Having a bad day?

How do YOU cope with a bad day?

We all have them!

Sometimes they come one at a time and sometimes, like buses, they come one after another.

And, of course there is a scale of severity of the distress we feel on bad days. Some bad days can be shrugged off and some really trouble us

It may be that you open the fridge and reach for the wine or for food. You may go for a gym session or a run to try and empty your head, get away from your feelings and alleviate the stress, anxiety, distress, pain, frustration -or whatever feeling your bad day has caused you to feel. It may be that you opt for a relaxing bath, spend time listening to music, have some time watching TV or gaming which may distract you from your thoughts and feelings. Do you prefer to talk and share with a friend or partner and offload your feelings? Do you retreat and sleep so you can escape?

Whatever it is that helps you to deal with your bad day, it can be helpful to recognise that you have employed some ways of coping and what works best for you -it may be different things on different days for different feelings.

With this awareness, when you do have times when you feel distress, you can take action and do what you need to do to help yourself to get through.

It also helps us to recognise the coping methods of those close to us so we can be more supportive and understanding of their bad days.