Coping skills are one of the essential life skills that every individual must have. They will enable individuals to better manage different situations including stressful and tough ones. Coping strategies are very helpful in increasing motivation and confidence as well as for tacking challenges and achieving temporary or long-term stress relief.
Coping abilities can help you to effectively respond to various issues that may result in adversity or in disadvantage. They are being applied in your daily life without you knowing it. Some coping skills are positive and these positive strategies are the ones that allow you not just to tackle challenges but also to bounce back. However, there are also coping strategies that are not so straightforward. In this regard, it is important that you know how to find the right coping strategy that perfectly suits your needs.
What Is Repressive Coping Style?
Repressive coping style is a strategy that involves ignoring or dismissing strong emotions. Individuals who use this kind of coping strategy tend to experience negative emotional symptoms that are usually being experienced by those who are struggling with anxiety. A repressive coping style also pertains to individuals’ tendency to inhibit the expression of unpleasant cognitions or negative feelings to prevent the self-image of an individual from being threatened.
Individuals with this coping style are more likely to rely on 1 or 2 specific strategies in order to reduce the emotional influences of threatening stimuli. According to some studies, repressive coping can lead to the development of various symptoms that are associated with anxiety including cardiovascular diseases, asthma, cancer, and hypertension. Moreover, repressive coping style is also believed to be associated with pain experience.
Studies show that individuals with repressive coping style are less sensitive to pain that those who have coping style. Aside from this, they also have lower levels of depression. Not to mention this coping style is also being linked to psychological distress.
This coping style has been associated with the development of several diseases. However, some studies also show its relationship with substance abuse. It is also revealed that there is a negative correlation between alcohol use and repressive coping. The concept of repression is defined as the mental condition wherein the threatened and actual impulsive ideas are concealed from your conscious awareness to help you prevent from feeling anxious. Repressors also avoid knowing that certain diseases can also be caused by high level of physical awareness and the body tension associated with it.
Repressive coping style is important in one way or another. However, it is still important that you identity the right coping strategy that suits your situation best. One of the best ways to do this is to take note of all the situations in your life that you are having difficulty managing. Then, choose several ways that you think can help you reduce the stress that you might feel. Once you became stressed, try using one of your chosen strategies. Take note of how things work out using a specific strategy. This will help you determine which strategy works best in certain situations.