6 Coping Strategies to Ease Anxiety

New research published in American Psychologist identifies a handful of coping strategies associated with psychological resilience.

• Active Coping: An active coping strategy occurs when a person makes a conscious decision to fix something in his/her life. One can do this by seeking information/social support/help, changing one’s environment, and/or solving problems.
• Positive Reframing: This is when someone turns a negative into a positive or finds the best in a situation. It is the glass-half-full mentality.
• Instrumental Support: Thisrefers to the help others may provide you — for instance, by offering financial assistance, housekeeping, or childcare support.
• Religion/Spirituality: Coping with trauma or stress through the comfort found in spiritual or religious practices.
• Acceptance: This involves responding to change in a way that aligns with your values and not fighting against things that are out of your control.
• Emotional support:  Tapping into the warmth and nurturance that is derived from your core social circle. Spending quality time with friends and family, even if through a Zoom call or FaceTime.

The team of researchers reports that substance use, planning, venting, and denial actually do more to hurt the situation than to help it. They also found that humor and self-distraction neither induced a beneficial nor negative change in people’s well-being.

Well In Mind is here for you.

Call 815-933-2240 to schedule or learn more about your EAP benefits.

10 Ways to Create an Emotionally Healthy Home
The emotional health of the home you are raised in impacts you for the rest of your life

1. Provide Time, Attention, and Affection: Make family meals a priority. Develop rituals such as reading a story together before bedtime. Show affection, express how much you care, and practice being present with everyone every single day by giving genuine attention.
2. Design a Space That Evokes Positive Emotions: Whether it’s a sanctuary-like space or family photos that make everyone smile.
3. Establish Clear Rules: Rules are meant to keep everyone safe — both physically and emotionally. Set rules that will help everyone understand what’s acceptable and what isn’t.
4. Provide Consequences for Rule Violations: Make consequences known ahead of time.
5. Use ‘Feeling’ Words Liberally: This will help everyone feel more comfortable talking about their emotions and build your children’s emotional vocabulary.
6. Validate Everyone’s Emotions: Make it clear that whatever someone feels is OK. It’s what they choose to do with those emotions that matters.
7. Hold Tough Conversations: Ignoring the “elephant in the room” won’t make problems go away. Tackle tough topics with love and honesty and show your family its okay.
8. Practice Healthy Conflict Resolution: Using the silent treatment, yelling, making threats, or calling one another names will crush the emotional health of any home. Compromise, set healthy boundaries, and problem-solve together to resolve conflict
9. Reach for Healthy Coping Skills: Practice healthy coping strategies like reading, gardening, and exercising. Show how to manage your emotional distress in a healthy way.
10. Talk about Mental Health: Talk openly about the fact that anyone can develop a mental health issue. Make it clear that seeing a professional for your mind is no different than seeing a dentist for your teeth or a doctor for your body.

Well In Mind EAP is here to help. (815) 933-2240

Events happening in the world since the COVID-19 Pandemic started have caused us to remain in a state of chronic threat-based physiological arousal without recovery.  Our stressors have not ceased long enough to allow us to relax.   The following strategies may help protect your mental health:

AcceptanceAccepting that different variants of this virus as well as discussion about the vaccine, will stick around for a while can protect you from feeling uncertain, ruminating about when it will end, and being hyper vigilant.  Acceptance is an active process of learning to live more peacefully with the things you cannot change. 

Gaining PerspectiveThink about what COVID and the world’s events haven’t taken away from you. You may still have a loving family, pride in your work, healthy routines, or meaningful hobbies. You may still be connected to your spiritual or work community, even if not in person. 

Maintaining hopeWe have the capacity to adapt to new and difficult circumstances. The U.S. also has outstanding healthcare, public health leaders, great scientific minds, and financial resources. 

Finding your resilienceSeeing yourself as a resilient person who can get through this difficult period in the world can be a valuable mindset change.  Think about the difficult times you have endured in the past and what helped you get through. Remember your inner strengths like courage, wisdom, or having an entrepreneurial spirit. Think about the people in your life, or community resources you can turn to for help. 

Well In Mind is here for you.  Call 815-933-2240, option #2 to schedule an appointment or learn more about your EAP benefits