The Coping Brain

THE COPING BRAIN

By: TeAnne White

WHAT IS THE COPING BRAIN?

The coping brain is when we’re faced with a

new or upsetting challenge, our brains

come up with ways to deal with our worry

or stress. When we train our brains to use

coping methods, we can repair our own

emotional scars and have more confidence.

WHAT’S IT MADE OF?

There coping brain is made of three parts:

THINKING- learning and strong memories.

FEELING- telling parts of our body what to do.

SELF-PROTECTION- figuring out how to come

up with safe ways to keep us alive and out of

danger.

CHALLENGES WE FACE

FAMILY; families have conflicts all the time, whether it’s physically

fighting or just an argument, no family is perfect. You just have to

accept each others faults and move forward together as one.

RELATIONSHIPS; every relationship has at least on problem. It

can be communication, trust, loyalty or friendship. You should talk

with each other, work things out and work together to become

stronger.

BULLIES; bullying is one of the most common challenges we face

as kids. There are many coping choices your brain can make, it can

be to fight back, to tell an adult or to have a talk with the bully

yourself.

SKILLS THAT YOU CAN USE

There are many skills that you can use. You can use

friends, parents, siblings, etc.

FAMILY

PEERS

TEACHERS/STAFF

ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA

SKILLS THAT YOU CAN USE: FAMILY

FAMILY; Parents are the most important people to help us

cope with our fears. If a baby’s parents are good parents they

let them know they are safe, loved and protected by comforting

them when they’re hurt emotionally or physically. If a baby’s

parents are often upset, fearful, angry or sad it is hard for baby

to be cheerful and happy. There won’t be many good coping

examples set for that baby. Any of our close family members

can become our coping models until we become old enough to

play with other children.

SKILLS THAT YOU CAN USE: PEERS

PEERS; Children begin to see new models for coping once they

start nursery or pre-school. They are exposed to other children

who exhibit their own coping styles or habits. Young children

quickly learn new coping patterns from being around others and

observing the way their friends and classmates deal with

difficult situations. During their pre-teen, adolescent years we

are old enough to choose from different types of coping

patterns. We also begin to pay more attention to the coping

habits of our peers.

SKILLS THAT YOU CAN USE: TEACHERS/STAFF

TEACHERS/STAFF; teachers and school staff, like

our parents, can also become important coping

models for students from kindergarten and

throughout elementary school. As we near the

teenage years, students have usually begun to

pattern the coping styles of both parents and

teachers, since our neocortex is able to form our own

unique coping habits.

*“neocortex” is responsible for the evolution of

intelligence.

SKILLS THAT YOU CAN USE: ENTERTAINMENT

MEDIA

Many students are used to playing video games and

watching TV and movies with lots of action and violent

behavior. There are many studies trying to understand if

violent entertainment actual shapes a child’s way of coping

with stress, frustration and emotional upsets. There is

some evidence that students who have coping problems

and can’t get over their upsets easily become addicted to

violence in media and video games.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COPING

There are many myths or misconceptions about coping.

The "I don’t care" coping solution.

Not realizing reptilian brain automatically

taking over when we’re stressed and hurting

Instinctive brain coping can become an easy

habit.


THE “I DON’T CARE” METHOD- Many adolescents make the

mistake of trying to cope with stress and emotional pain by

saying/thinking “I don’t care”. One of the most common mistakes

we make when stressed by upsetting experiences is to try to shut

off our awareness of emotional brain’s ability to sense what we

are feeling, including emotional pain.. Many adolescents (as well

as adults) make the mistake of trying to cope with stress and

emotional pain by adopting the “I don’t care” approach. One of

the most common mistakes we make when stressed by upsetting

experiences is to try to shut off our awareness of emotional

brain’s ability to sense what we are feeling, including emotional

pain. The problem with this is we may lose our "ability to care"

which leads to many more problems throughout our life.


Not realizing reptilian brain automatically taking over

when we’re stressed and hurting- the reptilian brain has a

limited survival response; to attack or hide when threatened. So

when we can’t deal with stress or upsets using our thinking brain,

we may be ruled by anger and controlled by reptilian impulses.

Because our brain tends to take the easiest path for dealing with

problems, reptilian brain often takes control over how we act

when our feelings get hurt. D-ANGER is a sign of reptilian

survival brain response.


Instinctive brain coping can become an easy habit- we

may get mad or sad out of habit. This means we automatically

react the same way even though an "emotional wound" or upset

requires a different kind of coping skill than avoiding "physical

injury." We need our neocortex to figure out the best way of

coping with each type of fear or upset. Habits can be changed by

making thoughtful choices. Be aware of developing “automatic”

coping habits that let instincts take control away from your

thinking brain’s “figuring out,” problem-solving ability.

MANAGING ANGER WITH COPING SKILLS

We know that when we can’t control anger we’re

also more likely to harm ourselves as well as others.

Those unable to control their sadness may suffer

from long periods of distress called depression.

Since we know that our thinking brain plays a big

role in helping us manage responses to stress, we

need to use the learning power of our human

neocortex to develop healthy and effective coping

skills.

SOURCE(S):

Wikipedia

Copingskills4kids.net

JMS Health textbook.

The Coping Brain

Education

Transcript of The Coping Brain