5 Common Mistakes People Make When Coping With Stress
Meta Description: People generally respond to stress and anxiety in a negative way. These negative coping mechanisms can not only harm the person himself but for others around him.
The world around us is becoming more virtual. The dynamics of life are changing dramatically as we are moving ahead in time. Technological advancements and new dynamics have made life more stressful. In today’s world, problems such as stress and anxiety are more common than ever before.
In order to deal with stress and anxiety, our brains trigger the response. How effectively a person deals with stress and anxiety is dependent upon his response. Most people deal with stress and anxiety with negative coping mechanisms, which in many ways do more harm than good. It is thus essential to learn about these general negative coping mechanisms and avoid such responses to deal with stress.
Common Coping Mistakes
When a person is stressed out, he tries to deal with stress and come out of it. However, how effectively and how soon you come out of stress and anxiety is all dependent upon the response system. Many times individuals use negative coping ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
Responding to stress with negative coping strategies will not work; rather, it may even make it more troublesome. Here are some general coping mistakes that individuals make in the attempt to deal with anxiety and stress.
- Smoking And Chewing Tobacco
Habitual smokers generally believe that smoking will help to ease out anxiety and stress. Smoking in no way helps to calm the body; rather, nicotine may worsen anxiety and stress. Smoking only helps to curb the nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and hence the smoker feels comfortable and relaxed.
Smoking is a negative coping mechanism to deal with stress and anxiety. In addition to your mental wellbeing, smoking is fatal to bodily health too. Vaping is a less harmful substitute for traditional smoking. As a beginner, you can even try £1 E liquid, which is delicious as well as affordable. Thus, switching to vape is more convenient to restore your mental health.
- Drinking Alcohol
Individuals often take support from alcoholic beverages in order to get away from anxiety and stress. This is again a negative and harmful response to stress. It might ease out stress for a while, and temporarily a person might feel relieved. However, using alcohol as a way out of stress and anxiety can lead to its more frequent use and may even take the form of addiction.
Thus excessive drinking can become fatal if not treated at the right time as even rightly pointed out by the experts at oakland alcohol detox and one should never use it as a means to get away from anxiety and stress. Alcohol abuse, by all means, is a negative coping mechanism to deal with stress and anxiety.
- Driving Fast
Many people might go out for a drive in order to deal with stress and anxiety. However, rash and fast driving is again a negative coping mechanism to stress that can have some serious consequences. Driving when in stress and anxiety can be life-threatening. In addition, you become a serious danger to others on the road—rash driving when under stress increases the risk of road accidents.
- Avoiding Family And Friends
In order to deal with stress and anxiety, many people go into a self-isolation phase. This is very damaging to your social life and may even affect your relationships. The support from family and friends is a vital strength and assists in achieving the toughest goals in life. Life without these close relations becomes miserable, and things can go beyond one’s control. This is absolutely the wrong approach to cope with stress and anxiety.
- Aggression And Violence
Aggression and violence are extreme behavioral responses towards anxiety and stress. Aggression and violence again form an unacceptable way of coping with stress and anxiety. Too much aggression may also take the form of violence, and it not only affects you but it is also dangerous for others around you.
You should seek help from a professional psychologist in this regard as this is a major behavioral disorder that can lead to other health problems. You may not be able to maintain a healthy relationship if you are unable to do something about behavioral problems like aggression and violence.
How To Effectively Cope With Stress And Anxiety
Experts believe that there are some simple yet healthy and effective coping ways to deal with stress and anxiety. Here are the three most effective positive coping strategies to deal with anxiety and stress. It includes:
- Deep Breathing
This is the simplest response to stress and anxiety. The simplest yet most effective coping mechanism requires a stressed and anxious person to take deep breaths. Deep breathing helps to counteract the symptoms of stress and anxiety, and it helps to relax the mind and body.
- Exercise
There is no doubt that exercise offers a list of benefits to both mind and body. Out of these so many benefits, exercise also plays a significant role in coping with stress and anxiety. In addition, it boosts good hormones in the body, which enhance mood. One can simply adopt exercise as an effective and positive coping mechanism for stress and anxiety.
- Mindfulness
Experts believe that it is important to focus on troubling thoughts and situations. Instead of using distraction strategies, try to confront situations and thoughts and find a way out of them. Mindfulness makes you strong internally. It gives you the courage to confront your problems and deal with them.
Consultation from a psychologist can also help if you still are unable to make a start. With professional counseling and practice, surely you will be better able to devise the best coping mechanism to deal with stress and anxiety.
Take Away
It is difficult to deal with stress and anxiety; however, the response to it is something one can control. Usually, people respond in a negative way to deal with stress. Dealing with stress through negative coping ways may prove harmful to the person and the others around. It is important to learn a positive coping mechanism to deal with stress and anxiety wisely.
