Unhealthy coping mechanisms

[Voltaic]

I think this is a big topic, just from the sheer vagueness of the term, yet I sit here not being able to think of any examples to write. Self harm is a big one, but it doesn't have to be so extreme, nor does it have to be a physical, instead emotional.

 

[Progster]

Do you mean, what unhealthy coping mechanisms do people have in general? Or me personally? The one that comes to mind (in general) is substance abuse, such as alcohol as a coping mechanism for depression or to overcome social anxiety. I used to be in the habit of drinking a glass of wine in the evening with my meal to help me to relax, but now I take antidepressants and alchohol is linked to cancer, so I have stopped this - I restrict it to the weekends.

 

[Chance]

Maybe just mentally beating the crap out ourselves and mulling stuff over that should be long gone and in the past... That seems to be one of my most self destructive unhealthy coping mechanisms.

I also get hung up on what I try so hard to overcome and then compare it to what I have noticed that people notice about me. Rejection, abandonment, its all just this mental baseball bat that I mostly use on myself and in that I sometimes want to go back into my closed off mode I was in for years and not let anyone in my life at any level... However I know that is unhealthy and I have to sort of refuse it as a coping mechanism.

 

[pax]

Alcohol. Kinda the opposite to progster. I was not a drinker at all till maybe 25-28. I tried at least 3 different antidepressants, and the side effects were worse than the depression. alcohol has less side effects as far as I'm concerned. still not good, but the lesser evil.

 

[Sabrina]

I used to binge eat when I was a teen and there have been periods of my life when I’ve had more than what I should have of healthy daily alcohol. Alcohol never became an addicion, but food did. I can never let the guard down regarding food, because I’m always afraid I’ll be back to the bad old habits.

From what I know, an addiction or bad habit doesn’t dissapear, one just replaces it with another. I wonder if self harm could be replaced with getting tattoos. I don’t self harm myself (I’ve never felt the need) , but I recently got my second tattoo, and they hurt.

 

[WereBear]

Any coping strategy that causes harm can be viewed as "unhealthy." Especially if it undermines one's ability to get rid of whatever you are trying to cope with

Like, moderate drinking scores better on health indexes than drinking too much, which seems obvious. But people who never drink also do not score as well! It would seem that for many, moderate intake has some healthful effect, whether it is stress reduction or some other mechanism.

This can be generalized to any coping strategy. For instance, Fundamentalist religions tend to forbid normal coping mechanisms. The only thing such a follower can do is dive deeper into their religion, which is how such practitioners often become fanatical and violent.

Fantasy is a fine coping strategy most of the time, unless it slips into the person's reality to the point that they can't discern reality any more.

 

[Gritches]

I believe that escapism is my overall maladaptive coping mechanism, which has manifested itself in many ways in the past: retreating into a fantasy world in the form of video games, escaping my mind via intoxication, just cutting people loose rather than trying to fix social problems, attempted suicide was also an attempt at escape (I was after the perceived benefits of death), even the fact that I like working so much because it occupies my mind and I don't think about the bad stuff is a sort of escape. Sleeping too much might be considered escape, especially when I was depressed and I found it better to be asleep than be awake. Then of course there's TV, and even binge eating is a sort of escape from reality.

Lots of ways to escape I guess. Makes me wonder if it's purely a bad thing, or if escapism is something that's okay in moderation.

 

[WereBear]

if escapism is something that's okay in moderation.

I believe so. We have been millions of years in the making, and we constantly seek escapism. Societies which try to block coping mechanisms wind up making problems worse.

It's a survival drive. This is why we have them.

 

[OkRad]

Any way I can survive, I am all for it.

 

[Bolletje]

I used to drink and smoke very heavily. That was not a healthy coping mechanism at all, on top of that it wasn't very effective.

 

[Esa]

Alcohol. Kinda the opposite to progster. I was not a drinker at all till maybe 25-28. I tried at least 3 different antidepressants, and the side effects were worse than the depression. alcohol has less side effects as far as I'm concerned. still not good, but the lesser evil.

it's still pretty evil. It works though. I always thought everyone else loved alcohol for the same reasons I did. But, I've just come across so many people who looked a bit confused or simply not satisfied with my answer when I told them why.
It slows down my senses. I hear less. I see less. I feel less. I care less. And there's absolutely much less to tolerate.

Literally kills your brain. But it kills your other organs, too.

 

[Starfire]

It was drugs and alcohol for me. It definitely helped to some degree, and was a crutch I could always rely on.

Unfortunately, after decades of living like that it begins to extol a heavy price, emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually and just about any other 'lly' you can think of!

 

[Celestiune]

Self-deprecation, idk why, but self deprecation makes me feel better about myself, it's weird.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

In terms of maladaptive coping strategies I would clench my jaw no stop through my teen years and into adulthood, I don't think it's something I decided to do one day, just stress made me do it. My teeth aren't in great shape now, there's some serious erosion done to them but I've done something now to prevent any more damage by see a dentist. Yes, I do realise that I'm a American-viewed British stereotype!

 

[Esa]

Before I knew what I had, I got into drugs and alcohol. When I was younger I enjoyed the effects of weed. The best rest I have ever had in my life was after smoking some primo herb. When I got older it was alcohol, especially when I learned how to counteract a hangover. It didn't do it for me like weed, but then I didn't have to worry about a drug test or getting arrested for possession.

Now that I understand what AS is, I have made better life choices and changes, so I no longer need coping mechanisms.

I’m the opposite, or I was. Weed never worked for me. I still wonder why it made me worse actually. Not just mentally. Could I be allergic to it? That would explain a lot )

 

[Major Tom]

Drugs for me and beating the **** out of myself any chance I get (mentally).

 

[QueenHidari]

I think one unhealthy coping mechanism I developed on accident was depersonalizing. Sometimes when I get overstimulated and I try to calm myself down I would dissociate. When it first happened, I had brought myself down from a panic attack, and I realized that it felt like my mental image of where my body was was three feet next to my body. It felt like my body was on autopilot, yet it was still doing what I wanted it to do. It felt really weird at first, and made me nervous, but I got used to it over time. I realized that when I was like that it meant that all the noise in my brain went away. My brain suddenly was quiet, and all the stimulation wasn't bothering me. It felt peaceful, but I soon realized that it wasn't a healthy coping mechanism.