Trauma Support Check-in: September 13 - September 20
Coping Mechanisms
Coping mechanisms are the strategies or techniques we use to manage internal and external stressful situations.
We all have different approaches towards coping with painful / troubling emotions.
Some are healthy, some aren’t that healthy. Either way, they are an important part of our journey towards healing :)
Check in Questions:
How are you doing? How has your past week been?
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations?
~Sierra
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How are you doing? How has your past week been? I am doing great, how about you? My past week was good enough as I got to take a rest on weekends.
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations? I love exercising to distract my mind from life stressors. Also, reading, writing, and traveling. What about you? 💙
Thank you so much for sharing this post with us. I truly agree with everything you wrote. I believe that coping mechanisms are our blessings in disguise. ❤
Love,
-Angel
@lyricalAngel70
Hey Angel,
I'm doing good too, thanks for asking! After all the hectic aspects of day-to-day life, winding down on the weekends certainly is important :)
Exercising, reading, writing, travelling- woah, that's quite a list! I'm glad to hear these help you cope with life's stressors. I'm usually too lazy to exercise xD. Reading and writing are two that we have in common! Other than these, listening to music helps me calm down at times :)
~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee
How are you doing? How has your past week been? feeling better today. The past week was rough. Feeling a bit of grief from my son death in the month of September and my adopted mother's birthday who is deceased to.
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations? work and distractions
@cuteeeezombieeee
1. My past week has been pretty good I suppose. Very tired this morning. Not enough sleep by far and accidentally took a trazadone this morning instead of my vitamin. Now I'm incredibly tired. -_-
2. I mostly cope with a balance, and I focus on breathing a moment and shut my eyes when I can... though I tend to take problems/situations on as soon as possible, without rushing too much. If I have time, video games help a lot. Also, coffee or other drinks can help. Walks or creative things are generally good too.
@Torean
Hey Torean,
Taking a wrong pill certainly does sound frustrating! That explains why you might feel tired. I hope you feel better soon after the effect wears off!
Taking a moment to breathe and grounding yourself in the moment before tackling a problem/situation is a great tactic towards remaining calm and clear-headed. Video games are quite helpful for me too as a distraction (except senior year doesn't allow much time for that haha). Caffeine temporarily helps with anxiety and depression, but long-term usage may bring along negative effects. Taking a walk outside has been proven to be a natural stress reliever, as it allows us to get away from a stressful environment :)
I hope this week turns out even better than the last
~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee Hi! I started my week out feeling down about some health problems but felt a lot better as the week went on. The coping skills I use are: going to discussions and chat here at 7cups(these help a lot), mindful breathing videos, and I keep a gratitude journal which I read when I am feeling down.Thank you for these questions.
@adventurousBranch3786
Hey Branch,
Sorry to hear your week didn't start out too well :( Just know that it's okay to not be okay. Health problems can certainly cause you to feel down and that's *okay*. Glad to hear you felt better further into the week :)
Participating in discussions and group chats here at 7cups are definitely helpful coping strategies. They help us connect with people who understand what you may be going through or are able to help in some way! As someone who has personally tried gratitude journaling too, I know first hand how fulfilling it is to list down people/things that I'm grateful for
Take care
~Sierra
My week has generally been okay. Had a couple of insomnia relapses that were not fun. Very tired as you might expect.
I don’t really have great coping mechanisms. I can usually distract myself, but that obviously isn’t a long-term solution.
@UberRuminator
Hey,
Sounds like you had a tiring week *offers hugs if comfortable* In order to relapse, you need to have a streak first and just know that I'm so proud of you for having that streak..
Distraction may not be a long-term solution, but it is a coping strategy in itself. Let us not mix up "avoidance" and "distraction". Unlike avoidance, distraction is a healthy coping mechanism, as it means temporarily stepping away from the stressful situation and coming back to it when you're in a better state of mind.
I hope this week turns out better :)
~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee
Thank you Sierra
How are you doing? How has your past week been?
My past week was really, really tough! The weekend prior was my birthday, and I had a super eventful weekend because of that, and then during this past week I had a really tough depressive episode. I wasn't taking care of myself, I was having a lot of nightmares, I was so unmotivated that I was barely getting by at work, I broke down and just cried and cried... I was having a really tough time, and I was trying to think of what the issue was. I hadn't gotten to leave the house for a while, so I think that contributed to my poor mental health (being trapped at home is linked to my trauma). I also didn't have much time for emotional rest since I was busybusybusy lately. So being overwhelmed with to-dos and feeling trapped inside my house probably just compounded itself into a pile of terrible feelings and unwashed dishes!
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations?
Just this past weekend, since I had spent my week being absolutely miserable, I knew I had to take extreme care of myself and be mega-gentle. I ignored all responsibilities I had to do, even if they were really stressing me out (like clean my depression bedroom, get my car to the mechanic, etc.) and forced myself to do like super basic self care. Step 1 was shower. Step 2 was brush my teeth. Step 3 was eat. Step 4 was take all meds. Step 5 was then to figure out something to do that felt safe and relaxing. I tried to be as calm as possible and quiet the guilty voice that tells me what I should and shouldn't do, and I asked myself, if I could do ANYTHING in the world right now, what would it be? As it turns out, my brain really wanted to make a blanket fort. So I made one in my living room and watched some TV and played some videogames. It was very silly but also made me feel so safe, calm, and happy. It was a weird way to cope but it did wonders.
This also had the beneficial but unexpected side effect of giving my boyfriend and I some space, because we live together and I'm a person who needs a lot of person-to-person time, but he needs a lot of solitude recharge time. It can be tough to make sure we each get what we need because of the pandemic right now. I work from home alone all day and am looking for company at the end of my day. He works in a small enough office that he gets to go into work every day, so when he comes home, he's looking for solitude and recharge. Because I made a lil fort downstairs, I spent the whole weekend in it and was perfectly content and he spent the weekend upstairs in the bedroom perfectly content. We both met up at the end of the day on Sunday raving about how much better we felt, hahaha.
Even though I put my responsibilities on hold, now I feel way more capable of tackling them. It was a good experience, and definitely a coping mechanism I'll keep on hand for the future!
@betterchoices
Hey,
Sounds like you had one of those tough weeks- When things go wrong in all ways possible and difficult feelings and stress pile up on top of one another until we finally break down. *offers hugs* Just know that it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to break down and cry. There will be good days and bad days and you're so freaking strong for fighting through each of them..
I'm soo proud of you for taking out time for yourself and realizing the importance of self-care. The steps you have listed out may seem like routine activities to someone who has never experienced depression, but I know. I know how hard it can be to sometimes just get out of bed, take a shower or brush your teeth. The blanket fort sounds fun haha! Funny how the brain works out weird yet super helpful coping strategies. I'm glad to hear it was beneficial for both you and your boyfriend. A little space for each other seemed to have worked out like a refreshing break.
The break from your responsibilities was much needed and I hope you can now focus on them with a clear mind.
Keep being amazing
~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee
very nice questions . thank you. --will think about them and write about them in a safe place.
@BlueBirdPIllow
Hey!
Glad to hear you liked the questions. Feel free to write them down wherever you feel safe to do so. No pressure to do it right here..
Take care
~Sierra
How are you doing? How has your past week been?
I am so stressed and tired, I am having an annoying course that I have to pass it to continue my master studies and I am so tired of it and don't know if I will pass it or not. I feel so stressed and confused and I can't choose a master thesis topic or do any steps in my life. I am about to be 30 years old and I feel that I lost my life and I am too late in my steps and I didn't achieve anything.
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations?
I don't know.
@DinaElwy
Hey, Thank you for responding to the check-in❤️ I can definitely relate to feeling burdened by academic stress. The course certainly does sound tiring and not knowing whether you'll pass or not may make you feel demotivated. *offers hugs*
Thoughts along the line of "I feel like I haven't achieved anything in life" may have their roots in social pressure, high expectations and mental health struggles. It's okay to have days where you feel this way..
HERE is a link to a HuffPost article that speaks on some of the feelings you're struggling with. I hope it helps!
Take care of yourself ~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee
How are you doing? How has your past week been? Today has been an anxiety day and the week has been pretty busy. I actually started to do some wood working again - it had been allmost a year that i've done anything. There's been a few changes here - additions made that are kind of exciting - kind of scary and I'm alittle afraid that maybe it's more then I can handle
What coping mechanisms do you turn to when faced with difficult situations? There's alot of bad coping skills slowly being replaced by better ones. I recognize the anxiety by my breathing and if I can catch it soon enough I can sometimes calm myself better - not allways but it gives me alittle hope
Thank you for the check in :)
@mytwistedsoul
Hey,
Given that it has been a busy week, I hope you'll be able to take some time out for yourself to relax this week!
Be it wood working or anything else, these are the little breakthroughs that matter. I'm immensely proud of you for recognising the importance of this. ❤️
New changes are certainly scary and difficult to adjust to! Take your time with them- no rush. If you feel that it's too much for you now, you can always take a step back to wind down and tackle the changes when you feel ready to do so. *sending strength and hugs*
Recognising anxiety in your breathing is such a vital step towards coping with it! As I always say, hope is the foundation of recovery. And seeing ourselves getting better in small ways gives us hope..✨
Take care
~Sierra
@cuteeeezombieeee Thank you :) And thank you for your reply. I need to remember that I can take a step back if I need to
The breathing - catching it - has made a big difference in things. I'm slowly figuring out what causes it at certain times and doing what I can in the moment to slow it down
Hopefully there can be some relaxation on Sunday because saturday is going to be pretty busy yet lol but I'm really looking forward to what it will bring :)
*hugs back*
I hope you take care too
@cuteeeezombieeee How are you doing? How has your past week been?
Stressed and anxious. A lot on my plate.
@greenYard2803
Hey,
As tired and stressful as it must've been, I'm so proud of you for making it through that week.. ❤️
Listeners at 7Cups are always here to put forth a listening ear if you ever need someone to talk to.😇
Take care
~Sierra
Having a tri polar week I just can't seem to delete the events from me or forget when they (the shooter) are free and I am the one who is emprision on my thoughts and feelings