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7. Practicing Coping Mechanism Tools that Softens or Buffers our Fast Pace Life

With the ongoing pandemic, it becomes more than essential to develop healthy mechanisms to help cope with the turmoil in a healthy way. Arpita Bhandari, Life Strategist, Transformational Facilitator and Founder of Arpita B Design Studio explains the various ways of coping mechanism for you.

According to Carver (2013): “Coping is efforts to prevent or diminish threat, harm, and loss, or to reduce the distress that is often associated with those experiences.” As humans, we are required to cope in times of severe adversity to mild stress levels. Coping is how we survive. Coping can be either healthy or unhealthy in nature. By choosing to practice healthy coping mechanisms, one overcomes challenges head on and progresses in life, whereas, using unhealthy coping mechanisms is detrimental to growth and can also prove to worsen the situation.

Coping mechanisms in psychology is understood as “an adaptation to environmental stress that is based on conscious or unconscious choice and that enhances control over behavior or gives psychological comfort”

Several coping mechanisms that an individual chooses to cope with is also a reflection of the subconscious mind. The cumulative experience since childhood encourages us to develop our core beliefs and the nature of our coping mechanisms. It’s essential we pay attention to our repressed emotions and thoughts hence choosing healthy coping mechanisms.

Our mind and body has a way of bringing it to our notice when it’s suffering. It is our job to ensure that we use healthy coping mechanisms to cope and deal with adversity in an ideal way. With the fast pace of life and in the hurry to catch up with those around us, we tend to neglect the needs of our mind and body which invites a lot of health and mental health issues. Using a healthy coping mechanism invites peace of mind and growth.

Understanding types of coping styles

Coping styles can be Problem oriented; Problem-oriented coping strategies are typically concerned with methods of dealing with the problem in order to reduce stress or Emotion-oriented; these are strategies that can help people handle any amount of negative emotions that result from the problem. Few coping methods are not effective for a long-term period. These ineffective coping mechanisms, which are often proven to be counterproductive are known as unhealthy or maladaptive coping. On the contrary, adaptive coping mechanisms are those considered to be healthy in nature and prove to be effective ways of managing stressful situations. The use of effective coping skills can often help improve mental and emotional well-being. Individuals who are able to adjust to stressful situations and its aftermath through healthy coping mechanisms are less likely to experience mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and other concerns as a result of traumatic events.

Types of coping mechanisms

There are several kinds of coping mechanisms, to name a few;

? Relaxation: Relaxing activities can help cope with stress. Relaxing activities may include practicing meditation, calming techniques, sitting in nature, or listening to music. It’s subjective in nature.

? Solving problem: This coping mechanism involves identifying a problem that is causing stress and then developing strategies and putting them into fruitful action with potential solutions for effectively managing it.

? Physical activity: Exercise can serve as a natural and healthy form of stress relief. Running, yoga, swimming, walking, dance, and many other types of physical activity can help people cope with stress.

? Seeking support: Talking about a stressful event and asking for support from a supportive person or close friend can effectively reduce stress. Seeking external support instead of self-isolating and internalizing the effects of stress can greatly reduce the negative effects of a difficult situation.

We must be mindful of the needs of our mind and body and ensure we have made use of the resources provided to us by nature and utilize it to remain healthy and peaceful.