Coping Strategies

How you respond in stressful situations

As Nelson Mandela’s quote below conveys, courage isn’t a lack of fear, but rather an effective response to it. Similarly, we might be better if we didn’t seek to avoid stress, but rather worked to develop better responses to it.

“Coping” might be a word that you associate with something serious, but it really just refers to how you handle a difficult situation. This could be anything from having a tough assignment to figuring out how to pay your rent. In either case, it’s not so much the seriousness of the issue as how you figure out your response.

The resources below can help you understand how to better do that. Though it’s much better to work on those skills now than to wait for a problem to show up.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela

How can I improve my Coping Strategies?

Strategies to Use

First, it’s important to know yourself. There are some common ways that people tend to respond to stress:
Some good ways are to either make a plan to address your source of stress, or to ask someone else for help in doing so. (If Coping Strategies were a strength for you, you likely do this already.)
Some less helpful ways include avoiding the problem, or reacting emotionally. If Coping Strategies were an opportunity for you, this maybe describes your tendencies.
So, the next time you find yourself stressed, first ask yourself: “What can I do to address this?” If you can’t come up with an answer, that’s completely fine. The next question should be: “Who can I ask for help?”

Resources at JMU

Madison Cares is dedicated to fostering the safety and well-being of the JMU community by employing early intervention strategies, educational initiatives, and continuous support.
UREC offers a host of classes and online resources to help with your mental and physical health.
Well Dukes Coaching offers one-on-one coaching to help students identify and reach their personal well-being goals. Trained coaches take a positive approach, focusing on student strengths and working in partnership to support change. Conversations are confidential, free-of-charge, and can address diverse topics such as social and relationship well-being, alcohol and other drug use, nicotine cessation, sleep habits and stress management.
Rebound connects you with others at JMU who have dealt with and overcome challenges.