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:

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  File  Print  Quit  Help                      File: STRESSOR  │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
│                                                               │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────┬──────┤
│ F1 = Menu    Move Highlight  Enter=Select Item │ TIME  │ DATE │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────┴──────┘

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.


       ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐
       │         STRESSOR INFORMATION CARD         │
       │      Stressor:                            │
       │ Classification:                           │
       │      Priority:                            │
       │    Begin Date:                            │
       │      End Date:                            │
       ├───────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │                DESCRIPTION                │
       ├───────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │                                           │
       │                                           │
       │                                           │
       └───────────────────────────────────────────┘



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:


┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Period: 11/18/89 - 02/17/90            STRESSOR:  Finances    │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ░░............................................................│
│ ░░░░░.........................░░..............................│
│ B░░░░░.░░.░░░.................░░.............................B│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░.................░░..............................│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░............░░..............................│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░.......░░..............................│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░......░░..............................│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░...│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
│ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
│ FREQUENCY                WEEKS            B....B = BASELINE   │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────┬──────┤
│ Self-Health Systems Stress Management Software │ TIME  │ DATE │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────┴──────┘


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.

