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Coping

Coping refers to conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with and overcome struggles and difficulties in life.[1] It is a way for people to maintain their mental and emotional well-being.[2] Everybody has ways of handling difficult events that occur in life, and that is what it means to cope. Coping can be healthy and productive, or destructive and unhealthy. It is recommended that an individual cope in ways that will be beneficial and healthy. "Managing your stress well can help you feel better physically and psychologically and it can impact your ability to perform your best."[3]

For other uses, see Coping (disambiguation).

releasing pent-up emotions

distracting oneself

[5]

managing hostile feelings

meditating

mindfulness practices

[15]

using systematic relaxation procedures.

Moving towards clients: Coping by helping clients in stressful situations. An example is a teacher working overtime to help students.

Moving away from clients: Coping by avoiding meaningful interactions with clients in stressful situations. An example is a public servant stating "the office is very busy today, please return tomorrow."

Moving against clients: Coping by confronting clients. For instance, teachers can cope with stress when working with students by imposing very rigid rules, such as no cellphone use in class and sending everyone to the office when they use a cellphone. Furthermore, towards clients is also included here.

aggression

Gender differences[edit]

Gender differences in coping strategies are the ways in which men and women differ in managing psychological stress. There is evidence that males often develop stress due to their careers, whereas females often encounter stress due to issues in interpersonal relationships.[58] Early studies indicated that "there were gender differences in the sources of stressors, but gender differences in coping were relatively small after controlling for the source of stressors";[59] and more recent work has similarly revealed "small differences between women's and men's coping strategies when studying individuals in similar situations."[60]


In general, such differences as exist indicate that women tend to employ emotion-focused coping and the "tend-and-befriend" response to stress, whereas men tend to use problem-focused coping and the "fight-or-flight" response, perhaps because societal standards encourage men to be more individualistic, while women are often expected to be interpersonal. An alternative explanation for the aforementioned differences involves genetic factors. The degree to which genetic factors and social conditioning influence behavior, is the subject of ongoing debate.[61]

Physiological basis[edit]

Hormones also play a part in stress management. Cortisol, a stress hormone, was found to be elevated in males during stressful situations. In females, however, cortisol levels were decreased in stressful situations, and instead, an increase in limbic activity was discovered. Many researchers believe that these results underlie the reasons why men administer a fight-or-flight reaction to stress; whereas, females have a tend-and-befriend reaction.[62] The "fight-or-flight" response activates the sympathetic nervous system in the form of increased focus levels, adrenaline, and epinephrine. Conversely, the "tend-and-befriend" reaction refers to the tendency of women to protect their offspring and relatives. Although these two reactions support a genetic basis to differences in behavior, one should not assume that in general females cannot implement "fight-or-flight" behavior or that males cannot implement "tend-and-befriend" behavior. Additionally, this study implied differing health impacts for each gender as a result of the contrasting stress-processes.

Harrington, Rick (2013). Stress, health & well-being thriving in the 21st century. Cengage Learning.  978-1-111-83161-5. OCLC 781848419.

ISBN

Folkman, Susan; Moskowitz, Judith Tedlie (February 2004). "Coping: Pitfalls and Promise". Annual Review of Psychology. 55 (1): 745–774. :10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141456. PMID 14744233.

doi

Susan Folkman and Richard S. Lazarus, "Coping and Emotion", in Nancy Stein et al. eds., Psychological and Biological Approaches to Emotion (1990)

Brougham, Ruby R.; Zail, Christy M.; Mendoza, Celeste M.; Miller, Janine R. (2009). "Stress, Sex Differences, and Coping Strategies Among College Students". Current Psychology. 28 (2): 85–97. :10.1007/s12144-009-9047-0. S2CID 18784775.

doi

Arantzamendi M, Sapeta P, Belar A, Centeno C. How palliative care professionals develop coping competence through their career: A grounded theory. Palliat Med. 2024 Feb 21:2692163241229961. .

doi: 10.1177/02692163241229961

Coping Skills for Trauma

Coping Strategies for Children and Teenagers Living with Domestic Violence