Natural Supports & Coping with Stress

Natural supports (or social supports) are a key ingredient in coping with stressful life events. Friends, family, colleagues and other healthy relationship connections provide us with often needed support during times when our own personal resources in coping are depleted or strained. These relationships are powerful and offer us opportunities to gain affirming and positive energy, provide us with a healthy distraction from our immediate stress and serve to remind us we are all connected in the human experience. Sharing our thoughts, perceptions and feelings about circumstances affecting us also allows for a mutual expression between each other; this sharing helps to normalize our stress and give us a perspective on things that may otherwise be distorted or reactive. Professional counseling and psychiatric services can aid us during overwhelming stressful times as well and should be utilized as a compliment to our developing and maintaining natural support resources. For more on healthy natural supports, read Natural Supports.