Coping Strategies

      

Stop, Breathe, Reflect, and Choose

When you recognize the signs of stress creeping in, stop for a moment, focus on taking a few deep breaths, ask yourself if your response is to something real or imagined, and then choose a way to either confront the stressful situation in a healthy way, or reframe your thinking to the perceived threat (Harvard Health, 2011). An example of this strategy in action would be waking up sick with a fever, chills, aches, and nausea on the morning of nursing competencies. The panic stems from the fear of failing the class and quickly escalates into thinking that you will be dismissed from the program, bringing shame to everyone who knows you, and thinking of how much money you've already spent on school. The better response in this situation is to stop, breathe, realize that everyone gets sick and that this is just bad timing, and then call your instructor to let him or her know you are ill and cannot attend class. This is a more rational thought, and your instructors are more understanding than you think.

Make an Attitude Adjustment
That's right. Adjust your attitude to reflect positive thinking. This is a reminder of the video clip you watched in the previous blog posting. Sometimes stress can be relieved simply by thinking about that silver lining in an otherwise rather dark cloud, or consciously changing the way we view a situation (Banga, 2000; Campbell, 1996). When our children were younger, they would often use the dinner hour to vent their negative encounters. It quickly became my most dreaded time of day! Our solution was to allow them to put those feelings out there, but they had to counteract one negative with one positive event. We called this "Best and Worst." They still remember it to this day, and we now laugh when our talk becomes so negative that we resurrect the Best and Worst mandate. Could you start a Blessing Jar where you write each of the things you are thankful for on small slips of paper and put them into a beautiful jar, reading them when the going gets tough? Campbell (1996) suggests making different lists: one for the positive things in life, another for what you like about yourself, and another for what is positive about your work (students, that means school for you!). Can you make each list have 20 entries? What other creative ways can you change your thinking? Positive thinkers live longer, most likely due to lower levels of stress hormones and inflammatory chemical responses (Harvard Health, 2011).

Social Support

Research literature is abundant with studies linking social support to better health in every area imaginable, from postpartum depression and depression in general, to coronary artery disease, job satisfaction, better parenting, wound healing, spiritual health and more. Some suggestions are to volunteer; join a group doing anything you might be interested in from exercise to hobbies or church; adopt a pet; use today's technology to your advantage by learning how to text or Skype to stay in touch; be a friend to someone who needs just what you have to offer - your friendship.

 These are just the first three of our coping strategies that you can ponder over. In the next posting, you will learn more.

References:

Banga, K. (2000). Stress management: A step-by-step process. Nurse Educator, 25(3), 130, 135.

Campbell, S. J. (1996). Maxed out? Mellow out with these personal stress management strategies. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 21(3), 123-126.

How to prevent and manage stress. (2011). Stress management: Approaches for preventing & reducing stress, (pp.10-28). Boston, MA: Harvard Health. Retrieved from http://www.health.harvard.edu