How Do You Cope With Stress?

There are many ways to deal with stress. The table below (reprinted from Wellness: Concepts and Applications *) lists positive ways to cope. See how many you use to deal with stress. If you have trouble filling out this chart, you may want to track your stress for a few days and then try again. Positive ways to cope…

How Do You Cope With Stress?

Topic Overview

There are many ways to deal with stress. The table below (reprinted from Wellness: Concepts and Applications*) lists positive ways to cope. See how many you use to deal with stress. If you have trouble filling out this chart, you may want to track your stress for a few days and then try again.

Positive ways to cope

Often

Rarely

Not at all

Listen to music

Go shopping with a friend

Watch television, go to a movie

Read a newspaper, magazine, book

Sit alone in the peaceful outdoors

Write prose or poetry

Attend an athletic event, play, lecture, symphony

Go for a walk or drive

Exercise (swim, bike, jog)

Get deeply involved in some other activity

Play with a pet

Take a nap

Get outdoors, enjoy nature

Write in a journal

Practice deep breathing, meditation, autogenics, or muscle relaxation

Straighten up your desk or work area

Take a bath or shower

Do physical work (garden, paint)

Make home repairs or refinish furniture

Buy something (records, books)

Play a game (chess, backgammon, video games)

Pray, go to church

Discuss situations with a spouse or close friend

Other:

Now see if you use any of these negative ways to deal with stress.

Negative ways to cope

Often

Rarely

Not at all

Become aggressive

Use negative self-talk

Yell at spouse, kids, or friends

Drink a lot of coffee or tea

Get drunk

Swear

Take a tranquilizing drug

Avoid social contact with others

Try to anticipate the worst possible outcomes

Think about suicide

Smoke tobacco

Chew your fingernails

Overeat or undereat

Become irritable or short-tempered

Cry excessively

Kick something or throw something

Drive fast in your car

Other:

Scoring Instructions: Count the number of positive and negative coping techniques you use.

Number of positive techniques: _______

Number of negative techniques: _______

How often do you use negative coping strategies? ____________________

Do you use more positive than negative strategies or the reverse? ________________________

Do you recognize a need to change some of the techniques you are now using? If so, which ones? ___________________________________

What are some ways in which you can maximize your use of positive coping techniques? How can you minimize your negative ones? _______________

Used with permission: Anspaugh DJ, et al. (2009). Wellness: Concepts and Applications, 7th ed. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Credits

Current as ofApril 7, 2019

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review: Kathleen Romito, MD – Family Medicine
Christine R. Maldonado, PhD – Behavioral Health

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