1. Explain what the "Big Bear" has to do with the stress response.

The bear is a threat, potential threat, or situation that we have to face in our lives. the bear itself does not set off the stress response. It is the belief that this bear is going to inflict some pain on us, or kill us, that causes us to feel stress. We blame our release of the stress response on the bear instead of placing the responsibility of how we act squarely on our own shoulders. 2. What is the only reason that we, as humans, have the stress response as a part of our psychophysiology? As humans we have the stress response to get away from or defeat a threat that can potentially kill us or cause severe injury. 3. How much of your life do you find yourself in situations where you have to legitimately use the stress response for the only reason it is designed to help you? For the past 9 years I have found myself in the very situations that stress response was created very often. I am a Green Beret, Special Forces soldier with the United States Army. I have deployed to many locations in the world where I was faced with a threat to my life daily for extended periods of time. Over the years I have been conditioned to the military lifestyle, which is in your face, yelling, very physical in most situation to accomplish the mission, task or what ever is placed before you. I was trained to identify an enemy and then eliminate it. Remove the threat as quickly as possible and do what ever you have to do that and then prepare to engage again. Unfortunately, even the simplest tasks and situations were handled with the same mentality, aggressively and with the stress response. I have since left active duty and am now a civilian. It is startling to see the difference between my military and civilian lives in regards to legitimately using the stress response for what it is designed. I find myself never in the same type of life threatening situations in my civilian life as I had in the military. But I am still conditioned to respond quickly and violently when I feel a threat. I absolutely have not found myself in any situation where I legitimately used the stress response for what it was originally intended since I left active duty military.

4. Why is short term stress a good thing? Short term stress is a good thing because it gives us some of those added things we need like a boost in energy. For me It keeps me motivated, enhances my senses and gives me that added focus I need for a short time to help me finish a task, assignment or project.

5. Explain why stress makes all of our health problems worse. Stress response is a normal reaction to stressful situations that are life threatening or vary dangerous. When we perceive something as more stressful than it really is the stress response is harmful. Stress makes all of our health problems worse BECAUSE OF THE IMBALANCE THAT IT CREATES. Lets take someone who has arthrosclerosis. They are already dealing with a narrowing or the artery with plaque. Then lets say this person then activates the stress response. The stress response adds unneeded work to the already taxed circulatory system. With stress you will experience an increase of heart rate and vaso constriction among many others things. These responses for some one with arthrosclerosis, for example, will tax the heart even more. 6. Describe a health problem you have and explain why it is, to some extent, a result of the stress response being chronically activated. A health problem I have that is linked to the stress response being chronically activated is that I sleep very fitfully. I toss and turn through the night and I wake to the smallest noise. I have suffered from this since I was a young teenager. I think some of this comes from who I am as a person whether genetically or learned and has been enhanced by some of my experiences in the military. When I was twelve I had a paper route. I use to wake up in a panic thinking that I had overslept and was late to deliver the papers to my customers on my route. When I was being assessed and trained as a Green Beret I was watched at all times.

There were hidden cameras all over the training grounds, Special Forces assessors who would watch under night vision goggles. No matter where you went there was always someone watching you, but you never saw them. I learned to always be on my guard. On missions in combat, when the conditions were right, we were able to rotate a fireguard so some of the team could get some sleep. I never did sleep all that good, even when my buddy was on guard, because you new that the enemy was lurking. The back story to my fitful sleep is that I have a desire to always perform at my top level. My drive is so strong that I never let my guard down. I push myself to always be alert so I can achieve the greatest success. I have created stress in my life because I have unrealistic expectations of myself. The stress response has been chronically activated in my life regarding work performance, which in turn results in poor sleep. 7. Thoroughly explain why the world is not a stressful place. We create for ourselves the so-called stress that we have. In other words or perception is our reality and we perceive things as stress and are use to responding to those situations with a full stress response. The stress response is in all actuality an extreme over reaction to almost all situations. We are almost never in a situation where the full stress response is needed. When it is, and that is rare, it is only needed for a few short seconds. The truth is we rarely need to escape from a fight or flight situation. This is why the world as a whole is not a stressful place. 8. What are the three questions we can ask ourselves in any stressful situation that will immediately help us diffuse our stress? Why are these questions so powerful? Am I in danger in this situation? Can I handle this? Can I think about this situation differently? These questions are so powerful because they enable a person to pause and reflect for just a moment. Generally that moment seems to be all that one needs to keep oneself from triggering a stress response. Also if a person forgets and finds

themselves stressing over something the third question again regardless of the stress will enable anyone a moment of pause to reconsider how they are perceiving the situation. 9.Explain why an understanding of the Levels of Responding is so important in any situation in which we find ourselves. Because the answer is always no, yes, yes. We are reconditioning the mind to eliminate the thought of any threat to prevent the stress response from ever triggering. Or when we slip and activate the stress response we can pull ourselves out of it by thinking of the situation differently or altering our perception. 10.Describe a potentially "stressful" event you had recently and explain how it would have sounded in your thoughts as you could have responded in each of the levels of responding. I was short on money for tuition by 1,200 dollars this semester. Other avenues that I had lined up and was counting on fell through at the last minute. I did not know if I could get the money or if I had to potentially drop classes which would prolong graduation etc.. Am I in danger in this situation? No, I am in no physical danger I will not lose my life or limb if I do not get my tuition paid on time or if I have to drop classes. Can I handle this? Yes, I can handle this. I have gone through far worse; I have been shot at hundreds of times and walked away without a scratch. I am a smart guy I can figure this out too. I can list my resources and options and prioritize them with what would be the best and go from there. The worst-case scenario, I take out a small student loan. Most students do this anyway, and I can too, if that is what needs to happen. Can I think about this situation differently? Yes, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to live in such a wonderful country with such great opportunities to receive higher education. Success would not taste so great without opposition.

11.What are the ways that a person thinks that immediately show that he is resisting?

Complaining, a person who is resisting wishes things were happening in a different way. They want their situation to change or be different. Resisting is expressed as anger, boredom, and our perception of the speed at which the event moves through time. These are all an illustration of someone who is resisting.

12.What is the only thing over which we have total control? Why is this important to know in relation to stress management? The only thing we have total control of is what we think, emotions we feel, and how we behave. These are the only things we can directly influence all of the time. To know what we have control of is super important to know in relation to stress management because that means that I have the ability to control myself in the face every situation that comes along. I can eliminate a stress response from even happening if I apply the stress management techniques. I dont ever have to be stressed out, it is my choice.