30 Healthy Coping Skills to Manage Stress

Are you feeling stressed? You’re not alone. Many people struggle with stress management due to multiple responsibilities and overwhelming life demands. In moments of high stress, it can be difficult to think of strategies we can use to help us feel better. Mental health therapists often talk about “coping skills,” but what are these? Can you name a few? Sometimes they are not easy to identify.

Coping skills are strategies and techniques used to manage stress, emotions, and challenging situations. Unhealthy coping skills may provide short-term relief from stress, but can have negative consequences on our physical and mental health in the long run. Examples of unhealthy coping skills include avoiding problems, neglecting responsibilities, lashing out at others, using drugs or alcohol to numb emotions, or engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors. On the other hand, healthy coping skills can improve our overall well-being and help us manage stress more effectively (see the list below).

Sometimes we may feel stuck in old habits and it might feel exhausting to come up with new strategies, especially if we are dealing with anxiety or depression. Developing healthy coping skills may also require us to make changes to our daily routines or step out of our comfort zones, which can be intimidating and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it’s important to practice healthy coping skills regularly, even when we are not experiencing high stress, to build our resilience and ability to manage challenging situations in the future.