Now, that hopefully, I have made you stressed out about getting stressed out, let's talk about how to de-stress. How do you think we can de-stress? I'm going to share with you some suggested remedies. These are the remedies that probably come to your mind the moment I tell you that let's work on stress. Let's become less stressed. Foods. For sure, foods that are rich in glutamine, vitamin C, serotonin, magnesium, potassium, calcium, they're good. They can actually work on symptoms of stress. We are going to talk about that. Supplements, science not inclusive. I have listed some supplements here. But these supplements really don't work on your stress. What they do is that they may alleviate the symptoms. If you have anxiety and you take St. John's wort, it may help you. I said may because the science is not conclusive. Alternative medicine, acupuncture massage therapy. Yes, they definitely alleviate the signs and symptoms of stress. When I get stressed out and I feel like I'm going to have anxiety, this is what I do. I get acupuncture and if I have time try to also get a massage. These are the things that can definitely work on the symptoms. Relaxation techniques which are free: Meditation, exercise, yoga, Tai Chi. Some people resort to pharmaceuticals because they think that if they have depression and if they have anxiety, they can take that pharmaceutical to deal with their stress. You're not dealing with your stress. They only target the symptoms and not the cause. I am going to just make a little side note here. When I talk about anxiety and depression induced by stress, I am not talking about clinical anxiety and depression. We do have students who have clinical depression. Their serotonin is low, their dopamine is low. Those students are candidates for pharmaceuticals. I'm not talking about those students. We do have a great mental health service on this campus and you're expanding it. Who would address that? But I'm talking about the stress that all of us experience every day that can result in some of the mental health issues that I mentioned. These are suggested popular remedies. But really the best remedy when it comes to stress is your lifestyle and your mindset. This is what we are going to talk about. De-stressors, what do you guys do to de-stress? This is a very quiet class. Come on. Yes. Go to the movies. Go to a movie. Perfect. Yes. Hang out with friends Hang out with friends. Great. What else? Yes. Spend time with family Spend time with family. Fantastic. What else? Yes. I like to clean You clean. What is your name? Winston. Winston. Winston doesn't like it when people walk next to each other and he cleans. Very good. What else? Yes. I paint. You paint. What is your name? Valentine. Dalton. Valentine. Valentine. I knew your name. You said it last time. She paints. There are a number of ways that we can de-stress. But what you're going to do right now is to find out not just how to de-stress, but why we are stressed and what to do to de-stress? One of the reasons that we get stressed out is that you are frequently late. How many of you have experienced that you had an appointment and you were late or you're late to the class. You are late to the class, you miss the attendance. That's one point. You're already a B. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? How could you have prevented being late? I'm sorry? Manage your time. If you have too much on your plate, remove those things. I often talk to my students in my office, especially during office hours, who I can feel their stress. One of the questions I ask them is how many activities are you involved with on campus? When they start talking, I get dizzy. Because it's just like too many. I can't even keep up with the list. Manage your time, eliminate some of those activities. Often angry or irritated, cognitive distortion. If we had time, in the mindfulness lecture, we will talk more about cognitive distortion. Unsure of your ability to do something, get help. Get help. How many of you refer to YouTube, not just for entertainment, but also to find answers. You can find great resources. Overextended? Prioritize. This is very important. Once I paid, I don't remember how much I paid, but it wasn't cheap to attend a workshop on time management. This is pretty much what I left that workshop with. Two days of being in the workshop, I walked away learning that I need to prioritize. Make a list. I got into the habit of every Sunday night before I go to bed, I look at my week and I make a list and I prioritize. If I have a grant deadline, if I have a deadline to make slides, that is probably the number one priority. But I write everything on that list. I even write sending emails to so and so and so because they are sitting in my inbox. Make a list and prioritize. Not enough time for stress relief? This is a easy one. Make time. How many of you walk in [inaudible] or around campus when you're stressed out? Great. No one. Andrew does. Just walk. If you're stressed out, rather than running into the library or a study group, just walk. Walk and take deep breaths. You know what's another problem? We don't breathe. We don't take deep breaths. We just don't do that. Frequently feel pessimistic? Learn optimism and gratefulness. Last year I presented a very interesting statistic in my class that was done by United Nation, and United Nation had this data published I don't know when. A few years ago, I don't know the exact year, but you can find it on their website. They refer to planet Earth as a village. They said, "In this village, there are 100 people. The population is 100." Then they started saying, "If you have this, you're in the top five percent." They started by saying that if you have a house, if you have a roof on your head, and you don't have to worry about being bombed or being killed when you leave your house, you're in the top, I don't remember the exact number, 25 percent. If you have food, you are in the top 10 percent. If you have a computer, you are in the top one percent." If you do the math based on what UN did, all of us in this room, are in the top 0.1 percent, maybe even less. If we pay attention to our surroundings, to what we have, we have a lot to be grateful for, and we have a lot to be optimistic. I understand that having an exam, financial problems because you have to constantly worry about your tuition, they're not easy matters. We have food insecurity on campus. We have students who by the end of the month when they run out of financial aid, don't have money to buy food. So I get that. But we have to sometimes really train ourselves, not sometimes, always, to really focus on the positive and to be optimistic. Burned out? Self-nurture. Being burned out has become almost fashionable on college campuses. "Oh, I'm burned out." Every time I talk to a student, I say, "How are you doing?" Their first answer, "Oh, Dr. Jafari, I'm so stressed." It's almost like this is the first comment on boards. Self-nurture and take care of yourself. Feeling lonely? I was shocked when I learned that social isolation is another epidemic that we have at UCI and other college campuses. It's not unique to this campus. Connect. When you go to these student society meetings, activities, try to connect with people. Some of you said that when you are stressed out, you hang out with your friends and your family. Because that is a way to de-stress. What else can you do to de-stress? I listed a few. Here are some techniques and modalities that I'm recommending. But what else can you do to de-stress that we didn't talk about? If you tell me that this is a great list, you make my day, but I'm sure we can add more. So what else can we do to de-stress? Paint. Yes. I am so glad you said that. What is your name? Emily. Emily. Emily said sleep. The reason that I don't have sleep here is that we have a full lecture. We have a full class dedicated to sleep. Yes, sleeping is very helpful. Andrew. Taking naps. Very good. I have this rule in my pharmacology class, not this class. I'm sorry, guys, 50 minutes is not a lot, that if students are tired, they should put their head down and take a nap. Once one student started snoring, which was very interesting, but he slept for half an hour. It was not a short nap. Take naps. If you are tired, find a bench, go to the library. When I was in graduate school, I was known to go to the library just to take naps. Because the moment I was in the library I would fall asleep. I could never study in a library. A library had that impact on me. What else? What I'm going to ask you to do, here is your practice. Because next week in the beginning of the class, this is what you're going to do. Guys, I still have two more minutes, so let me finish. You're going to pay attention to your body and what stresses you. You're going to make a list of stressors in your life, and I want you to practice just one de-stressing technique. Not 10, one. Choose one and practice that for one week.
