LIFE & STRESS - HOW DO YOU COPE?

LIFE, STRESS and BULIMIA - HOW DO YOU COPE?

Life's little ups and downs can be testing for the toughest amongst us!

Stress is not all bad. It prepares your mind and body for what ever it is you are about to encounter. Adrenalin produced in the right amounts can help you perform better in an interview, exam, public speaking, being creative, finishing a project or dealing with a difficult person.

It helps to push you beyond your comfort zone and enables you to achieve greater success.

But what if that stressor is crippling or paralysing you, does your life grind to a holt or do you feel you are stuck in-limbo?

Is Bulimia stressful for you, if so, how do you cope?

ASSESS YOUR COPING STYLE

Think about a recent stressful situation that triggered a binge and purge.

This could be a situation that was difficult to handle or perhaps something that was troubling you. You may have felt distressed about something that happened to you or had to deal with something that required a considerable amount of effort.

It could be a situation that has pushed you to binging and purging on numerous occasions in the past.

Once you have an event in mind, assess your coping style by completeing the exercise below:

WHILE KEEPING YOUR STRESSFUL EVENT IN MIND, READ THE LIST OF STRATEGIES BELOWAND SCORE them 0 - 3 RANKING THEM IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH YOU USED THEM IN THAT SITUATION:

0= NOT USED 1= USED SOMEWHAT 2= USED QUITE A BIT 3= USED A GREAT DEAL

1. I did something that I didn't think would work, but at least I was doing something.

2. I tried to get the person responsible to change his or her mind.

3. I slept more than usual. Drank or smoked more.

4. I expressed anger to the person(s), who caused the problem.

5. I tried to make myself feel better by bingeing and later vomiting.

6. I took a big chance or did something very risky to solve the problem.

7. I stood my ground and fought for what I wanted.

8. I took it out on other people (partner, parent, friend etc).

9. I refused to believe that it had happened.

10. I had fantasies or wishes about how things might turn out.

Scoring:
Now add up your scores for questions: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7
Add up your scores for questions 3, 5, 8, 9 & 10

If your score is higher for the 1st group of questions, then you tend to favour "CONFRONTIVE COPING".

If you scored higher on the 2nd group, then you are more likely to employ "ESCAPE-AVOIDANCE" as a coping mechanism.

Most bulimia sufferers tend to adopt an escape-avoidance coping style through food abuse. This hides a lack of ability in dealing with matters assertively.

Escape-avoidance is based on wishful thinking and efforts to escape or avoid a problem altogether.

Confrontive coping is typified by positive efforts to alter the situation and can involve some degree of aggression and risk-taking.

Now that you know which style of Coper you are, in our next blog, we will show you the key steps you can learn to help you take more control of your life through being Assertive!

If you can't wait for another two weeks, why not join our Members Forum where you can post your own questions and can expect to get a promptreply from me personaly! http://www.bulimiahope.com/forum.htm