Finding Better Ways to Cope

Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) reports that anxiety disorder is a common mental condition in the United States, impacting 40 million persons aged 18 and over, or 18.1% of the population each year.

Change can be challenging because it necessitates a constant state of adaptation and recalibration. For instance, a significant change can be seen in modern world relationships, which may take time to cope with. 

Seeing too many changes in a short amount of time can lead us to believe that we have no control over what happens. Feelings of low self-esteem, as well as anxiety or depression, may result from this belief. Physical sickness may develop or worsen when a person’s ability to cope with change is taxed beyond its reasonable limits.

A person’s mental health and well-being have a significant part in their daily lives and their ability to cope with stress and trauma. All kinds of people have different ways of dealing with negative emotions and getting back to a more positive outlook when things get tough. We are more likely to have a healthy lifestyle and greater mental health if we can learn to deal with stress and other stressors in our lives.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Coping Strategies

A coping mechanism, behavior, or coping strategy is used to shield themselves from the psychological damage that can arise from the difficulty in their life.

There are “good” and “poor” coping techniques. You may have also heard the term “good” and “unhealthy” (or “destructive”) coping methods. Psychiatrists use the terms adaptive and maladaptive to describe these behaviors.

A dysfunctional, unhealthy, or harmful coping mechanism fails to address the issue at hand and may make matters worse in the long run. Using unhealthy coping mechanisms can temporarily provide the impression that they’re working.

In contrast to dysfunctional coping methods, healthy ones help you feel better and offer you the time to reflect, accept yourself, and be nice to yourself. We all have both negative and positive coping mechanisms; therefore, our objective should be to become more cognizant of our habits and inclinations so that we can better manage them. Observing your cravings and feelings after utilizing a coping method is critical to deciding on more beneficial ways of dealing with stress.

Anxiety, stress, and anger can cause people to resort to a maladaptive coping mechanism. This can lead to an overreliance on the mechanism. Suppose a person develops a dependence on a substance, such as alcohol or any other, in the face of stressful conditions. In that case, they may end up reliant on the substance for their emotional well-being in the long run.

Healthy Coping Strategies 

Emotion-Focused

It’s all about how you feel when confronted with a difficult situation. This strategy works best in situations where you have no control over the outcome, but you can control your reaction.

Reframing 

Psychologists have long promoted cognitive reframing to reduce stress and increase feelings of control and tranquility. If you’re not already consistently utilizing this kind of stress alleviation, you might want to give it a try.

Reframing involves altering your perspective on a situation to gain a new perspective on it. It has the power to transform a tense situation into either a terrifying or a harrowing experience. As a result, it can portray a bad day as just one blip in what is an otherwise wonderful life. On the other hand, a negative incident can be viewed as a learning opportunity.

Positive Thinking 

Positive thinking generally begins with self-talk. Self-talk is the never-ending stretch of inner monologue. Positive or negative ideas are both examples of thinking patterns. Your self-talk is influenced by logic and reason. As a result of a lack of information or preconceptions about what may happen, you may engage in negative self-talk about yourself.

Your attitude on life is more likely to be pessimistic if your thoughts are mainly negative. There is a good chance you are an optimist if your thoughts are overwhelmingly optimistic.

Negative thoughts and paranoia can lead to despair and stress; thus, positive thinking is good for our mental well-being. We can think of it as a domino effect on our health. Those who have a positive outlook on life are more satisfied and content.

Meditation

Meditative practices have been around for a long time. In its original form, meditation was designed to assist people in gaining a deeper awareness of the divine and mystical energies at work in the world. Nowadays, many people turn to meditation to de-stress and unwind. For many people, meditation is a form of mind-body medicine. It is possible to achieve a calm and relaxed state of mind via the practice of meditation.

A sense of quiet, tranquility, and balance can improve your emotional well-being and overall health through meditation.

Problem-Focused

Problem-focused coping focuses on the problem that is creating the bad feelings. This type of approach works well when you have some influence over the issue at hand.

Problem-Solving

This coping strategy entails that the individual will face the problem head-on and try different approaches towards resolving the matter at hand. Remember, you can only apply this if you directly influence the stressor or incident. 

Seeking Help

Mental and emotional well-being can be negatively impacted by maladaptive coping mechanisms or having trouble using appropriate coping techniques. Anxiety, stress, and anger can cause people to resort to a maladaptive coping technique. This can lead to an overreliance on the mechanism. Suppose a person develops a dependence on a substance, such as alcohol or any other, in the face of stressful conditions. In that case, they may end up reliant on the substance for their emotional well-being in the long run. 

In many cases, a therapist or other mental health expert can assist those struggling with stress and who don’t know how to deal with it effectively. Online consultation with professionals is also possible. Any individual can consult with an online suboxone clinic. Therapy sessions may be a secure, non-judgmental place for people to explore the coping methods they use and see if they help or impede stress management. Therapists can provide both support and knowledge about coping abilities.

Final Thoughts

In a sense, it’s a process of trial and error because no two people are the same. Even if it doesn’t make sense to you at first, you should attempt it. It might not work. When dealing with particular problems or feelings, you may discover those specific coping mechanisms work well. There is always space for development when it comes to coping abilities. Then, think about how you might continue to improve your skills in the future by assessing what other tools and resources are available.

As life throws us curveballs, our ability to deal with them becomes stronger as we practice appropriate coping techniques.