Preventing the Internalization of External Stressors

Wanting to stay in the know but also protect your mental health can be a challenge. We want to be aware of the issues happening in our world, but what to do with that knowledge is something many of us struggle with. Being patient with ourselves, self monitoring our information intake and doing so mindfully are all ways to keep our head above water during seasons of heightened stress.

Coping Strategies: Emotional and Problem Focused

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented responses. Many of us have noticed in the past few years that our traditional coping strategies are falling short of the comfort they once provided. 

Psychotherapist Amy Morin, LCSW, explains in her article “Healthy Coping Skills for Uncomfortable Emotions” that there are two kinds of coping skills, “Emotional Focused” and “Problem Focused”. Problem Focused coping skills are hands on, including things like “make a to-do list” and “establish healthy boundaries”. These are helpful when situations are in your area of control. Emotional Focused coping skills, however, are for situations with more active complexities that don’t have immediate or obvious solutions. 

Each individual’s Emotional Focused coping strategies will be different, but identifying the cause of discomfort is the first step in reconciling with the complex emotions often associated with the modern new cycle.

Safety of the Self

Having a desire to help others can be a natural instinct that is both positive and negative. When we hear about tragedy or need, our immediate natural instinct is to feel a sort of “activation” toward being of assistance. We can’t be everywhere at once, however, and many larger issues are out of our immediate control.

When we start to become fixated on solutions, it benefits our mental health to reframe those pressing questions inversely. Asking ourselves if WE are okay, if WE are getting the things WE need is an effective way to identify stressors in our lives that we CAN control and solve those issues as a way to cope with the state of the world. 

Acceptance

Part of self care is setting boundaries with ourselves about what we can emotionally handle on any given day. The modern news cycle can feel incredibly overwhelming. Sometimes, it may be necessary to intake the information presented to us, but not the emotion. When the appropriate time presents itself to do something about those difficult issues, we will have the information we need. Until then, it’s beneficial to assess and release. 

Gratitude exercises are a great way to counteract the negative emotions that surface when faced with challenging media intake. Naming things in our life that we are grateful for, like the safety and security of our friends and family, helps alleviate the burden of immediate action. We can’t change the world in an afternoon, but we can brighten the day of those around us by practicing positive mental wellness! 

Action

When we take care of our mental health and ensure that we are cultivating a healthy environment around us, it is easier to compartmentalize the troubling things that come our way. Creating an uplifting and positive environment is something in our control. Cultivating our surroundings to reflect our needs over our ideals of wellness ensures that we have safe places to turn when feelings of being overwhelmed start to dominate our mental processes.