Resilience can be described as our ability to experience what needs to be experienced especially when we find it difficult. Coping skills are the skills we learn to help us do this. Resilience is a key aspect of good mental health and wellbeing. It's a skill and we've been learning how to be resilient since the very first time we fell over as a baby and got back up again.
Coping skills can be helpful or unhelpful (Described as healthy or unhealthy in the article below).
Helpful coping skills could include:
- Talking about our problems with a trusted friend or family member
- Exercising if we feel stressed
- Making positive food choices even though we're bored
- Controlling our anger when someone upsets us
Unhelpful coping skills may include:
- Turning to alcohol or drugs to help us deal with our problems
- Bottling all our problems up
- Lashing out at others when we get wronged
- Self harm
We all have the opportunity to develop either type of coping skill. Healthy / helpful skills contribute to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. Unhealthy / unhelpful coping skills reduces are sense of wellbeing and negatively impacts those we care about.
If you find that you are struggling with issues or if you can identify with some of the unhealthy coping skills above please let someone know: a friend, a teacher, a sports coach, family member or someone on a helpline. It's important that you do.
Healthy / Unhealthy Coping Strategies
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