Coping Strategies
In this newsletter, I’d like to focus on coping strategies, that are found in my book The End Justifies the Pain. Since everyone has some degree of stress in their lives, coping strategies can be useful to most people. Whether it’s problems at work, financial burdens or health issues, stress is experienced sooner or later. So, this chapter, “Coping Strategies: Developing Lines of Defense,” can be useful to most anyone, but especially for those of us with mental health challenges. Although medication and therapy are vital, usually stress occurs in our day to day lives. So coping skills can help those of us with mental health issues stay out of the hospital when things get difficult.
As with the previous “Medication Issues” newsletter, I’ve provided a summary of the coping skills, so that it isn’t necessary to read the whole chapter. Here is a link to the eBook for, The End Justifies the Pain, if you want to read the rest of the chapter. I tried to get Amazon to give the book away, but they insisted on charging at least $1.99 for the eBook. So, here’s the summary, and I hope you find it useful:
Summary: 10 Valuable Coping Strategies that Enhance Long Term Recovery
The following inventory of coping strategies can be employed as important “lines of defense” which may be useful in the management of thoughts, feelings, and moods. These skills, if practiced consistently, can also help to limit the intensity and duration of intrusive symptoms while promoting self-confidence, self-discipline, and perseverance.
1. Regular physical exercise can help manage stress and redirect nervous energy. It also promotes a feeling of being “grounded,” so that thoughts and feelings are more focused. In addition, physical exercise addresses medication side effects like weight gain and lethargy.
° Some examples of physical exercise include: walking, hiking, jogging, swimming, biking, camping, mall walking, gym work out equipment, and exercise DVDs.
2. Coping skills such as meditation and other relaxation techniques can be a valuable part of any effective defense system, when symptoms become so problematic that hospitalizations threaten a long-term recovery.
° Sometimes, the difference between being admitted to the hospital and feeling emotionally secure is the regular practice of relaxation. They continually help to ease stress, slow down racing thoughts and quiet troubling emotions.
3. Specific daily routines are probably essential for any long-term recovery. Remaining active all day every day, including writing down chores and other activities, creates a sense of purpose and engages the mind, so it doesn’t manufacture worry, loneliness, and boredom.
° Examples of routines include: chores such as laundry, shopping, and housework; a regular sleep schedule that helps insure a good night’s sleep.
° Irritability and anxiety can seem like symptoms of a mental illness when they are actually symptoms of insomnia. In addition, a bath or shower can be a surprisingly effective way to temporarily drain away anxiety, fear, and worry.
4. Some coping strategies are actually positive attitudes that can be learned and practiced, so they become useful in a variety of personal and social settings.
° By avoiding extremes in emotions like “riding out feelings to the end,” the individual can foster improved moods which can be more conducive to long-term recovery.
° Understanding that bipolar disorder isn’t our fault helps build self-confidence in our interactions with others and allows guilt to dissolve.
° Learning to “forgive and forget” the many injustices we have experienced allows us to live in the present instead of brooding over angry memories and painful humiliations.
° Since stress is often a problem, procrastination is probably a good attitude to overcome. It simply adds to all the other anxieties and worries we already carry around.
5. If medications are taken for a long enough period of time, appropriate coping skills can be discovered and developed, so that they become powerful allies when needed. Otherwise, repeatedly starting over with medications makes it more difficult to learn and practice these strategies. The root cause of bipolar disorder is a physiological brain disorder, so even with the best coping skills, the illness will possibly remain.
6. Since bipolar disorder requires such a complex strategy to manage effectively, therapists and other support systems are probably essential.
° In order to understand bipolar disorder, we must identify what it is, how it affects us, and how it affects our relationships. These can be difficult things to sort out alone.
° The enemies of loneliness and boredom can be so unbearable that they can drain us of every joy. Sometimes a good support system can be very helpful in combating these difficult states of mind.
° Because of our illness and societal stigma, navigating through the employment, health, and educational systems can be overwhelming. Counselors and other support personnel almost always have some experience dealing with these institutions, and so they can sometimes be enormously helpful.
7. One of the most valuable coping strategies is self-knowledge. Learning about bipolar disorder and continually observing how the illness affects the body and mind can be a rewarding and reassuring practice that helps keep a long-term recovery on track.
8. All kinds of creative endeavors can be exceedingly productive coping strategies because they not only provide an outlet for managing symptoms, but they also produce the opportunity for genuine artistic expression.
9. Volunteering can help fill the day with meaningful activities and offer a possible job reference for the future. Other social activities can also serve as coping strategies that help promote socialization and long-term recovery.
° Volunteer ideas include: churches, social service organizations, food pantries, resale shops, and hospitals.
° Some social activities include: museums trips, dollar store visits, coffee clubs, planned group exercises, flea market browsing, and garage sales.
10. It is important to state that coping skills are meant to be used together. In other words, by putting a few big things together with a lot of little things, long-term recovery can gradually gain momentum. These coping strategies can gradually replace old destructive habits like alcohol, drugs, and other problematic attitudes and behaviors.
Thanks for reading my newsletter today. I hope you found it interesting and possibly useful. Have a great day!
(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)
Quotes:
“For me, writing is a kind of coping mechanism.” - Chuck Palahniuk
“Life Is 10% What Happens to You and 90% How You React” - Charles R. Swindoll
“No one would feel embarrassed about seeking help for a child if they broke their arm - and we really should be equally ready to support a child coping with emotional difficulties.” - Kate Middleton
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