Coping Strategies and Techniques

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"Scientists can see how resilient brains respond to emotion differently, found Martin Paulus, scientific director and president of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Okla." "Paulus says that in his research he has seen differences in the brains of people with anxiety or depression that suggest they have a hard time letting go of emotions and are often too engaged in emotional processes." "And just like working your biceps or your abs, say experts, training your brain can build up strength in the right places-and at the right times-too." Excerpts from "Bounce Back" by Mandy Oaklander. TIme Magazine, Frontiers of Medicine, June 1, 2015

Maintain Your General Health

Taking care of your body is an important first step toward mental and emotional health. Below is a list of ways to improve your physical health: 

• Get enough rest
• Practice good nutrition
• Stay hydrated
• Exercise
• Get a dose of sunlight every day

"What's more, scientists have identified at least a dozen ways that people can up their resilience game, which Charney and Southwick detail in their 2012 book, Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges, to be updated this year with reams of new research on the topic. 'For resilience, there's not one prescription that works,' Charney says. 'You have to find what works for you.' So far, researchers have found that facing the things that scare you relaxes the fear circuitry, making that a good first step in building resilience. They have also found that developing an ethical code to guide daily decisions can help. Studies have shown that traits scientists once thought of as nice but unnecessary-like having a strong network of social support-are critical to resilience." Excerpts from "Bounce Back" by Mandy Oaklander. TIme Magazine, Frontiers of Medicine, June 1, 2015

 

Engage in Regular Physical Activity

Many activities have been shown to reduce stress whether it involves team sports, group activities, or individual activity. Find a way to squeeze some regular activity into your day. Consider:

• Jogging
• Hiking
• Walking
• Biking
• Gardening
• Dancing
• Yoga
• Tai chi
• Stretching

Engage in Regular Mental Activities That Reduce Stress

• Take a break and do something that is fun and creative - write, draw, paint, doodle
• Practice conscious relaxation. Lie or sit in a comfortable place, close your eyes, and concentrate on letting all of your muscles go limp. Focus your mind on a pleasant, peaceful place
• Practice mindfulness - Focus on the positive aspects of your environment. Actively look for beauty and complexity; focus on specific things to fully appreciate their detail and intricacy. Reflect on your day. Neuroscientists have found that training people in mindfulness actually changes the brain, as demonstrated with imaging techniques, to make it more similar to that of resilient people.
• Try guided imagery, a program of directed thoughts and suggestions that guide your imagination toward a relaxed, focused state. For example, imagine an orange in great detail - how it smells, its color, the texture of its peel, etc. See yourself taking a bite of the orange and imagine the juice squirting into your mouth. There are tapes and scripts that can help you with this method.
• Meditate
• Read a novel
• Play a musical instrument
• Practice deep abdominal breathing
• Try using Chinese tranquility balls (Link to more on tranquility balls)
• "Finger walk" through a Cretan labyrinth like the one shown below. Trace the path with your finger. Create your own labyrinth.

 

More Advice on Reducing Stress

 

From: "Worried? You're Not Alone" by Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, May 9, 2016 Link to full article   ...some coping strategies: Divide and conquer Try to come up with a solution to a worrisome problem by breaking it down into four parts: defining the problem, clarifying your goals, generating solutions and experimenting with solutions. Grab a pen and paper and brainstorm, the report suggests. Studies have shown this approach can help ease depression and anxiety. Practice mindfulness Choose a routine activity or part of the day and try to experience it fully. Set aside concerns, and try to be "in the moment." Schedule a worry session Pick a designated time of day to mull your problems. If a worrying thought enters your mind outside of your scheduled worry session, jot it down so you can think about it during your scheduled worry time. Then get back to your day. Practice accepting uncertainty .Notice your thoughts and label them (as in, "there is the thought that I can't manage"). Let go of tension in your body; soften your forehead, drop your shoulders and relax your grip.

Maintain and Connect with Your Social Support Network

A personal support network is essential for building and maintaining your resilience. You need to build and maintain relationships with family members, friends, peers, and co-workers. Encouragement and support from these relationships is extremely effective in helping you work through stressful periods. Your peers can be a vitally important component of your support network, because they are likely to be experiencing similar stresses. Consequently, they are able to validate your feeling, empathize, and perhaps provide good advice as to how to deal with specific problems and situations.

Peer Support Groups

You might consider establishing your own peer support groups in a way that is best suited to the time and space limitations of you and your peers.

The following information on Peer Support and Education is adapted from http://www.newhealthpartnerships.org

 

Today there are support groups for any number of things: caregivers, dieting, exercise, grief, illnesses, mental health, etc. What these groups have in common is that they consist of people who share a common experience. Peer support can be informal or more organized with regular meetings. The key thing is for the support group to focus on listening to and supporting one another and sharing information and advice.

Peer support helps in at least four ways.

1. Emotional support
2. Practical advice
3. Practical help - like an exercise partner or a ride to the doctor
4. Increased confidence from seeing others like you succeed at self-care

And it is a two-way street, meaning that you provide support, advice, and information as well as receiving it. You can provide peer support as well as receive it.

 

The key skills to providing peer support are:

• Listening is often the best help we can give.
• Sharing your knowledge, your techniques for emotional resilience and coping techniques; telling others how you got through similar problems will give them hope and ideas.
• Giving advice, although this should usually be kept to a minimum. What worked for you might not work for them. But you can present ideas for them to check out.
• Sharing information. Group members may know of books, web sites, articles, or other resources that may be helpful. Or peers may be able to suggest specific people or agencies that may be useful in solving problems or reducing stress.
• Working together to provide mutual support

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