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Effective and ineffective coping mechanisms
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After three years of using drugs and alcohol to cure myself of anxiety, depression, anger, and stress, I lost the ability to savor life without using. I found myself in positions in which I could not contain my anger or went into a state of extreme depression. Today, I am in a drug and alcohol treatment center. Being here has taught me how to overcome problems without using drugs and alcohol, but by using safe coping skills. Safe coping skills are an exceptionally useful way of managing with anxiety, anger, depression, and stress. I employ safe coping skills by reading books, praying to my higher power, and by communicating positively with myself and others. By employing these methods you can guarantee yourself an improved lifestyle.
Often, life is an ongoing battle to stay thinking positively. Everyone deals with stressful situations, because of this, life can become quite overwhelming. People seek ways to escape reality, most of the time using drugs and alcohol to do so. Reading books is a marvelous way to practice healthy coping skills. By reading and becoming immersed in the story you forget about the world around you. In my experiences, reading has allowed me to obliterate the stress of being in treatment and thoughts of using. For instance, I am currently reading the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Within the Divergent series, Veronica delivers a captivating story which allows readers to dive in and fully engross themselves within it. By reading books I find it uncomplicated to occupy my thoughts. Subsequently, reading can also put me in an improved mood by allowing me to walk away from a dangerous situation and think about the book. Books can also be a great resource in recovery. Books such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) ...
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...staying positive and thinking positive, my life became positive. Thinking positive is an ongoing process. Its unusually strenuous, but once you master the art of positive thinking you are guaranteed a happier way of living.
Many people go their whole lives questioning why they cannot be happy, I know I did. Practicing healthy coping skills is a phenomenal way to undertake living a happier life. It is also important to realize that life is not just rainbows and daffodils, everyone has problems they must face. Coping skills such as reading, praying to your higher power, and communicating positively with yourself and others, is just a start to living a happier life. These skills worked wonders for me and I cannot wait to leave treatment and show the world exactly what I am made of. I have learned from my mistakes and am a much happier person with myself and others.
Many members of our society have sculpted their listeners into fooling their selves into believing that there are only two types of “happy”, happy or depressed. This leads to individuals suppressing their problems or believing they are suffering from a chronic illness when sadness is just a natural emotion that a person faces throughout their lifetime. Begley mimics “get over it: take a pill” (558). When living in a world where not being “happy” can provoke your friends and family to encourage drug use or choose to decline spending time with you until you are “happy again may cause many people to not even tell someone they are having problems which can result in the sadness to increase. It is soothing to know not all experts would say you are sick and need help just for an ordinary feeling. A lay reader that has no idea of what most psychologist feels about the evading happiness situation, may have thought all professionals insist on everyone being happy even when they have no desire
Depending on their conditions, many people resort to substances to help them cope. These substances are widely abused and are unhealthy. The British Journal of Social Work surveyed three different rehabilitation centers. They came to the conclusion that “There is a very large international body of research on substance use and abuse, ranging from problem etiology to treatment (Valtonen 59)”. This suggests that because of what people are dealing with, they often resort to substance abuse. However, there are many better ways to cope. People use substances to try and figure out their diagnoses. During the surveys of the rehabilitation centers, they found out some other coping mechanisms. Some of these coping mechanisms are sleeping, eating, smoking, and drinking. These mechanisms are not a healthy way to deal with the situation at hand. This study shows that people who avoid substances to cope and instead talk to a therapist have better outcomes. This is also true with people who go to focus groups and verbally discuss their problems rather than resorting to
I began to read not out of entertainment but out of curiosity, for in each new book I discovered an element of real life. It is possible that I will learn more about society through literature than I ever will through personal experience. Having lived a safe, relatively sheltered life for only seventeen years, I don’t have much to offer in regards to worldly wisdom. Reading has opened doors to situations I will never encounter myself, giving me a better understanding of others and their situations. Through books, I’ve escaped from slavery, been tried for murder, and lived through the Cambodian genocide. I’ve been an immigrant, permanently disabled, and faced World War II death camps. Without books, I would be a significantly more close-minded person. My perception of the world has been more significantly impacted by the experiences I've gained through literature than those I've gained
Reading a book is in many ways the same as exercising the muscles in your arm, as you are feeding your brain new information and ideas of life. Life is short and I believe that you should always be positive and do the things that you want without people telling you that you are wrong. The following Novels have taught me various aspects, which I have and still am using to make my life a memorable one as well as a positive one.
Taking the following questionnaire: Satisfaction with Life Scale, Approaches to Happiness Scale, and Authentic Happiness Inventory, helped me evaluate my life. Many times due to circumstance we forget in what positon our life is standing at the moment. We forget how much we have accomplished in the past and how much we have invested to make our future a good one. For the Satisfaction with life scale, I score a 33(love their life and feel that everything is going very well). People may might say well she is living a perfect life, but to be honest is not that is being perfect, is that one day years ago I made a decision of not letting anything take away what I have worked hard for. According to Earl & Carol Diener, because positive moods energize approach tendencies, it desirable that people on average be in a positive mood (1996). If I make a mistake, which is possible because am human, what I do is learn from it. It’s like what the Apostol from the church I go to says” you control life, not life controlling you.”
Our society is flooded with people who are choosing anxious, fearful, depressive, obsessive, crazy, hostile, violent, addictive and withdrawn behaviors. All of them are seriously unhappy; there is no shortage of unhappy people in the world. But, unfortunately, many mental health practitioners who believe in mental illness don't see the unhappy people described above as capable of helping themselves or benefitting from therapy. They see them as "suffering" from brain pathology, incapable of helping themselves without drugs. They reject psychotherapy as useless or too time-consuming.
There have been numerous research attempts to understand how individuals cope with negative life events. Freud (1993) refer to defence mechanisms and the unconscious processes individuals resort to in an attempt to address the internal conflicts they experience. Coping strategies serves as a mediator between perceived threats and their anticipated consequences (Endler and Parker, 1990). When confronted with a threat individuals resort to certain behaviour responses in order to cope with the perceived threat. More and more evidence acknowledge the important role that coping strategies play when individuals respond to perceived stressful life events.
Sayings like, “I can’t do it.” “What if?” “I’m a failure.”, will never bring joy. In fact, bad habits like so will only lead one into a deeper pit of misery. Instead, practice being grateful for where you are today and how you can make a difference. For instance, in feminist therapy they strive for transformation; therefore, think of ways you could evolve and work on the things you would like to change. To be healthy people, need to take care of themselves first. A lot of times people are overwhelmed with tasks, for this reason, they experience burnout, anxiety, or depression. They often feel like they’re not good enough because they themselves haven’t experienced their self-worth. One must value themselves and comprehend that they have meaning in the world, that’s when happiness will arise. When faced with a crisis people often need to be heard. They need the opportunity to fully express themselves without holding back. For this reason, finding someone who will listen and understand without judgment is
Let’s take a look at how we interact and form relationships. Happy people like being around other happy people. It’s safe to say it is natural to surround ourselves with the kind of people we want to be. Conversly, it is natural for us to retreat and isolate when our health is failing physically or emotionally. One’s social skills are telling of how healthy they are all around. Ideally a person has a nice balance of social time and personal time. We have a good idea who we are and are comfortable being ourselves in all situations. Get involved in your community and give back. Paying it forward is the best medicine next to laughter. Practice the golden rule and treat others as you want to be treated. Respect goes a long way. Know what you are okay with and set boundaries with people so you can develop healthy relationships. These relationships are built on trust, communication, and solving problems together. Maintain these relationships and keep your social support network close and you will live a happy life. Be sure to surround yourself with people who bring you up and encourage you to grow and be a better
"Substance Abuse and Mental Health: Overcoming Alcohol and Drug Addiction While Coping with Depression or Anxiety." Helpguide.org: Understand, Prevent and Resolve Life's Challenges. Web. The Web. The Web.
Stress is a natural occurrence that most every person will experience at some point in his or her life. A stressor, as defined by Potter, Perry, Stockert, and Hall (2013), is any kind of event or situation that a person encounters in their environment that requires him or her to change and adapt. When a person responds to stress, his or her coping mechanisms and actions are individualized. No two people are going to handle stressful situations and cope with experiences the same exact way. Each person is unique and has his or her own customized way of dealing with stress. While some people are very open and honest about what they are dealing with, others keep their feelings bottled up. I find this topic so
In the United States 20% of the adult population report that they are living a flourishing life (Keyes, 2002). However, a high percentage reports feeling as if they are ‘‘stuck’’ or ‘‘want more’’ and are yet not diagnosable with a mental disorder (Fredrickson, 2008). Because happiness has been found to be the source of many desirable life outcomes e.g. career success, marriage, and health, it is of importance to understand, how languishing individuals can reach this ideal state: How can well-being be enhanced and misery reduced (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). Over the past decade, research in the field of positive psychology has emerged to provide evidence-based methods to increase an individual’s psychological well-being, through so called positive psychology interventions (PPI’s). PPI’s are treatment methods or intentional activities used to promote positive feelings or behaviour. PPI’s vary from writing gratitude letters, practicing optimistic thinking and replaying positive experiences. A meta-analysis of 51 independent PPI studies demonstrated significant results in the effectiveness of PPI’s increasing well-being (49 studies; r = .29) (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
There is something that everyone in this world tends to encounter; stress is that thing. For most people stress is an everyday thing. For others it can be just an occurrence from time to time. It can also affect our personal relationships without even us realizing that it was the main issue. Stress is “a person’s response to events that are threatening or challenging” (Feldman, 2010). Since there are many different type of stressors, they can be places in different categories. Stressors can be categorized as cataclysmic events, personal stressors, or even as background stressors (“daily hassles”). Though no matter what type of stress one has, there is always a way to cope to get through it and keep it from harming our relationships. Even if it is an everyday occurrence or a once in a while occurrence.
Personally I consider working to embrace flaws and eliminating negativity the most felicitous way to bolster your soul. Positive sentiments and emotions lead to a low stress environment; converting time spent stressing into time to focus on what really matters. When I have spare time I like to go back over my day and contemplate on what work I accomplished or what people I have yet to talk to. This self-scrutinizing habit can often help me in remembering facets of my life that I otherwise would have forgotten, giving my brain a bit of a break and helping me to preserve what matters to me. I also remember aspects that I may have neglected such as refraining from exhibiting undue judgment on others and disregarding the occasionally sensitive feelings of my peers. Working on these flaws help me to live my best life along with furthering my current positive
To some kids or teenagers, reading fiction books and having that mental escape is the only way they can cope with their disorder. Fiction books allow kids to imagine and believe anything while also teaching them some life lessons in