coping mechanisms
Ways of managing
Coping mechanisms are the mental and behavioral strategies people use to manage stress, anxiety, or difficult emotions.
Some are healthy—exercise, talking to friends, problem-solving.
Others are less so: denial, substance abuse, avoidance.
Psychology distinguishes between adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms, though the line isn't always clear.
His coping mechanisms included long runs and late-night journaling.
- journalingRegular personal writing practice
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- deep breathingDeliberate slow inhalation practice
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- positive self-talkEncouraging inner monologue
meditation · stress management · substance use · distraction · emotional regulation · therapy · talking it out · support system · goal setting · suppression · self-medication · compartmentalization · self-efficacy · venting · crying · avoidance behavior · shutting down · sublimation
- resilienceresilience, grit, bounce back, bouncing back, robustness
- psychoanalysisFreud, id, ego, unconscious, Sigmund Freud
- coping skillsemotional regulation, self-control, impulse control, self-soothing, calming down
- Adaptation Strategiesadaptation, flexibility, resilience, improvisation, pivoting
- prison mental healthmental health screening, psych evaluation, suicide prevention, suicide watch, mental illness
- griefgrief, mourning, bereavement, sorrow, grieving
coping mechanismsunhealthy habits
Detrimental repeated behaviors
self-sabotage · self-harm · defense mechanisms · compulsions · acting out
coping mechanismsstressors
Agents causing tension
trauma · psychological trauma · problems · triggers · root causes
coping mechanismssurrender
Cease resistance, yield
giving up · capitulation · learned helplessness · resignation · breakdown