Why use coping skills

For example, I often wrote in a journal which explained when I was feeling sad, happy, alone, depressed, joyful, excited, and so forth. This allowed me to see what was causing me to feel a certain way, and made it easier to understand why I reacted the way I did. Once being able to recognize my emotions, I was able to pick activities that could help regulate my mood and provide enjoyment.

I am very creative and love to look at pictures and listen to music. By identifying my interests I could tailor coping mechanisms that could calm me down and make me happy. Whenever I would feel alone or depressed, I would grab my camera and go take pictures of whatever I saw. In addition, I learned how to play the guitar and continuously found songs to learn whenever I felt my mood fluctuate. By being able to find healthy and positive ways to deal with stressors and trauma, my mental health and well being is stronger than ever.

Emotion-focused are coping skills where you need to take care of your emotional well-being. For example, you are in pain because you had a death in the family. The fact cannot be changed, it can cause you to stress, but all you can do is to deal with the situation with healthy emotional coping methods. If it makes you feel better, read a book, meditate, pray, or exercise. Problem-solving coping skills focus on what you can change or do to solve the problem.

For example, you have a colleague that causes you so much stress at work. Is there something you can do? You can suggest conflict resolution at work, brainstorm solutions with your other colleagues, talk to your boss or talk to Human Resources. If there are ways to solve your problems, do so. If there are solutions to deal with a problem, do so. We find temporary comfort in engaging ourselves in unhealthy coping skills. We find solstice in unhealthy coping skills because it numbs our pain.

But at the end of the day, does it really resolve our problems? Does it take away the stress? Examples of unhealthy coping skills are substance abuse, overeating, sleeping too much, or avoiding confronting our problems. Just come to think of it, many people go to the bar to drink away their problems. The next day you wake up with a terrible hangover, then what happens?

You slept, and you wake up with the same burden on your shoulders. It may lead to depression, anxiety attacks, substance abuse, and increased stress levels. Being proactive means being ready for what may happen in the future. For example, your child is taking the GED test a few months from now. You foresee that this can be a cause for stress for you and your kid, and this may cause nights of anxiety. What do you do? Take time to prepare or establish a studying schedule for your kid.

Life stressors are often described as negative events the death of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce, etc. Coping strategies are the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that you use to adjust to the changes that occur in your life. There are many coping styles that people use, and some may prove more effective than others, depending on the nature of the stressful situation and the person who is employing them.

Ineffective coping mechanisms, also referred to as maladaptive coping, may also be applied to stressful events or internal conflict, often unconsciously. Maladaptive coping mechanisms are counterproductive. Among researchers, coping styles are commonly assigned broad categories that draw distinctions between methods. For example, instrumental coping referred to as problem-solving focuses on ways to tackle the issue in order to reduce stress around a given situation, while emotion-focused coping gathers tools to nurture one's emotional health during the stressful period.

Additionally, coping is identified as being either active or avoidant. Active coping strategies involve an awareness of the stressor, followed by attempts to reduce the negative outcome. By contrast, avoidant coping is characterized by ignoring the issue, often resulting in activities that aid in the denial of the problem e.

Now that we've examined common styles of coping, let us take a look at specific coping strategies:. Take the first step toward help and make the call now.