Coping Skills

Everyone goes through stress–stress is inevitable. Jobs are stressful, relationships are stressful, family is stressful, financial responsibilities are stressful. We deal with stress everyday, if our stress isn’t handled properly, it can cause health issues like high blood pressure, heart attacks, etc. If stress can be so detrimental to our health, then how do we deal with it?  We deal with it with the use of coping skills. Coping skills are a practice of personalized techniques to help calm us down in the event of stressful situations. The way one person copes with something can look completely different than another person. An example of coping skills can include: journaling, walking, breathing techniques, coloring, poetry, listening to music, etc. The key to coping skills is finding a particular activity that you actually enjoy that you’re willing to do. If you do something that you don’t like that much, that just adds to the stress instead of getting rid of it. Next time you’re really stressed out, try a coping skill instead of letting the stress get the best of you. Practicing using coping skills is a beneficial skill that will help you be able to face bigger challenges that come your way in the future.