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Five Unhelpful Coping Strategies

Decent Essays

1. Identify five unhelpful coping strategies. Explain when you used these unhelpful strategies and what consequences you have experienced as a result.
Several times during the week, after having a very stressful day, I would sit outside my residence at night and light a cigarette. Usually, a friend or two would join me and we would talk about how our day has been. This, in the short term seemed to me like a helpful strategy to release stress by blowing smoke, as it seemed to me that I’m blowing stress out of my mind. Sometimes, my friends would suggest helpful ways to cope with stress. In the long term, smoking and second-hand smoke from cigarettes contributed to headaches as nicotine stimulates the blood vessels in the brain to constrict. In the long term, I experienced breathing problems which made me feel uncomfortable. (Strategy 1)
One of the most unhelpful coping strategies that I rely on mostly during the year, is to take a nap. After having a long and stressful day, I walk into my room in the afternoon, feeling sleepy, I look at my bed and immediately crawl into it to take a nap. This psychologically, seemed to me like a useful way to get things off my mind. Depending on how …show more content…

Doing so reduced the stress that that had major impact on my mental physical health. It was an emotion-focused coping strategy that I usually relied on after getting a disappointed result. In the short term, it removed the guilt and made me escape from the depression and anxiety zone. In the long term, I did not analyze the situation and find out where I went wrong. This did not motivate me to work hard, but instead, it made me realize that I was not self-disciplined with myself. If other people were involved, it sometimes meant that a friendship or a relationship was ended. As I told myself that they’re the reason behind things not going the way I wanted them to go. (Strategy

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