Misconceptions In The Coping Brain

How does the brain cope? There are several methods in which the brain can cope in different situations. There are three parts of the coping brain: reptilian (survival), thinking (neocortex), and emotional (mammalian). The reptilian part of the brain deals with survival and brings out our instinctive side when hurt, threatened, when wanting to reproduce, or when angry. It allows the inner reptile take over and allow us to survive in a certain manner. The emotional pert of our brain is called the mammalian. Emotions can connect to memories and faces, for example, you like your best friend because they make you smile. You connect a negative feeling to a bully because they make you feel bad, so you avoid them. This is where the emotional part of

the brain interacts with the reptilian part. Emotions are also instinctive, like when a mother cares for her young. It is not needed for her survival to take care of them, but she has an emotional attachment to them. Emotions connect with the way life is, if something makes you feel sad you cry, if something makes you feel happy, you smile. The thinking part of the brain is called the neocortex and is the newest and largest part of our brain. It is the only part of the brain that does not rely on instinct, and is constantly adapting. It is the only part of the brain that must develop with experience and pass judgment on occurrences. This part of the coping brain interacts and learns from the other two parts of the brain.
Everyone faces problems in their life one way or another. Many have trouble coping with these challenges. Some may have trouble with getting over something someone has done to them. Their instincts made them angry at the threat, and their emotions wouldn't let them stop feeling bad about it. Many may have emotional connections with their pets, so when the pets die, the owner feels sad. Some may cope by replacing them for companionship because they are used to giving affection, others may need time to recover from losing something they were very attached to emotionally. One way or another, we need time to think things over no matter what the complication.
To cope better for any future situations, one might need to write out their problem in a journal. Writing down an issue always helped me take time and step back from a situation, and look at it from a different perspective. Sure, I might have gotten a low grade on the test, but now I know what I did wrong and can learn from my mistakes. Another coping mechanism I use is a ten-count. The ten-count helps me when I'm mad, stressed, and worried by letting me slow the situation down and calm myself. This can help in almost any situation.
Even though our brains are practically made for coping, there can be misconceptions on how to cope.

First off, going with the "I don't care" approach is not a good way in handling the situation. If one gets used to this approach, it may affect the development of emotional instincts and become habitual. This means, one may lose the ability to care. Another misconception regarding the coping process relates to letting our instinctive reptilian brain take over. This part of the brain senses danger and becomes an offensive and defensive responses in actions. If one lets their survival side take over whenever there was a problem, anger and impulse would rule over whenever we feel hurt. The third misconception on coping is completely forgetting how to deal with situations with our thinking mechanism. If one completely relies on instinctive responses, one would never learn how to express these emotions into words. They would also not be able to learn from experience for future

reference.
Everyone has their own way in coping with anger.

Some methods may be similar to others, and some methods may be completely unorthodox. One might use the ten-count method as I had mentioned earlier in coping with anger. This allows the individual to take a breath and re-evaluate the situation at a slower and more understanding rate. Exercise is also a great method in coping with anger. It allows the person to take out their frustrations through vigorous activity. This method harms no one and keeps the body fit. Talking out the problem with someone can also relieve some of the confusion and anger. This can give the individual a better understanding of the problem and maybe allow them to fix the dilemma. Each and every one of these methods can help cope with anger by allowing the individual to think using their mammalian part of the brain, rather than simply responding with instinctive

violence.
After extensive research on the three parts of the coping brain, I have concluded that each part is valuable for every person in society today. Instincts and logic come into play almost every time we cope with an event. Everyone has a different way in coping, some very similar and some very different from others. All of this, though, is something we were born with or something we learned from experience over time.