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Cope with Stress

We have five action strategies for coping with stress. It’s possible that any person might benefit from using all of these strategies. However, when we’re trying to make a significant change it’s usually best to choose one change to make at a time. So look at the choices below, think about which one seems best for you right now, and click on that strategy to go to the next step in making your action plan. You might not be sure which strategy to choose. That's OK. Feel free to explore several strategies. If you pick a strategy and then change your mind as you go along, you can always come back here and make another choice.

Choose a Strategy

Negative thinking can make it harder to cope with stress and also interfere with our ability to solve stress-related problems. Replacing negative thinking patterns with more flexible and realistic thinking can make it easier to cope with stress.
Getting support from other people – a friendly ear to listen to our troubles, helpful advice, practical help, reassurance that people care about us – is a classic way of coping with stress.
Everyone has ways of coping with stress. Some coping methods are more helpful than others. Some can even be harmful over time. Most people could benefit from learning new coping strategies that are both effective and risk-free.
Lifestyle habits like getting enough rest, exercise, diet, and making time for enjoyable leisure activities affect our ability to deal with stress. Making even one positive lifestyle change can strengthen our ability to cope with stress.
Sometimes stress can be so overwhelming that it interferes with our ability to cope with the stress or solve the problems that are creating our stress. In this case, it can be very helpful to seek professional help.

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