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Managing Anxiety and Stress

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Managing Anxiety and Stress

Explore the scenarios and strategies without sharing anything you would rather keep private. There is no need to describe your own mental health. If a topic brings up difficult feelings, pause and talk with a trusted adult or health professional. In Aotearoa New Zealand, you can call or text 1737 any time to talk with a trained counsellor.

Understand the response

Stress and anxiety can overlap, and both can affect thoughts, feelings and the body. Stress is often linked to a demand or challenge; anxiety can continue when a threat is uncertain or has passed. Neither response is a personal failing.

1.At the kite festival, Rawiri feels tense about giving a short announcement in ten minutes. Later, after the announcement is over, he keeps replaying it and worrying that everyone judged him. Identify which part is more clearly linked to an immediate stressor and which part sounds more like ongoing anxiety. Explain briefly.

2.Hemi notices a racing heart, sweaty palms and difficulty concentrating before the festival’s kite-flying demonstration. Which conclusion is most accurate?

These can be signs of the body’s stress or anxiety response, but they do not prove a particular diagnosis.
They prove Hemi is pretending to feel nervous.
They mean Hemi must avoid all future public activities.
They are signs that stress is always harmful.

3.Kahu thinks, “If my kite display has one mistake, the whole festival will be a disaster.” Name the unhelpful thinking pattern and rewrite the thought in a more balanced way.

Choose a useful response

Different strategies suit different situations. A coping tool may lower distress or help someone take a manageable next step; it does not have to remove every anxious feeling.

4.Match each festival situation with the most useful first step. Each strategy is used once.

A. Rawiri has several preparation tasks and feels overwhelmed.
B. Hemi feels keyed up while waiting to speak.
C. Kahu has been missing activities because of persistent fear of being judged.
D. Someone feels restless the evening before an early start.

3. Talk with a trusted adult, counsellor or health professional about support.
1. Break the work into smaller steps and choose one to start.
4. Use a calming wind-down routine and reduce late-night stimulation.
2. Try a slow, comfortable breath and notice a few things around him.

5.Write a short sequence Hemi could try while waiting to make the festival announcement. Include one grounding action and one breathing or body-based action. Keep the steps realistic and optional.

6.For each response, label it helpful, unhelpful or depends, then give a brief reason: (a) making a simple plan for a task; (b) avoiding every activity that causes nervousness; (c) asking a trusted person for support.

Support and next steps

Coping skills are not a substitute for professional care when anxiety or stress is persistent, intense or interfering with everyday life. Reaching out is a practical step, not a failure.

7.Kahu has been feeling anxious most days for several weeks. It is affecting sleep and making it hard to join activities. What is a sensible next step, and who could Kahu approach?

8.A friend says, “I feel so overwhelmed I don’t know if I can keep myself safe.” What is the best response?

Promise to keep it secret and wait to see what happens.
Listen calmly, stay with them if it is safe, and get help from a trusted adult or emergency support now.
Tell them they are overreacting and should just breathe.
Leave them alone so they can sort it out privately.

9.Create a fictional or general three-step plan for someone who notices stress building before a busy event: (1) a sign they might notice, (2) one coping action, and (3) one person or service they could contact if the feeling persists. You do not need to write about yourself.