2 Effective Stress Coping Strategies for Mindset Transformation

What are stress coping strategies, and how can they help you find a balance between your mind, body and soul through mindset transformation?

Stress is neither positive nor negative, but it does have a significant impact on your mental and physical health. If stress is left unmanaged, acute stress can lead to chronic stress, which is where the negative effects of stress become problematic.

Stress various from person to person and is felt differently by each individual depending on their personality, current circumstances, and the stressor. Therefore, we need different coping strategies to manage the effects of stress. 

What is coping?

“A process of constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person.” Lazarus and Folkman

Coping is the intentional effort we make to minimise the physical and psychological effects of stress or the thoughts and actions we take to deal with a stressful situation. 

In this post, I explain 2 effective stress coping strategies: problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping.

Stress coping strategies

Lazarus and Folkman introduced two strategies to cope with stress and manage the effects in our everyday lives.

Problem-focused coping

Problem-focused coping is the approach of resolving or eliminating the stressful situation or altering the source of the stressor. This approach is used when we feel we have control over the situation and can manage the cause of the problem.

The individual acknowledges an event or situation does not cause the feelings they are experiencing, but the underlying problem is the cause of stress.

There are four steps to manage this stress: 

1. Define the problem – Identify what the cause of your stress
2. Generate alternative solutions – Look at the problem objectively and brainstorm alternative solutions that can eliminate or reduce your stressor
3. Learn new skills to deal with stressors – Acquire new skills that can directly address the cause of the stressor
4. Reappraise and find new standards of behaviour – Find new standards of behaviour that may eliminate the cause of the stressor

Emotion-focused coping

Emotion-focused coping is the approach taken when you cannot manage the source or gain control over the problem. This approach focuses on handling the emotions being experienced rather than what is causing the stress.

Strategies for regulating stress:

1. Avoiding (I am not going to school)
2. Distancing yourself from the stress (it doesn’t matter)
3. Acceptance (I failed that exam, but I have 4 other subjects)
4. Seeking Medical Support (prescription from a health practitioner)
5. Turning to alcohol and substance use

Common emotional responses to stress include: 

• Denial: Avoiding or denying a stressor can take many forms, anything to delay having to deal with the problem.
• Blaming: Sometimes, people need to vent their frustrations. If we cannot or will not blame ourself, we turn to others. For some, directing the blame towards someone else can ease the effects of the stressor. Blaming another can feel like they have control over the situation because someone else is held accountable.
• Relying on social support: Talking can be therapeutic for some, allowing us to evaluate our thoughts on the cause of the stress. You could choose to talk with a therapist, a trusted friend or family member.
• Fixating on negative thoughts: You just lost your job and fall in a spiral of self-doubt and anxiety on how you’re going to pay the bills. You resign to your unemployed fate, going along with the flow of unfortunate events, saying you have no choice. You become especially and visibly gloomy and unhappy about the situation, sulking whenever you have the chance, and even complaining about the unfairness of it all.

Problem-focused coping strategies

Problem-focused coping strategies lead towards changing or modifying the cause of the stress by the individual taking control of the situation. 

Common problem-focused coping strategies include:

• Identifying the cause of the stress
• Analysing the situation
• Learning new skills (time management skills)
• Work over-time (stay up all night to finish an assignment)
• Change the environment to avoid or eliminate the stressor 
• Developing new approaches to prevent the source of the stressor

Example:

It is New Year’s Eve, and you have chosen to host the family this year, all 30 of them. The thought of preparing such a feast becomes overwhelming and stressful.

Instead of allowing these emotions of stress to take over, you asses your options, and take over the situation. 

As this is a situation you can change and control, you decide to to have the event catered to eliminate the cause — no more stress about cleaning, prepping, deciding on what to cook and if there will be enough food to go around. 

Emotion-focused coping strategies

Emotion-focused coping strategies lead towards reducing or preventing your emotional reaction to the stressor. This can involve managing your feelings by finding strategies that release or distract you, including seeking social support and relaxation techniques. 

Common emotion-focused coping strategies include: 

• Expression or suppression of one’s emotions with others
• Journal your thoughts and feelings (keep a gratitude journal)
• Cognitive reframing or positive reevaluation of situations (focusing on one’s ability to control the situation) “Yes it is true that I just got laid off and I am very stressed out, but I am a hard worker and have a lot of experience and skills that employers are looking for.”
• Focus on negative thoughts (fixating on the negative thoughts associated with the stressor)
• Avoiding the negative thoughts (blocking out negative thoughts or not acknowledging them)
• Avoiding the stressor (delaying or cancelling appointments or social events)
• Modifying emotional states through the use of relaxation, alcohol or other substance use, or immersion in enjoyable activities

Example:

If a family member is diagnosed with a terminal illness, you cannot change or deny the diagnosis. Therefore, you will adopt an emotion-focused strategy by changing your perspective or opinion of the situation. 

You can change your perception or opinion by expressing your feelings to your partner, a trusted friend or seeking reassurance from a doctor.

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It doesn’t matter which stress coping strategy you use to deal with the effects of stress; you just need to decide which stress coping strategy works best for your situation and apply it to your daily life. 

Remember, your mind is resilient, and with a bit of practice and commitment, both strategies will become apart of your arsenal when dealing with everyday stress. 

What experience have you had with using problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping strategies? Where they positive or negative experiences? Did you turn to alcohol or substance use or sort help from a therapist or a life coach maybe?

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