Q: What are bad coping skills?

Bad coping skills, otherwise called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/maladaptive-coping-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">maladaptive coping strategies</a>, are harmful and/or ineffective thoughts or actions generally categorized as problem-avoidance strategies. Individuals who are trying to avoid a problem may engage themselves in activities that distract themselves from thoughts and stresses related to the problem. Common problematic coping strategies may involve one or more of the following: <ul role="presentation"> <li>Outright denial that the problem exists</li><li>Blaming others</li><li>Gambling</li><li>Procrastination</li><li>Excessive video gaming</li><li>Substance abuse</li><li>Sex addiction</li><li>Eating disorders</li><li><a href="https://meetmonarch.com/health-resources/articles/acceptance-and-commitment-act/why-the-fear-of-discomfort-might-be-holding-you-back" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Excess spending</a></li><li>Hyperfocusing on activities, subjects, or people</li><li>Self-harm</li><li>Attempted or completed suicide</li> </ul>

Question 1

What are emotional coping skills?

Accepted Answer

Emotional coping skills are ways that help one to process or channel their feelings, often in a cathartic manner.

These strategies, positive or negative, could include exercise, artistic expression, "venting" to a trusted friend, family member, or therapist, or the outdated strategy of designating an object to be the focus of a child's anger or frustration: A pillow or punching bag, for example. A therapist might recommend dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to further aid a client in developing healthy emotional skills.

Dialectical behavioral therapy is a common approach to treating suicidal ideation, self-harm, and other negative emotional coping skills while helping the individual build balanced, positive emotional coping strategies such as these:

Journaling
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Support groups
Mindfulness exercises
Confidence-building hobbies or activities

Negative emotional coping strategies include:

Physical violence
Aggressive or destructive behavior
Passive-aggressive behavior
Self-harm
Stalking
Obsessive-compulsive behavior

Some of these negative (maladaptive) coping strategies are also identified as problem-avoidance coping styles.

Question 2

How do you teach kids coping skills?

Accepted Answer

Parents can teach their kids healthy coping skills by listening to encouraging dialogue with their children when problems arise, by setting good examples, and helping their children make plans to prevent or solve problems.

Here's how parents can help their children adjust to negative thoughts, regulate their emotions, and address problems:

Allowing children to talk freely about their problems, which often helps them "sort out" their feelings and discover positive solutions
Encouraging children to draw or write about their problems to better identify their source and encourage dialogue
Showing children how to solve interpersonal conflict through role-playing, and by treating others with respect and compassion
Setting and maintaining healthy, respectful, and safe interpersonal and behavioral boundaries

Parent quiz: Child mental health checklist

This 3-minute, online quiz can be used if you think your child is having emotional, attentional, or behavioral difficulties.

Question 3

What are bad coping skills?

Accepted Answer

Bad coping skills, otherwise called maladaptive coping strategies, are harmful and/or ineffective thoughts or actions generally categorized as problem-avoidance strategies. Individuals who are trying to avoid a problem may engage themselves in activities that distract themselves from thoughts and stresses related to the problem.

Common problematic coping strategies may involve one or more of the following:

Outright denial that the problem exists
Blaming others
Gambling
Procrastination
Excessive video gaming
Substance abuse
Sex addiction
Eating disorders
Excess spending
Hyperfocusing on activities, subjects, or people
Self-harm
Attempted or completed suicide

Question 4

What Are the 5 Types of Coping Skills?

Accepted Answer

Coping skills are methods by which people handle problems and stresses in our lives.

Some coping strategies are adaptive, meaning they allow the individual to confront and adjust their attitudes and behaviors toward the issue; others are maladaptive, preventing them from overcoming the problem.

5 different types of coping skills

1. Problem-focused strategies

These directly address the source of the distress, either through action or goal-setting.

For example, a person who is behind on taxes due to financial constraints gathers the courage to call and arrange a payment plan.

2. Emotion-focused strategies

These involve "letting out" and processing feelings through dialogue, meditation, or activities. Someone using an emotion-focused strategy might use extreme sports, singing, or writing.

3. Seeking/understanding strategies

These compel the individual to find meaning in or a greater understanding of the stress source. They might consult an astrologer or clergy, engage in prayer or meditation, or make reasonable (or unreasonable) connections between the stress source and seemingly unrelated objects, events, or concepts.

4. Help-seeking strategies

These include calling a friend to vent about a problem, asking a trusted family member for advice, or seeking out professional treatment or guidance.

5. Problem-avoidance

This is essentially "burying one's head in the sand"—physically and mentally ignoring the problem in the hope that it will go away.

The individual might engage in activities that distract them from the problem, such as refusing to cross a street after a trauma-inducing pedestrian accident, (physical) or creating internal excuses absolving the cause of the problem—an abuser, for example—or convincing themselves they have no control over the problem.

Another form of problem avoidance is denial, when an individual refuses to acknowledge that the problem exists. In such cases, the person exhibiting problem-avoidance coping styles may immerse themselves in activities that distract them from the stress source and related negative thoughts.

Question 5

What are coping skills in therapy?

Accepted Answer

Coping skills in therapy are conscious, voluntary thoughts or actions used to deal with stressful situations. You might hear them referred to as coping styles or coping mechanisms.

People develop positive and negative coping skills throughout their lives. Negative coping skills are ultimately self-destructive, as they are typically ways an individual avoids or minimizes the problem, usually while causing further stress and self-sabotage.

Positive coping skills empower the individual to identify, examine, and work towards solving or relieving the problem.

Coping skills learned in therapy are positive means of facing stressful internal and external stimuli and adjusting our responses to their effects.

Ideally, these coping strategies replace unhealthy, problem-compounding coping mechanisms while aiding the patient's efforts to identify and alleviate the source of the stress or anxiety.

Through therapeutic methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), role-playing, and mindfulness practice, therapists can guide clients in building confidence, resourcefulness, and resilience in the face of adversity.

What are emotional coping skills?

Related questions about coping skills

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