Coping with stress
Coping strategies are things you can do (either physically or mentally) to reduce your stress. They’re also generalized, so not solutions to the problem you’re experiencing, but something to make you feel less stressed.
There are more coping strategies out there than we’d ever be able to list, but the first step is learning which coping strategies work best for you. The simplest answer is that it should be a relaxing activity that you enjoy, but what about if boxing helps relieve stress?… that’s not so calm or relaxed. What about if you enjoy drugs?… what would be so bad about that? What about if painting calms you down, but bores you to tears?
The long answer is that coping strategies aren’t perfect, but there are qualities about an activity that may make it better. Don’t panic if your strategies don’t score well on all these qualities… maybe you just need to tweak what you do to make it healthier or more interesting. It helps to keep an open mind and to try new coping strategies if you find that the ones you have aren’t satisfying.
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- If your coping strategy is healthy, it will be good for both your body. Healthy coping won’t be damaging to your health, taken in moderation. You might get the occasional black eye from boxing, but training hard can be good exercise.
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- If your coping strategy is nurturing, it will feel loving ♥… Something you do because you care about yourself. Much like healthy implies good for the body, nurturing implies good for your feelings - something that doesn’t punish your self-esteem.
- If your coping strategy is effective, you will feel more relaxed, calmer or soothed afterward, even if you were excited while you were doing it. You should have fewer signs of stress when you’re done.
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- If your coping strategy is engaging, you will want to do it and will be interesting enough that you’ll want to continue. If you’re bored or even annoyed by having to do it, it will probably be hard to motivate yourself to keep doing it.
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- If your coping strategy is limited, you’ll only use it in moderation and you’re not using it to avoid life. The goal of these strategies should be to feel better so that you can get back to living!