Coping With Stress

Book stores are filled with books that tell us how to cope with stress. Each of these books offers its own perspective on stress along with various coping techniques. To make the most of the information on coping skills, you need to understand what coping is all about. Coping is simply a way of short-circuiting the stress cycle: stopping the stress response.

There is no single right way of coping with a given situation. Each of us must figure out what works best for us. What works best will depend, in part, on your coping style. There are three main styles. None of these styles is better than the other and some people use a mixture of them.
 The first step in coping is to know yourself. Begin by deciding which of these may be your style.

•  Task-oriented: you may feel comfortable analyzing the situation and taking action to deal directly with the situation.
•  Emotion-oriented: you may prefer to deal with your feelings and find social supports.
•  Distraction-oriented: you may use activities or work to take your mind off the situation. Keep this style in mind as you read the information on coping skills.