DBTuesday: distract with ACCEPTS – a distress tolerance skill

Hey there everyone!

For this DBTuesday, we’re going to focus on a distress tolerance skill called ACCEPTS. As a reminder, distress tolerance is a category of skills used to get through crisis situation without making things worse and to accept reality as it is. Indeed, especially lately with all the surrounding uncertainties, it’s easy to get lost in our worries, questions, thoughts and to have them spiral out of our control. This is why it is so important to have skills available to manage these crises and prevent chaos from appearing in our minds !

The aim of the ACCEPTS skill is to distract oneself temporarily from unpleasant thoughts and emotions.

A for Activities – engage in activities (hobbies or exercising) so that you can get your heart rate up, concentrate on a task or think about something else. This could be talking with a friend, doing some sports, reading, drawing, play games, watching a movie, anything!

C for Contributing – do something for someone else : contribute to a cause, do volunteer work, have a thoughtful attention for a friend, do a random act of kindness , anything so as to focus on something else than your own situation.

C for Comparisons – when in a tough situation, think back about other times of your life when you struggled yet made it through, or think about the fact that others might be going through the same hard situation.

E for opposite Emotions – generate other emotions, through reading emotional books, watching emotional movies, listening to music and so on. Try and generate different emotions than the ones you were previously feeling (for example, watching a comedy or scary movie, watching funny videos)

P for Pushing away – push the situation away for a while, imagine putting your problems on a shelf and leaving them there, or building a wall between you and them, making them disappear until you’re ready to face them again.

T for other Thoughts – form different thoughts by counting in your head, reciting a poem, singing a song, reading a book, noticing and naming colours around you, so that these thoughts can replace the ones present during the crisis.

S for intense other Sensations – ground yourself thanks to your 5 senses: take a cold/hot shower, hold ice cubes, eat something spicy/sugary/salty, squeeze something, hit a pillow, listen to loud music…

Discussion questions ~

Do you sometimes face situations when you feel overwhelmed by your thoughts? If yes, how do you deal with them?

Are there some parts of the ACCEPTS skill that you’re already using?

Are there some new parts of the ACCEPTS skill that you’d like to try out/start using?

Thanks for reading, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts or questions about this!

Waves ~

@1TragicalHope @admaiorasemper @Aeyjay24 @Ajeclizm @AlfAndthemachine @Alwaysinpyjamas @ambitiousVase1322 @amiablePeach4116 @AngelNieves @angvl @Anonymousloner4773 @aqualung @Archangelle @Audrey422 @autumnthemoth @Avocado22 @azuladragon34 @baylinAnderson123 @berrymimi @bestcase @BorderlineBeautiful @Brazilmarina @BrianRedmond @BunnyTech @Callipie @Cammiecat @camrenAT @caringPerspective41 @Cassidym @CBR84 @ChasingStorms @Chester77 @chiwiwi @ChristmasGift @Ciaramist93 @coffieejunkie @Combatmedicsbaby70 @Cupcakekiller @cyanPlatypus6370 @DamagedOne13 @Dandelion358 @Deadgirlblue9804 @DoggoMom @emerijourney @englishteacher1994 @Everythingisbetterinyourpyjamas @eyeofthedivine @FindingPeaceWithin1 @fireyseastar97 @FloweringBunny @fuzzybreath @generousSoul2212 @Goldcherry2113 @GrahZeymahzin @GryffindorMuggleBorn @Hadeel96 @Hannah0425 @happyduckie @Hyacinth22 @Hydrangea03 @Idek111 @ImaginativeMango1203 @ImaginativePenny152 @indigoCup1959 @intelligentWheel627 @Jaskunwar95 @JellyFoxyn @JoniGirl @K87 @kaylabergin @Kikumars @Kmarie27 @ladylou97 @LadyNikita @LavenderFlower @lightJackfruit3211 @lissyy123 @ListeningKaty @Livingstrongly @LoveTracker @M6424 @Maeflower @MamaMiyaV2 @mariah710 @Mattison76 @MeeshyRB @MelG919 @Mia1602 @missg @MJLV98 @modestDrum8884 @modestprune4921 @mogran @noemieb @nosebleedbrat @Nubia87 @OceanicDing @OneErased @optimisticMagic0014 @orangeLake8341 @OrangePeel24 @Oxymoron6demon @Paul2D2 @Person12269 @PhilosophicalBirch7391 @physalisBerries72 @Piggy @placidShade4261 @purpleButterfly24 @Pxoxoxoxo @QueenBee03 @racqueldawn @raspberryPenny1297 @Red789 @Rex0911 @sane @sayne123 @schizanaboy35 @Sean6412 @Shi @Smills2001 @softlyy @spectacularSunrise7824 @suBSea @sunflower2480 @ThWingstone @TinyCar2017 @tranquilbear14 @Triscups @turquoisemermaid @uniqueRose1689 @versatilePomegranate60 @WalkingCrow @Yellow @yellowkiwi520 @YourCaringConfidant @Zeeisallears