overemphasized. A behavior modifiation plan without goals is like a rae without a finish line. The subsequent stage in the behavior modifiation plan is to sign a behavior modifiation ontrat in the presene of friends. The purpose of signing a formal ontrat is to 32 33

8 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 8 8 APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER onfirm in writing your ommitment to a behavior hange. Having friends present during the signing of the ontrat is important. They provide moral support and enouragement during the diffiult early periods of behavior hange. The final four steps (steps 7 10) inorporate the development of a strategy for behavior hange, the learning of new oping skills, evaluation of your progress, and the planning of long-term maintenane for behavior hange. Many people who have had previous diffiulty in hanging behavior develop the attitude that some bad habits annot be hanged. This is not true! Unhealthy behaviors are learned; therefore, they an be unlearned. Speifi Behavior Modifiation Goals Let s extend our behavior modifiation model by illustrating how these plans an be applied speifially to weight loss. Losing weight and maintaining the weight loss is diffiult for many people. Clearly, the appliation of behavior modifiation priniples is essential in the weight loss proess. Although there is no single weight loss program that works for all people, the following eight omponents are ommon ingredients of most suessful efforts. 1. The individual desires to lose weight. 2. The program begins with a 2-week dietary diary that inludes the kind and amount of food eaten and the environmental and soial irumstanes. 3. Short- and long-term weight loss goals are established. 4. The individual signs a weight loss ontrat with friends. 5. The new dietary plan inludes a balaned diet that results in a negative alori balane and a fat defiit so that a loss of fat will result. Further, the addition of a regular exerise program is a key fator in any weight loss plan. 6. New oping skills for overeating inlude avoiding those environments or soial settings that promote it (suh as parties). 7. The individual evaluates weight loss progress on a weekly basis and gets positive feedbak from a support group (suh as spouse, friends, or relatives). 8. After obtaining weight loss goals, the individual makes a plan for long-term behavioral hanges that maintain the desired weight. In summary, weight ontrol is a speifi appliation of general behavior modifiation priniples. Indeed, these eight omponents inorporate most of the general behavior modifiation priniples outlined in Table Remember that the key elements in a weight ontrol program are the desire to lose weight, establishment of goals, development of a plan, and positive feedbak from peer/family support. Exerpted and adapted from Powers and Dodd, Total Fitness, 2nd ed., pp

9 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 9 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR 9 Reading Comprehension Questions Voabulary in Context Choose the best meaning of eah of the words in bold type. Use ontext lues to make your hoie. b d 1. Studies suggest that 10% to 15% of U.S. adults may be funtioning at less than optimal levels beause of stress-related illness. (paragraph 2) a. desired. average b. best possible d. steady 2. The proponents of progressive relaxation tehniques for reduing stress argue that relaxing the musles in this manner will also relax the mind and therefore relieve stress. (paragraph 16) a. dissenters. disbelievers b. favors d. advoates Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In. Central Point and Main Ideas d 3. Whih sentene is the best statement of the entral point of the passage? a. Although many behaviors affet your health, the five that are most important are: regular exerise, good nutrition, weight ontrol, stress management, and modifiation of unhealthy behaviors that inrease your risks of disease or your risk of an aident. b. Earlier hapters have foused on improving health through physial fitness, proper diet/weight ontrol, and atively reduing the risk of aner and heart disease.. This hapter expands on these strategies by introduing the onepts of stress redution and behavior modifiation aimed at reduing your risks of disease. d. Let s begin our disussion with an overview of stress management. 4. Whih sentene is the best statement of the implied entral point of paragraphs 6 through 8? a. Several types of stress exist. b. Stress affets people differently.. Some stress is healthy and neessary. d. To manage stress, one should understand the types of stress and the impat of stress on personality types.

10 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER Supporting Details 5. Whih of the following did the author offer as an example of hroni stress? a. the death of a loved one b. a series of events leading to a divore. daily job-related stress d. being a type A personality 6. The sentene in paragraph 9 Type B personalities do not generally respond greatly to stress and are onsidered to be at low risk (from a stress perspetive) for heart disease is a a. main idea.. minor supporting detail. b. major supporting detail. Thought Patterns b b a 7. The main thought pattern used to organize paragraphs 6 through 8 is a. time order.. ause and effet. b. lassifiation. d. omparison and ontrast. 8. The thought pattern used to organize paragraph 15 is a. definition and example.. ause and effet. b. time order. d. lassifiation. 9. The overall thought pattern that organizes the reading is a. ause and effet.. omparison and ontrast. b. time order. d. generalizations and example. Thought Patterns d d 10. Stress-related problems result in annual losses of billions of dollars to both business and government due to employee absenteeism and health are ost. Therefore, stress is a major health problem in the United States that affets individual lives and the eonomy as a whole. (paragraph 2) Whih thought pattern best desribes the relationship of ideas between these two sentenes? a. time order. addition b. omparison d. ause and effet 11. There are many soures of stress in everyday life. Driving in heavy traffi, being involved in an automobile aident, enountering emotional onflit at work or shool, and experiening personal finanial problems are just a few. (paragraph 5)

11 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 11 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR 11 Whih thought pattern best desribes the relationship of ideas between these two sentenes? a. time order. omparison and ontrast b. ause and effet d. generalization and examples b 12. Although there is no single weight loss program that works for all people, the following eight omponents are ommon ingredients of most suessful efforts. (paragraph 37) Whih thought pattern do you find in the relationship of ideas within this sentene? a. time order. generalization and example b. omparison and ontrast Advaned Skills Fat and Opinion a 13. Clearly, the appliation of behavior modifiation priniples is essential in the weight loss program. (paragraph 37) This sentene is a. a fat.. a mixture of fat and opinion. b. an opinion. 14. Overall, the author uses details that are a. fat.. a mixture of fat and opinion. b. opinion. Purpose and Tone Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In. b 15. Without a personal desire to make lifestyle hanges, any behavior modifiation plan is doomed to fail. (paragraph 30) What word best expresses the tone of the sentene? a. regretful. sornful b. pessimisti d. neutral 16. The author s main purpose is a. to persuade readers to apply behavior modifiation priniples to their own lives. b. to delight readers with long sought-after solutions to stress management problems.. to inform readers about ways to identify and ontrol stress.

12 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page APPENDIX B READING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER Inferenes a 17. Based on the information in paragraph 6, an example of eustress is a. the nervousness an athlete feels before a game. b. feelings of failure after losing a game.. an overwhelming sense of inseurity. d. a sense of loss suh as going through a divore or the death of a loved one. 18. Based on the information in the passage we may infer that meditation and visualization a. are religious praties that help one deal with stress. b. should be taught in publi shools to redue the health risks of stress.. may require training and pratie to master effetively. d. are automati responses to stress. Argument 19. The following group of ideas ontains a laim and supports for that laim. Write the letter of the laim in the blank. a. Short-term goals establish the need for a rapid hange in behavior. b. Long-term goals provide the inentive required to maintain behavior hanges.. The importane of goal setting in behavior modifiation annot be overemphasized. d. A behavior modifiation plan without goals is like a rae without a finish line. 20. Claim: Stress is a major health problem in the United States that affets individual lives and the eonomy as a whole. Whih statement does not support the laim? a. Studies suggest that 10% to 15% of U.S. adults may be funtioning at less than optimal levels beause of stress-related anxiety and depression. b. Millions of people take mediation for stress-related illnesses.. Stress management tehniques an redue the threat of stress. d. Stress-related problems result in annual losses of billions of dollars to both businesses and government due to employee absenteeism and health are osts.

13 HENR.546x.APPBpp /21/04 9:37 AM Page 13 STRESS MANAGEMENT AND MODIFYING UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR 13 Disussion Questions Writing Topis 1. Identify and disuss soures of stress not mentioned in the artile. 2. In what ways is eustress helpful? What are examples from your life? 3. How an meditation or visualization tehniques enhane a behavior modifiation plan? 4. Why do you think the author inluded weight ontrol as an example of how to apply a behavior modifiation plan? Identify and disuss other lifestyle hoies that ould have been inluded. 1. Identify whih of the three personality types you are and disuss the ways in whih your personality type is affeted by or auses stress in your life. 2. Identify a soure of stress and reate a stress management plan to help you redue its negative effets. 3. Write a letter to a friend or family member advising that person how to manage stress. Copyright 2005 Pearson Eduation, In.