For Patient Education ...

This booklet was written for teens to define stress, its affects on the body and how to cope with it.

It begins with emphasizing that stress is a natural part of life and that there is both good stress and bad stress. It helps the reader determine his or her tolerance for stress, the recognition of symptoms of stress, and creating a plan to deal with it.

The features and benefits of this booklet include:

• Tips for identifying symptoms and coping with stress
• Guidelines on sleep, time management, positive thinking, relaxation, nutrition and exercise
• Checklist and space for creating lists of priorities and a stress plan
• Full-color illustration
• Assurance — it's used by Mayo Clinic in the care and treatment of its patients
• Proven track record in use with patients
• A product created by Mayo Clinic physicians in collaboration with professional health care educators, writers and illustrators

Benefits of This Booklet to Your Patient

Stress is a normal part of life. But it can be particularly burdensome to a teenager who must cope with school, parents, developing social networks and other aspects of maturing. It's important for your patient to recognize when stress goes beyond therapeutically accepted levels and how to cope with it. This booklet will help them recognize the danger signs of too much stress and offers clinically proven advice on how to cope with and manage it.

The booklet describes the nature of stress, how different people have different levels of tolerance for it and other useful background. It then invites the reader to take a self-assessment test to determine his or her stress level by providing a checklist of triggers and asks that top stressors be identified from within the list.

The checklist indicates several behaviors and emotional risk factors that are of most concern. The reader is urged to discuss these stressors with the health care provider, family or other trusted adult.

Once a self-assessment is made, the reader is then provided with guidance on how to develop an action plan to bring stress under control. The checklist, tips and guidelines are provided to assist in this process. The end result is a de-stress plan tailored to the needs of your patient.

Help your patient live a more stress-free and overall healthier life. Bring them the answers based on clinically proven techniques that are exhibited in the booklet.

When you purchase Mayo Clinic patient education materials, proceeds are used to further medical education and research at Mayo Clinic. You not only get the answers to your questions, you become part of the solution.

Patients should review this educational material with their physicians to ensure it is consistent with a medically approved treatment plan. Pharmaceutical and medical device companies that wish to use this material in conjunction with an educational program must contact Mayo Clinic for approval. Mayo Clinic does not sponsor or endorse third party products and/or services.