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.
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Positive ways to cope
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Often
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Rarely
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Not at all
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Listen to music
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Go shopping with a friend
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Watch television, go to a movie
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Read a newspaper, magazine, book
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Sit alone in the peaceful outdoors
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Write prose or poetry
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Attend an athletic event, play, lecture, symphony
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Go for a walk or drive
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Exercise (swim, bike, jog)
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Get deeply involved in some other activity
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Play with a pet
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Take a nap
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Get outdoors, enjoy nature
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Write in a journal
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Practice deep breathing, meditation, autogenics, or muscle relaxation
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Straighten up your desk or work area
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Take a bath or shower
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Do physical work (garden, paint)
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Make home repairs or refinish furniture
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Buy something (records, books)
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Play a game (chess, backgammon, video games)
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Pray, go to church
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Discuss situations with a spouse or close friend
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Other:
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Now see if you use any of these negative ways to deal with stress.
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Negative ways to cope
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Often
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Rarely
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Not at all
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Become aggressive
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Use negative self-talk
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Yell at spouse, kids, or friends
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Drink a lot of coffee or tea
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Get drunk
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Swear
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Take a tranquilizing drug
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Avoid social contact with others
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Try to anticipate the worst possible outcomes
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Think about suicide
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Smoke tobacco
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Chew your fingernails
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Overeat or undereat
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Become irritable or short-tempered
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Cry excessively
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Kick something or throw something
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Drive fast in your car
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Other:
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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
Current as of: December 16, 2019
