No matter how great your life may be, you will eventually deal with disappointments, setbacks, failures, and even loss and trauma. Show
Everyone must face difficult situations, and everyone must come up with effective ways to deal with and bounce back from these situations. This is why coping mechanisms are a vital part of human behavior; they are necessary for successfully navigating through the challenging and often murky obstacle course that is life. Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Resilience Exercises for free. These engaging, science-based exercises will help you to effectively cope with difficult circumstances and give you the tools to improve the resilience of your clients, students, or employees. What Is Coping? A Working DefinitionYou likely already have an idea of what coping is – it’s a common concept in the general public. However, like most concepts and constructs, there is a definition of coping as it is understood in psychological literature that you may not know. According to Carver (2013):
This is a good start, although to fully understand coping we probably need to expand what we think of as “threats.” In the case of coping, threats are not the only situations in which we are in physical danger, but also situations in which a piece of our self is in danger. The ego is frequently the piece in danger, along with our sense of self, our very identity, our worldview, and our inner beliefs or faith (Markus & Herzog, 1991). These threats manifest in a wide range of situations, from dealing with a romantic rejection to dealing with the loss of your spouse. The more serious the threat, the more effective the coping must be. Renowned stress and coping researcher Richard Lazarus works off of a slightly different definition of coping:
(Folkman & Lazarus, 1985, p. 152) This definition of coping is a more comfortable one for psychologists. Instead of unpacking the concept of “threats,” we can simply view coping as something that follows a stressful, or “troubled” situation. Taking elements from both definitions, we can use the following common understanding of coping:
The internal/external distinction is an important one to make. Sometimes we need to cope with things that happen to us, and other times we must cope with things that happen within us. Some events may require us to deal with both internal and external demands. For example, losing your job would be an external demand. Something difficult or stressful has happened to you, and you find ways to cope with the challenges that losing your job brings. On the other hand, dealing with depression would be an internal demand. While there is no traumatic external event to deal with, you have to address the internal challenges presented by depression. Luckily, coping skills are generally not segregated by internal vs. external demands. Good coping skills can cover a wide range of challenges! One last thing to note about coping skills or coping mechanisms: they are not the same thing as defense mechanisms. Coping mechanisms are used to manage or deal with stress, while defense mechanisms are generally unconscious processes that people are unaware they are using (Cramer, 2015). For example, projection is a defense mechanism that involves seeing unsavory aspects of yourself in others. Types of Coping SkillsSpeaking of coping skills, there are a few things to note before we move on to the actual skills you can use to deal with life’s challenges.Not all coping skills are created equally! One of the distinctions between different kinds of coping skills is based on your main focus or main concern during coping. There are two coping strategies based on the different areas of focus (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984):
It may seem like the emotion-focused strategy is simply ignoring the problem, but this strategy is an important one. Sometimes we are not able to change our situation or influence the problem we are experiencing, and in these cases, it is essential to focus on what we can control – ourselves. Another important distinction between coping styles is the goal that is being worked towards. The two coping styles based on goal are (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993):
In this case, active coping is clearly the better strategy. However, there may be situations where avoidant coping is helpful. It certainly helps the person deal with their stress in the short term, and can be a good choice if the person is at risk of being completely overwhelmed. In the long term, avoidant coping will never be the best strategy for effectively dealing with stress. Coping methods like avoidant coping may work for a time, but eventually, they will become counterproductive or produce unintended consequences. In addition to the previously noted distinctions, you can categorize different kinds of coping mechanisms by type (Changing Minds, n.d.):
Finally, the most important distinction between coping mechanisms or styles is simply whether they are healthy or unhealthy. Unhealthy CopingUnhealthy coping can fall into any of the categories or groups noted above, although unhealthy coping tends to fall into the avoidant category and the attack, avoidance, defense, or self-harm groups.In general, unhealthy coping will actually create stress or anxiety and damage self-confidence (Dag, Yigitoglu, Aksakal, & Kavlak, 2015; Pirutinsky, Rosmarin, Pargament, & Midlarsky, 2011). The website Changing Minds (n.d.) lists many coping styles and methods that are generally unhealthy or can be unhealthy, including:
These mechanisms may manifest as many different activities that do not contribute to the healthy and effective management of one’s problems. Some of these methods manifest in unhealthy habits like (Healthwise, 2019):
Other unhealthy coping methods may be acted out through (Boyes, 2013):
Finally, this web page on coping and student success lists some of the other ways people may cope in destructive ways (Anspaugh, Hamrick, & Rosato, 1997):
These coping mechanisms are all distinct ways to deal with one’s problems, but they all result in added stress, pain, or difficulty. Some of them may help in the short-term, but practiced over a long period of time, they will not help the individual effectively deal with their problems or reduce their stress. Positive CopingOn the flip side, positive coping refers to coping styles or mechanisms that result in less stress, increased wellbeing, and effective handling of one’s problems. Often, positive coping involves changing one’s perspective or reframing the situation to view it as an opportunity instead of a problem (Changing Minds, n.d.). Positive coping generally requires a certain level of maturity and an ability to accept one’s own faults without resorting to self-blame. It is possible to come out of stressful and difficult situations with greater ability to deal with stress and enhanced capacity for turning the negative into the positive – and positive coping is how this can be accomplished. Positive coping styles include:
Mechanisms that can contribute to this positive coping include:
Not all of these mechanisms are necessarily positive, but they can be used in either positive or negative ways, and using them in positive ways may result in effective coping and personal growth. Healthy Coping Mechanisms and ToolsYou may be looking at these coping methods and styles and thinking, “But how do I translate these into activities that actually relieve stress?”Luckily, there are many ways to put these methods and styles for effective use. A great source of positive coping ideas comes from this web page dedicated to student success, which includes learning how to positively and effectively cope. Positive coping activities include (Anspaugh, Hamrick, & Rosato, 1997):
In addition to these positive coping mechanisms, self-care is a valuable method of coping with stress. There are many ways to practice self-care, but some of the most popular types of self-care activities include (Markway, 2014):
Finally, this list of positive coping strategies from ReachOut (n.d.) includes some great ways to deal with stress, especially stress relating to mental health issues:
While this section has provided dozens of different ways to positively cope with your problems, it is hardly an exhaustive list. You know yourself better than anyone else could, and you know what activities or practices would help you when you’re feeling overwhelmed or especially blue. Maybe you enjoy working out, in which case there are dozens of different ways to work on your fitness. Perhaps you are more of an intellectual type – luckily, there are more books in the world than anyone could read in a hundred lifetimes. If you’re a social butterfly, try any number of activities that are done in groups. There are nearly infinite ways to help you deal with your stress and pain, it’s simply a matter of finding which ones work for you, and in which situations they are most effective. A Take-Home MessageIn this piece, we defined coping, described different kinds of coping styles and methods, and listed dozens of examples of ways to positively address your stress. My hope is that at least a few of these coping mechanisms are new additions to your coping skill repertoire. While dealing with stress, pain, and suffering is unavoidable in this life, being dragged down by these situations is not. Believe in your own ability to deal with stress, give a couple of these coping mechanisms a try, and see if you can turn a negative situation into an opportunity for positive growth. What are your thoughts on coping? Did we miss any valuable coping mechanisms? Which ones work best for you? Let us know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy coping! We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our 3 Resilience Exercises for free.
What are the efforts to control reduce or tolerate threats that lead to stress?Coping refers to “cognitive and behavioral efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the internal and/or external demands that are created by the stressful transaction” (Folkman, 1984, p.
What is the term used to describe when individuals use strategies like changes in behavior to reduce stress?Coping is defined as what people do to try to minimize stress and is commonly seen in health psychology as problem-focused, that is, directed at reducing the threats and losses of the illness, or emotion-focused, namely directed at reducing the negative emotional consequences.
What is the meaning of coping strategies?Coping strategies are the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that you use to adjust to the changes that occur in your life. Coping Styles. 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.
What is the term used to describe when individuals use strategies like changes in behavior to reduce stress quizlet?What is the term used to describe when individuals use strategies like changes in behavior to reduce stress? modifiable. Denial is one of several _______________ mechanisms that help people avoid dealing with their problems.
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