In
my journey of finding what coping techniques worked for me, I spent some time
in the negative coping arena. It wasn’t one of the most proud moments in my
life, but I made it through which is all that matters to me. I had to change my
mind set to begin to accept more positive coping techniques.
Some of the generic or most known coping techniques are
exercise, reading, writing, or listening to music. These are skills I believe
college students use a lot because they are easy to do. But, in my quest to
find coping mechanisms that worked for me, those listed above weren’t enough
for me. I love to exercise so I would try to hit the gym three times a week,
but I also had dance classes every night so I had to be careful not to overdo
it. Reading was hard for me because I’ve always had a busy schedule and I couldn’t
find the time to sit down to read. I still
journal and write and it has grown on me more over the years. I make special time
to just sit down and write out all of my feelings and thoughts that have been
building up. Listening to music is always fun, but it becomes an action of everyday
life for teenagers, so it can be hard to find it as a coping technique.
After doing more research and experimenting, I’ve found some
great techniques that work for me very well. First, I love when things are organized
and clean. Whenever I feel down or stressed I will clean. Some days I would
spend all day cleaning my room. From doing laundry to vacuuming my floor and
cleaning my mirrors, I would do it all. Some days, I would even organize my
closet. Throughout most of high school, my closet was color coordinated. When I
had friends over they would notice and make a comment, but I loved it and kept
me calm. Another coping mechanism that really worked for me was when I painted
my nails or would play with different hairstyles. I would do things to pamper
myself and make myself feel good. If I had the time, I would make a whole day
out of it by taking a nice long shower, drying my hair, styling it, and
painting my nails. I would have my own low-key spa day, without spending money.
However, shopping and spending money can work as a coping mechanism as well. (Retail therapy is
REAL). There are some other little techniques I use like surrounding myself by
my best friends, laughing, and making others laugh.
My techniques may not work for you, but I suggest you give
them a try! I didn’t even realize some of the coping techniques I used would actually
help me or were even considered coping techniques.
Here are some other
techniques that have worked for me, or ones that I would like to try and
suggest you try, too:
- Play with a pet
- Watch a favorite TV show or movie
- Rip paper into little tiny pieces
- Cry it out
- Go on a walk
- Go for a really long drive
- Read the Bible
- Stretch
- Find a new music artist or listen to a different genre from what you’re used to
I hope you can try
some of these techniques. Let me know how they work out for you, so I can learn
more about how it helped you.
One important skill I didn’t mention is using God. (If you’re
a Christian that is.) It was hard for me at first to wrap my head around this
concept, and it still is at times. Rely and pray to God and He will answers
your prayers and lift your problems up from you. I only started to read my
Bible within the past year and a half, but it has helped me a lot. God loves us
more than we can ever imagine. Below is a video of a woman’s story of how was
stress and what she did to help her get through it, and how she used God to
help her.
I hope this blog post can encourage you to search and test out positive coping mechanisms that work for you.
Keep Calm & Cope On!
