How Do You Cope With Stress?
Topic Overview
There are many ways to deal with stress. The table below (reprinted from Wellness: Concepts and Applications*) lists positive ways to cope. See how many you use to deal with stress. If you have trouble filling out this chart, you may want to track your stress for a few days and then try again.
Positive ways to cope | Often | Rarely | Not at all |
---|---|---|---|
Listen to music | | | |
Go shopping with a friend | | | |
Watch television, go to a movie | | | |
Read a newspaper, magazine, book | | | |
Sit alone in the peaceful outdoors | | | |
Write prose or poetry | | | |
Attend an athletic event, play, lecture, symphony | | | |
Go for a walk or drive | | | |
Exercise (swim, bike, jog) | | | |
Get deeply involved in some other activity | | | |
Play with a pet | | | |
Take a nap | | | |
Get outdoors, enjoy nature | | | |
Write in a journal | | | |
Practice deep breathing, meditation, autogenics, or muscle relaxation | | | |
Straighten up your desk or work area | | | |
Take a bath or shower | | | |
Do physical work (garden, paint) | | | |
Make home repairs or refinish furniture | | | |
Buy something (records, books) | | | |
Play a game (chess, backgammon, video games) | | | |
Pray, go to church | | | |
Discuss situations with a spouse or close friend | | | |
Other: | | | |
Now see if you use any of these negative ways to deal with stress.
Negative ways to cope | Often | Rarely | Not at all |
---|---|---|---|
Become aggressive | | | |
Use negative self-talk | | | |
Yell at spouse, kids, or friends | | | |
Drink a lot of coffee or tea | | | |
Get drunk | | | |
Swear | | | |
Take a tranquilizing drug | | | |
Avoid social contact with others | | | |
Try to anticipate the worst possible outcomes | | | |
Think about suicide | | | |
Smoke tobacco | | | |
Chew your fingernails | | | |
Overeat or undereat | | | |
Become irritable or short-tempered | | | |
Cry excessively | | | |
Kick something or throw something | | | |
Drive fast in your car | | | |
Other: | | | |
Scoring Instructions: Count the number of positive and negative coping techniques you use.
Number of positive techniques: _______
Number of negative techniques: _______
How often do you use negative coping strategies? ____________________
Do you use more positive than negative strategies or the reverse? ________________________
Do you recognize a need to change some of the techniques you are now using? If so, which ones? ___________________________________
What are some ways in which you can maximize your use of positive coping techniques? How can you minimize your negative ones? _______________
Used with permission: Anspaugh DJ, et al. (2009). Wellness: Concepts and Applications, 7th ed. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Credits
Current as of: December 16, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Christine R. Maldonado, PhD - Behavioral Health
- Top of the page
-
Next Section:
Credits
-
Previous Section:
Topic Overview - Top of the page
Current as of: December 16, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & Christine R. Maldonado, PhD - Behavioral Health