Healthy Coping Skills For Substance Abuse

A healthy coping skill is the ability to effectively manage and deal with emotional stressors. Healthy coping skills are positive behaviors that use to create meaning out of difficult experiences, thus improving self-esteem and helping to develop as individuals. They help to increase coping skills and reduce emotional stress associated with difficult times. However, healthy coping skills aren't always easy to develop and maintain. When a person is going through a difficult time or experience, they may fail to recognize and acknowledge their problems. This may lead to poor self-care and poor decision making, which further add to the emotional stress.


The lack of healthy coping skills is often linked to a "what goes around comes around" attitude. Individuals suffering from stress are often too concerned with what other people think, say or do about their situation. They don't allow other people's opinions to impact their own feelings. If you consistently allow others' feelings and judgments to affect your decisions and actions, then you are limiting your ability to live a full and meaningful life. However, if you take the initiative to listen, interact and work through your problems, then you will be able to better manage and control your reactions to different situations.

When you are dealing with difficult issues or feelings, it is very easy to use coping mechanisms such as denial, rationalizing, avoidance, minimizing and rationalizing. It is also very easy to fall into a rut. You may begin to repeat the same stressful situation over again. You need to develop healthy coping skills so that you can effectively handle stressors, instead of letting them overwhelm you.

Healthy coping skills help you to address stressors while still maintaining a sense of control. When you effectively manage your stress, you become less stressed yourself, which makes it easier for you to be able to deal with the situation in an effective manner. Instead of allowing the stress to dictate your actions or responses, you learn how to manage it in a way that helps you feel better. This can help you gain control over stressful situations and allow you to move on quickly when the stressor no longer motivates you.

Developing healthy coping skills for substance abuse does not have to be complicated. In fact, it can often be as simple as learning how to keep yourself motivated. Many people who suffer from substance abuse issues turn to alcohol or drugs in order to self medicate for stress and anxiety. While this can be effective in certain instances, you must learn how to effectively deal with your emotions in a positive manner that does not require alcohol or drug use. Learning coping mechanisms such as yoga, meditation and breathing exercises can help you to reduce your stress levels and remain aware of the emotional changes taking place in your body.

While you do not want to become a victim of substance abuse, it is important that you understand the consequences of your actions. Unfortunately, there are some people who continue to use substances in order to numb the symptoms of their depression or anxiety. This can lead to health problems including liver disease, high blood pressure, heart attack and even death. You must be strong enough to identify the symptoms of a stressful situation and develop healthy coping strategies in order to deal with them. Once you begin to experience signs of depression or anxiety, learn some tips for making these times easier to handle.

Another important part of developing healthy coping skills for substance abuse is developing the ability to relax. Often, individuals who are dealing with stressful situations are so emotionally charged that they begin to tense up. Instead, take a few moments to breathe deeply and imagine how relaxing you would feel if the situation was less intense. You can then work on breathing deeper and becoming more relaxed throughout the duration of the situation. This can help you to relieve the anxiety that you feel during stressful moments and help you to remain calm in general.

It is also important that you learn to let go of unwanted, toxic thoughts by exercising your mind. There is an exercise that can be done that will allow you to take time and focus on your negative thoughts. Take time to write down these thoughts as you experience them, naming them and describing what the event is like as you remember it. Once you have worked through this process, you can then practice replacing the unhealthy thought patterns with healthy coping strategies such as positive affirmations or visualization exercises. Regardless of whether you choose to use these coping strategies, it is important that you find methods to let go of unwanted negative thoughts in order to maintain high levels of happiness in your life. Developing healthy coping skills for substance abuse can be difficult, but it is well worth it when you can eliminate the stress that can cause serious physical problems.