Got a coping strategy that you find good? Share it here :)

Hi @outlander,

I had a busy day with lots of people in it. Lots of talking cos I saw my psychologist and a friend came to visit, we chat hard, lol. Went to another thing with people in the morning. It spun me out a bit to do more than I have not long ago, and to be so social. And I felt overexcited and like I was going off the rails a bit.

So when I was going between appointments, this is what I did: walked slowly across a park, consciously trying to slow my mood down by slowing down my body with slower walking. It helped.

That was one of my coping strategies for today.

THOUGHT CHALLANGING

The 3 steps … The 3 steps of Thought Challenging are:
1. Recognise the Thought
2. Examine the Thought
3. Do Something Helpful

.
Three things people often tell us are helpful is to:
1. Check their thinking when they notice a drop in mood or an increase in their anxiety – many people find this is a signal that they might be having negative or unrealistic thoughts. 2. Start thinking about a previous situation where they felt depressed or anxious and try to think about what they were thinking – this can help to dig up common negative thoughts. 3. Guess what they might be thinking – Many people find that their guesses are pretty accurate and that challenging the thoughts that come up is a helpful start.

2. Examine the Thought
When challenging a thought the key questions to ask are:
1. What is the evidence for this thought? Consider whether it is concrete and solid evidence. Consider what you would say to a friend who had the same thought. Also check whether your thinking is being distorted.

2. Is the thought I am having helpful? Consider whether the thought you are having is actually helping you to cope with whatever difficulties you are facing. If the thought is unhelpful it isn’t worth having.

3. Do Something Helpful
1. Challenge unrealistic and negative thoughts. Consider what you would say to a friend who had the same thought.

2. Make thoughts more helpful. If you are struggling with unhelpful thoughts, think of more helpful things you can say to yourself. Unhelpful thoughts are unhelpful.

3. Do something to help you cope. Think of things you can do to help yourself cope. They can be big or small things! Consider problem solving the situation to help find ways of coping and maintaining your wellbeing (see the Resource on Structured Problem Solving

• hold an ice cube in one/both hands or place on the back of your neck
• write on yourself with a felt tip marker
• snap a rubber band on your ankle or wrist
• dig your fingernails into a limb without breaking the skin
• write letters to people you hate, are angry at or have hurt you. tell them what they did to you, and tell them why your angry or hate them. throw the letters away, burn them or watch them crumble in the water or keep put them away
• throw foam balls or rolled socks or soemthing similar at the wall or the floor as hard as you can
• scream as loud as you can into a pillow or where it wont draw attention to other people
• crying
• talk to a friend
• oraganise a holiday. you have unlimited money so plan a holiday that you would want to take, where would you go? what would see? places to visit?
• organise a party- again can be fake but unlimited money. design your ideal party, or pick an age and design one for someone else.
• exercise
• life weights
• do youga, tai chi, pilates or meditation
• go for a walk somewhere peaceful
• take a scenic drive
• go outside and watch the clouds. name the shapes images you see forming
• ride your bike
• go for a swim
• get a massage
• get outside even if its jsut out the front
• eat one of your favourite food
• cook/bake your favoourite food
• try a nw baking recipie
• take a cooking class
• go outside and play with your pet
• wash your pets
• watch your fave movie. tv show or youtube clips
• listen to music
• play solitaire
• do puzzles- with puzzle pieces, crosswords, findawords
• contact a helpline, or go to online chat
• play video games

• go shopping
• get a hair cut
• design your ideal spa day
• go to a spa and get pampered
• go to a library
• got to your favourite cafe for coffee/tea/ snacks
• visit a museum or art gallery
• go to church, temple or other place of worship
• write a letter to god
• learn a new language
• sing or learn to sing
• play a musical instrument or learn to play a new one
• write your own song
• listen to music
• take photographs
• join a club
• plant a garden
• make a scrapbook with pictures
• pain your nails
• change your hair colour
• work n your car, bike, truck etc
• read your favourite book, magazine, paper or poem
• write your own poem, book or story
• art- painting, drawing, sewing, crochet etc
• do an art challange from a random topic generator
• write a letter to a friend or family member

• write a loving letter to yourself
• make a list of the things your good at
• Have sex
• make a list of people you admire and why
• write a story about the craziest, funniest or most embarrrassing thing that has happened to you
• make a list of celebrities you would want to be friends with and why
• write a letter to soemone who made your life better- you dont have to give it to them.
• do some charity work
• make a list of your favourite quotes

Hi again @Bast This is one of the threads I was thinking of. Thanks @CheerBear for the link.

There are lots of ideas here about things you can do while having a difficult time to lift yourself up a bit.

It's helping me to look at it again too.

I found a tree that I love sitting under, but it’s 15 minutes walk from my house, which forces me to get up and moving if I want to see that tree. And then I spend longer while I’m there because I have to walk back, haha.

Walking is also quite meditative, and often something I turn to when nothing else in my life is going okay, and all that makes sense is the feeling of moving forward.

My son and I have a favourite tree, but I had to drive to it. It is special. I have photos of it now and keep planting my own trees so slowly things change ...

Love your post. SO earthy, but with meditation maybe ideal as well.

@soft_edges