Coping Skills

What are coping skills?

Coping skills are simply the way a person deals with and processes a stressful situation or emotional issue that comes their way. Coping skills aid a person in how to face the situation, take action, or solve a problem with efficiency.

Coping skills are important because how you deal with difficult situations (e.g. anaphylaxis, development of a new allergy, or bullying) and subsequently move on from that situation, play a HUGE role in your health, both mentally and physically. Coping in a healthy manner can also aid in sustaining your relationships and preserving your positivity.

Who needs coping skills?

Everyone needs to develop healthy coping skills, and lots of times, we need to be taught them! Some of us are better than others at naturally redirecting our thoughts or taking a time-out in a high stress situation. Others are inclined to react in anger, avoidance, or with another unchecked emotion. 

That being said, kids, preteens, teens, and adults ALL need to learn effective coping strategies as soon as they can. We all know that living with food allergies comes with added life stressors. To maintain optimal quality of life, we need to be able to cope with what life throws at us. These guides will help you further develop the coping skills you already have, teach you new ones, and show you great ways to model healthy coping skills so your kids can grow up with the ability to show resilience when life gets tough!

What else do I need to know?

There are two main forms of coping skills, emotional coping skills and problem focused coping skills. These guides outline tips and ideas for both kinds. Know that both kinds of coping skills are effective, but may be appropriate in different situations. As the name implies, emotion based coping skills tend to aid to a person’s immediate needs and can provide pleasant relief as well as regulate feelings. Coping skills in this area include exercise, giving a pep talk to yourself, or even mindfulness meditations. Problem focused coping skills jump right into actions and solutions. They could be learning to manage your time better, asking for help, or making a plan.

Check out our Coping Skills section for resources, tips, and downloadable handouts for kids, pre-teens, teens, young adults, and the caregiver.