Exploring Coping Strategies for Stress- A Personal and Family Approach

Exploring Coping Strategies for Stress- A Personal and Family Approach

The coping process is a step towards mental and physical wellness. Wu et al. (2020) define coping as thoughts and behaviors targeted at managing internal and external stressful events. Coping mechanisms are consistent across situations and can be either reactive, coping that follows a stressor, or proactive, aimed at neutralizing subsequent stressors. Emotion-focused and problem-focused coping are the two major categories of coping. While problem-focused coping addresses the problem resulting in the reported distress, emotion-focused coping reduces the negative emotions linked to the problem. This paper details an interview report for three persons, detailing their coping mechanisms.

The Interview

The interview process drew three middle-aged persons. They were asked how they cope with stress. The interview revealed considerable diversification in how people handle and cope with stress. The coping mechanisms identified from the interview included deep breathing, exercise, seeking counsel or advice, setting boundaries, journaling about the negative thoughts, meditation, avoidance, self-isolation, going to the gym, laughter, determining an alternative way of doing things or approaching a problem, keeping self busy, and playing video games. Writing, taking a bath, talking with someone, making a to-do list, watching a favorite television channel, shopping, singing, walking in the wild, traveling, listening to music, skating, crying, cycling, mountain or hill hiking, drinking alcohol, smoking, and taking a road trip are other strategies of coping identified from the interview.

Deep breathing, journaling, meditation, going to the gym, laughter, keeping self busy, playing video games, taking a bath, writing, watching a favorite television channel, shopping, singing, walking in the wild, traveling, listening to music, skating, crying, cycling, hiking, drinking alcohol, smoking, and taking a road trip are examples of emotion-focused coping. Seeking counsel or advice, setting boundaries, talking with someone, exercising, making a to-do list, determining an alternative way of doing things or approaching a problem, and avoidance, are problem-focused coping strategies.

Journaling was listed under the emotion-focused coping strategy. Journaling fosters positive emotions by allowing a stressed person to prioritize their problems or concerns. Laughter is also an emotion-focused approach that can adequately lessen emotional stress by uplifting mood. Keeping busy is also an unhealthy emotion-coping strategy, as it hinders an individual’s ability to cope. Cycling, skating, walking in the wild, and shopping are activities people engage in to avoid being emotionally stressed and to cheer up their mood. They keep an individual preoccupied, thereby easing their emotional distress. They were thus listed under the emotion-focused coping category.

On the other hand, exercise was listed under the problem-focused coping strategy. Physical exercise elicits positive emotions and may lead to an individual making decisions with clearer mind (Ejiri et al., 2021). It thus fosters problem-focused coping. Seeking counsel or advice and talking to other people were also listed under the problem-focused category. This is because they work to address the underlying problem. In this respect, the affected individual will work with a counselor to identify the disturbing thought pattern and lay the groundwork for addressing it. Determining an alternative strategy for handling a concern or a dilemma is a problem-focused approach to coping. It allows an individual to pursue a strategy that will be effective in addressing the underlying concern. Avoidance also allows individuals to refrain from stressors, which is thus a problem. Through the avoidance strategy, individuals are less likely to engage in events or activities that have the potential to cause emotional distress. Making a to-do list was also listed under the problem-focused category. This strategy provided a framework for acting on possible stressors.

Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies maintain effectiveness in helping individuals cope with life stressors. However, I think problem-focused coping strategies are the most effective. Problem-focused coping seeks to address the underlying concern. Examples of problem-focused coping include avoidance, talking to someone or a counselor, and determining an alternative way of doing something.

There is a consensual finding on the effectiveness of problem-focused approaches to coping. Srivastava et al. (2023) note that problem-focused coping is generally more effective as it works by eliminating the stressors. In this approach, the stressed individual works alone or with the help of a caregiver to identify the stressors before laying a framework to solve them. It may address existing stressors and help individuals have the prerequisite skills necessary for identifying life stressors and solving them. They, therefore, provide a long-term coping measure. Notwithstanding, the choice of coping strategy will mostly be dependent on the presenting stressors. For stressors that have significant emotional baggage, emotional coping may be necessary. Emotion-focused coping strategies are effective in alleviating emotional distress. They may be particularly beneficial to intermittent and mild stressors such as workplace stressors. However, they may not be effective in addressing chronic stressors. Thus, a blend of emotion-focused and problem-focused coping is necessary. This approach will help individuals alleviate emotional distress in the short term and eliminate stressors. This blended approach is, therefore, more likely to provide a long-lasting solution.

Subsequently, effective coping remains integral to social and mental wellness. Coping strategies such as exercise, sleeping, and avoidance are widely used to address various stressors. Whereas the problem-focused approach works to eliminate the stressors, the emotion-focused approach reduces negative emotions. Blending both may be helpful in effective coping.

References

Ejiri, M., Kawai, H., Kera, T., Ihara, K., Fujiwara, Y., Watanabe, Y., Hirano, H., Kim, H., & Obuchi, S. (2021). Exercise as a coping strategy and its impact on the psychological well-being of Japanese community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 57, 102054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102054

Srivastava, S., Upadhaya, P., & Jain, R. (2023). Listen to the heart or Mind first? examining sequential coping mechanisms among Indians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1104973

Wu, Y., Yu, W., Wu, X., Wan, H., Wang, Y., & Lu, G. (2020). Psychological resilience and positive coping styles among Chinese undergraduate students: A cross-sectional study. BMC Psychology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00444-y

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Instructions
Coping Assignment
Richard Lazarus (1984) delineated two types of coping strategies—emotion-focused and problem-focused. Both strategies include cognitive and behavioral strategies.

Exploring Coping Strategies for Stress- A Personal and Family Approach

For this assignment, interview three friends or family members. Ask them how they cope with stress. From their responses, generate a list of at least thirty different coping strategies. Next, classify which strategies are emotion-focused and which are problem-focused. Explain why you classified ten of the strategies the way that you did. Discuss which strategy—emotion-focused or problem-focused—you think is more helpful in coping with stress. Support your answer with examples and reasoning.