Do coping skills work?

We need to have a real discussion about coping skills and weather they work or not? All I ever hear is that I have them but they don't work.

“Coping skills don’t work…”

“Coping skills are stupid…”

“Coping Skills are boring…”

“Coping skills are a waste of time…”

We hear these statements all the time from the people we work with but when we ask them what skills they have learned and what they have tried to apply, they can’t give a straight answer. Sounds familiar to you, well you’re not alone. Here’s the deal… We know these feelings can feel like absolute truths especially when you’re in the mists of a dark depression, BUT I PROMISE THESE STATMENTES ARE MYTHS! They are the lies that depression tell you. You see, depression has its own voice and it’s incredibly sneaky and sometimes even more real than our own thoughts. If it can convince you that you don’t matter, that there’s no point, and that trying is completely hopeless, then it can easily convince you that skills don’t help.

Skills do help!

We just don’t call them skills. For example, one can learn to play the drums, dominate a chess board, or become a great soccer player. Anything can be a skill if you enjoy it and can excel at it. Skills are designed to take your mind off the bad experience you had and move on to something that relaxes you. Some skills work better than others and it’s up to you to decide what you can do to wind down after a stressful day. In the professional world we call this self-care skills. Do them daily, they work!

Skill Building Tools

Other types of skill building tools are meant to help you with things like managing emotions, growing self-restraint, improve social skills, practicing mindfulness, and so much more. These are the skills that help us deal with the stress in our lives, you know the things we tend to shy away from, like having that difficult conversation with a friend, or telling your boss you deserve to be respected. Really, you can play a game to distract your-self, but eventually you must find ways to deal with the overwhelming stressors ( I call them Everest's) that cause problems or you run the risk exploding on someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Here at Overcoming Everest, we specialize in teaching these skills and we’ve made it easier than ever to learn them at your own pace. We know that picking up a book and reading through all its content can be daunting and can take, what seems like forever to find the right answers. We have done the work for you and teach it in simple ways that you can understand. Don’t be the person that never takes the time or the steps to learn about YOU or a loved-one, take some time today and become the person you were meant to be, let us help you overcome your Everest’s.