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 |
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Go shopping with a friend |
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Watch television, go to a movie |
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Read a newspaper, magazine, book |
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Sit alone in the peaceful outdoors |
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Write prose or poetry |
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Attend an athletic event, play, lecture, symphony |
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Go for a walk or drive |
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Exercise (swim, bike, jog) |
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Get deeply involved in some other activity |
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Play with a pet |
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Take a nap |
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Get outdoors, enjoy nature |
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Write in a journal |
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Practice deep breathing, meditation, autogenics, or muscle relaxation |
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Straighten up your desk or work area |
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Take a bath or shower |
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Do physical work (garden, paint) |
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Make home repairs or refinish furniture |
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Buy something (records, books) |
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Play a game (chess, backgammon, video games) |
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Pray, go to church |
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Discuss situations with a spouse or close friend |
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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 |
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Use negative self-talk |
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Yell at spouse, kids, or friends |
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Drink a lot of coffee or tea |
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Get drunk |
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Swear |
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Take a tranquilizing drug |
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Avoid social contact with others |
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Try to anticipate the worst possible outcomes |
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Think about suicide |
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Smoke tobacco |
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Chew your fingernails |
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Overeat or undereat |
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Become irritable or short-tempered |
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Cry excessively |
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Kick something or throw something |
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Drive fast in your car |
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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.
Current as of: April 7, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & Christine R. Maldonado, PhD - Behavioral Health