Healthy Coping

No matter how healthy and strong-willed a person is, there will be a time in everybody’s life when they will need to cope with something difficult. Some ways we cope are healthy and build resilience, while others simply help us avoid the real problems or encourage destructive behaviors. Mental health symptoms can begin with stress triggering chemicals in the brain. Coping skills are methods to deal with stressful situations. The goal is to reduce stress and restore the chemical balance in the brain.

Negative Coping Skills
Meditation & Relations Techniques
Build Confidence

Coping is not numbing feelings. Numbing is actively doing something in an effort to avoid feeling discomfort. Negative coping actions offer only temporary relief, if any. Ignoring or covering up how you feel does not solve the problem, and the next time it happens, you will still have no way of dealing with it.

Examples of negative coping:

Drugs
Excessive alcohol
Self-mutilation
Ignoring or bottling up feelings
Taking sedatives
Taking stimulants
Over working
Avoiding your problems
Denial

Having time to yourself
Physical activity or exercise
Reading
Spending time with friends
Finding humor
Spending time on your hobbies
Spirituality
Quality time with your pets
Getting a good night’s sleep

Accept compliments when they are given to you
Be sure to make time for your loved ones
Give support to others when needed and accept support from others when needed
Create and stick to a realistic budget
Volunteer in your community
Find ways to manage your stress on a regular basis
Share your burdens with others, especially those who have been through the same things
Identify and address your shifting moods
Learn how to be at peace with yourself