Most people rely on numerous coping skills to handle their anxiety in stressful situations or when facing challenges in life. With these skills, they can effectively navigate, tolerate, and minimize their struggles during tough times. By managing their stress well, these individuals use their coping skills to improve psychologically and enhance their workability to achieve the best results even in difficult circumstances.
Developing Coping Skills
Yet, coping skills aren’t equally beneficial to everyone as looking for a quick fix to a problem for immediate relief may lead to more problems over time. That’s why people should establish healthy coping skills to best manage anxiety and navigate safely through stressful situations. For example, boundary setting is a great coping skill to learn, especially within relationships.
Likewise, people should practice relaxation techniques such as meditation, mindfulness, and deep breathing to clear their minds. Another way to reduce stress is through physical activity so doing regular exercises is also a must to decrease one’s stress level. Moreover, pursuing achievable goals or keeping to-do lists may provide some individuals with structure and a sense of success when overwhelmed.
5 Types of Coping Skills
Overall, there are various coping skills that people can learn and they’re split into five distinct categories. These types include problem-solving, emotion-focused, religious-coping, meaning-making, and social support. However, problem-based and emotion-focused are considered the most common types of coping skills people have. By understanding these two approaches specifically, people can choose which would work best at handling anxiety.
If the situation can be changed, it’s best to use problem-based coping skills to address the situation. For instance, someone in a bad or toxic relationship can resolve the problem and relieve stress by ending it. In contrast, people stuck in situations they can’t change would benefit from learning emotion-focused coping skills such as grieving a loved one’s passing. Ultimately, both strategies are good at effective stress management especially when they’re used properly.
Problem-Based and Emotion-Focused
Other differences between these two approaches center on how people handle their stressors personally. For problem-based coping, people practicing this strategy focus on removing stressors altogether. On the other hand, those who engage in emotion-based coping rely on obtaining the right mindset to get through a stressful ordeal.
Keep in mind that any of these coping skills can handle stress depending on the person and the specific situation causing stress. Importantly, every person should incorporate the appropriate coping strategy that works best for them in every circumstance. For example, a person can address conflicts at their workplace with problem-based strategies, while another develops emotion-based coping skills to deal with losing employment.
Religious-Coping and Meaning-Making
People who develop religious coping skills use cognitive, interpersonal, or behavioral strategies rooted in their specific religions to combat stress. Typically, those following this approach share a strong relationship with their God(s), and have higher self-esteem and spiritual support. Current research shows a difference between religious coping and secular methods of handling stress. Particularly, people using religious coping skills seek God or other religious tools to address their problem as secular coping strategies may have less access for these individuals.
Another coping strategy to learn is meaning-making, which allows people to make sense of their stress and live events, which provides clarity and understanding. When people’s core or existential beliefs are challenged and disrupted, developing meaning-making coping skills will help these individuals adjust, reducing their stress. By re-evaluating situations, they can develop a different perspective on the outcomes, lessons, and factors involved in increasing or maintaining their positive mindset. Conversely, they may revise their goals or beliefs to either be more aligned or to redefine their purpose in life.
Social Support
With social support, people can receive guidance, comfort, and assistance to overcome stressful situations. Unlike the other coping skills, people with social support don’t have to face their problems alone. Primarily, one’s support can come from various social networks, which include family, friends, colleagues, and others in similar circumstances.
Furthermore, a person’s social support can be split into four groups: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal. Emotional support provides comfort and empathy, instrumental support provides reliable and tangible assistance, informational support provides resources and advice, and appraisal support gives people feedback on the situation.
Final Thoughts
People who learn to cope well can adjust or tolerate any negative event while maintaining a positive mindset. These skills tend to develop during changes in one’s life that may be stressful to the person experiencing it. Although negative life changes such as losing a job or loved one can make people stressed, positive life changes can do so as well. In particular, positive events like someone having a child or getting married can raise their stress level because of the adaptation and preparation required.
People experience anxiety from change because they’re forced to adjust. However, too many or sporadic changes can lead to feelings of having no control, which can cause self-esteem issues in people who feel overwhelmed. What’s more? These people can develop anxiety or depression as a result of their stress and how they cope with it. In severe cases, a person’s stress can even cause or worsen various physical or psychological illnesses they have.
Disclaimer: This article is intended simply to provide information. It does not replace the medical advice of a physician or other medical professional. Please speak with your doctor or therapist if you have any questions or concerns.
