Stress Management 101: Building Resilience and Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Define Stress and its impact on physical and mental health.

“Life is not what happens to us, but how we choose to react to what happens to us.”

Practice the 4-4-4-4 breathing technique to calm your nervous system.

“Box breathing slows down our breathing which forces our heart to slow and activates the calming response in our body.”

Use your senses to ground yourself in the present moment.

“This technique helps ground us in the present moment and can slow down racing thoughts.”

Exercise to release endorphins and reduce stress.

“Exercise floods the body with endorphins and can help use up the adrenaline released from stress, clearing our heads and allowing us to feel calmer.”

Write down your feelings and create an action plan.

“Writing down our feelings to acknowledge them and then making a plan to problem solve can help us tune into our thoughts and feelings and figure out an action plan.”

Disconnect to focus on your surroundings and feelings.

“Taking a break from technology can help us to focus on our immediate surroundings, tune into how we are feeling, and connect live with others.”

Connect with friends and family for support.

“Leaning on our relationships, talking about what is stressing us out, and asking for help are some of the best ways to cope with stress.”

Focus on what you are grateful for.

“When something is upsetting to us it can help to be grateful for what is good in our lives.”

Help someone else to reduce your own stress.

“Acts of kindness flood our bodies with feel good hormones increase our sense of connectedness and purpose and help us focus on problems other than our own.”

Recognize the dangers of using alcohol or drugs to cope with stress.

“Alcohol and other substances can be used to dull or numb the pain of stress but this effect is temporary does not resolve the problem harms us if we do it too much it can become an addiction.”

Avoid using food as a coping mechanism.

“Overeating or under eating creates an unhealthy relationship with food can harm us by starving or overfilling our body and creating additional emotional stress it fails to address what is actually stressing us out.”

Don't use distractions to avoid your problems.

“Avoiding the problem by using social media work television sleep or other distractions can work to prevent us from thinking about our stress but it does not resolve the stress.”

Recognize and manage negative social behaviors.

“We may withdraw if we are overwhelmed and do not have the energy to interact with others however interacting with others almost always helps relieve our stress. On the other hand taking our stress out as aggression or aggravation toward others may leave our loved ones hurt and confused and may leave us feeling guilty about how we treated them.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm, seek professional help immediately.

“Self-harm is a dangerous way to cope with stress. If you or someone you know self-harms, please seek professional help immediately.”