Coping Skills
What is a coping skill?
Ways that one manages or deals with stressful situations or intense emotions.
What is a Substance Use Disorder?
A chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain. It is considered both a complex brain disorder and a mental illness. Addiction is the most severe form of a full spectrum of substance use disorders, and is a medical illness caused by repeated misuse of a substance or substances.
Substance use disorders occur when the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.
What is mental health?
A person's emotional, psychological and social well-being.
True or False: Feelings are facts
False - Feelings are not facts! Feelings are feelings. They are VALID but not always TRUE
List some common healthy coping strategies
- Grounding, Physical Activity
-Deep Breathing, Talking to a Friend
-Prayer, Reading, Positive Affirmations/Self-Talk
-Journaling, Meditation, Mindfulness, Etc.
What are common reasons for using substances?
-Trauma, untreated/undiagnosed mental health conditions, peer pressure, stress, to numb 'uncomfrotable' emotions/thoughts/experiences, loneliness etc.
Answers will vary.
True or False: There are 'good' and 'bad' emotions
False: Emotions do not have morality. They are neither good nor bad - just emotions. A better way to categorize emotions is: uncomfortable or comfortable.
List some unhealthy coping mechanisms
-Self-harm, ignoring/minimizing emotions/thoughts
-Substance use, binge eating, 'doom' scrolling
-Impuslive spending, isolation, gambling, sleeping too much
-Risky behaviors
What are the most commonly abused substances?
Alcohol, Opiods, Stimulants (amphetamines), Benzodiazapines (Xanax, Valium), Hallucinogens (LSD, PCP, Mushrooms)
How many people in hte US live with a mental illness?
1 in 5 people
What are emotions?
Reactions that humans experience in response to events you experience, thoughts you have, people you are around or places you go. (people, places, things, events)
What coping skill utilizes all 5 sense to bring your awareness to the present?
Grounding
What is the name of the medication designed to reduce Opiod overdose?
-Nalaxone
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist, meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects of opioids. For an individual who has overdosed, their breathing will slow down or stop, naloxone will quickly restore normal breathing. Naloxone is a life-saving drug that anyone can receive over the counter and without a prescription.
How does physical activity impact mental health?
It releases endorphins which helps with pain reduction, stress reduction and mood improvement.
What is a 'trigger'?
a trigger is a stimulus that can cause a reaction, often an adverse emotional one, that worsens or brings on symptoms. Triggers can be internal or external, and they can vary widely from person to person
What is the number to call in case of a mental health crisis?
988
How many people in the United States have a Substance Use Disorder/Addiction?
23.5 million or 10%
How many people in the United States are diagnosed with Schizophrenia?
Between 0.25 and 0.64%
When was the word 'emotion' commonly utilized in the English language?
The word "emotion" was coined in the early 1800s by Thomas Brown and it is around the 1830s that the modern concept of emotion first emerged for the English language.