Social Coping Mechanisms

1014 Words3 Pages

The stress of college is very real, and has an impact on the lives and coping strategies of myself and those around me. However, my friends in general, myself, and a specific friend, have all taken very different approaches. The majority of my friends have become very social and friendly, and engage in behaviors that encourage gaining social support from well-known friends. One friend in particular, however, has consistently engaged in behaviors that seek to gain similar social support from a party setting. I, on the other hand, have begun to relate more closely to my family, far more than I did when I actually lived with them. These differences in social strategies can help show the differences between our well-being and social instincts, and provide suggestions about how to improve oneself through better social behaviors. Going back to the example of a large majority of my friends, relying on close friendships and their support seems to be very beneficial. I see nothing but positivity from my friends, even when they have difficulty with schoolwork, and in their spare time, their door is always open for anyone to visit and hang out. Quite often, they try to organize activities, as well, such as going to movies or coordinating dinner plans, which helps make everyone feel like a part of the greater group, at least from my own experiences. This coincides with the data given to us in the paper entitled: "Coping Mechanisms, Stress, Social Support, and Health Problems in College Students", since my friends have hardly been sick for more than a few days total since college began and are generally happy and outgoing, which seems to be quite healthy when compared to another friend, who will be discussed in the next paragraph. Their hig... ... middle of paper ... ...ress, generally only increase their own stress instead. Using myself as an example, my own relationship with my family has increased my perceived social support enough to have a noticeable change in stress. These observations show that the relationships shown in the paper mentioned earlier, "Coping Mechanisms, Stress, Social Support, and Health Problems in College Students", can be seen in real life, and that the lesson they teach should also be applied to anyone who prefers to engage in the high-risk coping strategies that they pointed out in drug-use and high-risk sexual behavior. College students, and people in general, should focus on maintaining happy and heathy relationships with compatible friends, and their family, rather than pursuing the perceived social support associated with alcohol and the "party scene" in general, which is largely illusory in nature.

More about Social Coping Mechanisms

Open Document