[Sad Mermaid]

I had a crisis which involved a short inpatient stay. While at the hospital I realized that I had neglected learning coping skills and had been relying on medication alone, which is not sufficient. Since then I have been thinking about it and figured out that my main coping skill is preparing my own food (rather than eating out) and eating before hunger sets in - eating proactively, so to speak.

Other skills are:

1. Listening to classic music. Chopin works especially great.
2. Drawing
3. Coloring
4. Writing stories
5. Recording ideas for stories to develop them later
6. Writing longer, detailed emails about the little things in my day
7. Going for a walk
8. Thera-putty that was given to me at the hospital
9. I think embroidering would be great, but I have not bought the supplies yet
10. Making bead jewelry
11. Keeping myself well hydrated
12. Remembering that it is an episodic illness and each state shall pass
13. Swimming
14. Biking
15. Interval training by walking on a treadmill
16. Prepping vegetables
17. Washing dishes ("luckily" the DW in the apartment can only rinse)
18. Scrubbing the kitchen sink
19. Taking a hot shower
20. Foot massage or a foot soak
21. Going to bed at the same time and having an alarm set for the same day each day
22. Shopping for groceries and making shopping lists (rather than eating out)
23. Walking outside in the rain or when the weather is windy
24. having a thermos with hot tea on hand and sipping the hot tea slowly
25. never having an empty fridge or cupboard
26. photography, if I can learn it
27. reading, if I could regain focus to pursue it
28. putting away laundry or groceries
29. meditation for those who can (I cannot)
30. focusing on the breathing
31. yoga
32. social interactions

Please add on. At the end of the thread I will make a master list and post it as a separate message.

[JustJace2u]

Thanks for posting this. I just was in the hospital last week (released a week ago today). I'm still learning how to cope since I was only diagnosed in May, but I know it's a learning process.

[usehername]

Thank you for posting this. Even those of us who are supposedly "fine" often desperately lack real coping skills (like me).

thanks for this.

I am a classic example of number 6

people are like to me usually,

how on earth can you write 10 paragraphs about eating a pizza?

but it's doable!

my biggist issue is learning the coping methods, but forgetting to use them

it happens a lot..

[emgreen]

When I was IP they gave us a DBT sheet that included sexual activity / masturbation as a coping technique (I'm not being juvenile; it was on the sheet). I can understand how such a sensory experience might temporarily get one out of one's own head...not unlike taking a hot shower, or getting a massage.

[JustJace2u]

I never understood the whole sexual thing. Yes, I like sex, but I don't obsess over it. It's been many years since I've been sexually active and I'm perfectly ok with it. I guess that's why we're all unique in our own way.

[Sad Mermaid]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

thanks for this.

I am a classic example of number 6

people are like to me usually,

how on earth can you write 10 paragraphs about eating a pizza?

but it's doable!

my biggist issue is learning the coping methods, but forgetting to use them

it happens a lot..

Oh, I can relate to writing 10 paragraphs about eating a pizza! I am now in an IOP; I was late for a group because of how long the intake appt took and the group leader thought that I would not be able to complete a writing exercise in the 5 minutes that were left before sharing, and I smiled - I can write so much in 5 minutes.

[Moose72]

I love this list! Esp 20 and 23