Emotions can be hard to handle directly at times. Most of us have utilized defense mechanisms; whether it is consciously or unconsciously. Another phrase for defense mechanisms is coping strategies. If you depend on these strategies often, you may not learn to express your true feelings. What are these strategies that we utilize? I’ll discuss these over the next few blogs.

The first coping mechanism is DENIAL . Denial is a refusing of an emotion or problem. Denial is often associated with the first stage in coping with someones death or when being accused of having an addiction. However, it can also be a coping mechanism for dealing with highly stressful situations in life. We sometimes think: “if I ignore *?!^# then it will go away, I won’t have to deal with it”. However, whether we like it or not- we deal with it.

Denial will start to show sooner or later: usually physically. You start to have difficulty sleeping, a change in eating habits, developing ulcers, find yourself participating in more negative activities, or lead to other coping mechanisms. Though your appearance on the outside comes across as happy, calm, or at ease; on the inside you’re in knots.

We often hear in the work force that stress comes with the job, so we suck it up and deal with it as if it is a norm. Sometimes it is a norm and sometimes it is not. If you question whether your stress is a norm it can be helpful to talk to a 3rd party that is not connected to your company, but keeps all discussions confidential. Regardless, if you feel you’re utilizing the coping strategy of denial in any stage of your life, it is best to talk to someone; or take a hard look at what is happening, stare at it head on and decide how to change the situation.

more coping strategies to come……