Coping skills are like meds

Nothing work for everyone

Hear me out!

You know how any given med seems to only work for like 5% of people and it's kind of a total crapshoot which one(s) might be your success story? And the ones that don't work might even make things worse?

I think coping skills are like that too!

The majority of the skills I've been taught I've found kind of meh. There's a handful I keep in my toolbox and pull out semi-frequently and a whole bunch of them that have never really helped me.

Maybe that breathing rhythm doesn't match yours, maybe engaging bodily senses is difficult, maybe the voice doing guided meditation is grating, maybe you hate baths.

Acknowledging that there's a good chance any given coping skill *won't* work for us is important. You are not doing relaxation wrong if the 10 tips you read online don't resonate. There are hundreds of variations out there.

And, just as with meds, it can be very worth finding the ones that work for you.