Boulder DBSA Coping Strategies

For those with mood disorders, tough times can feel utterly overwhelming, and trying to think clearly about coping strategies during such times can seem impossible.  We recognize this challenge and offer the following collected list of activities and coping strategies (gathered from many individuals over time) as a resource.   Please note that DBSA does not recommend any particular coping strategy over another, but we do encourage individuals to explore and experiment (keeping in mind their own unique needs, abilities and limitations) to develop "go to" coping strategies and activities that work well for them.  

Things You Can Do When You Don't Know What to Do

• Connect with others  
• Call warm line (this will be an option you can choose when you call the national "crisis" hotline from a Colorado area code)
• Call, text, instant message, skype, facebook chat, twitter message (etc.) a friend, family, mentor, spiritual adviser or other support person.
• Ask someone something you really want to know about them
• Engage with someone online - join a live trivia game, online scrabble, etc. , explore chatrooms or forums, find an online support chat.
• Dance with someone, or take a dance lesson
• Ask about/record people's favorite memories, family stories, interesting experiences, etc.
• Visit a retirement or nursing home community and introduce yourself to one person.
• Invite someone to visit you
• Visit a park or other gathering spot and figure out why people like to go there
• Visit a dog park or a shelter
• Tell someone you love them (verbal, written, post-it note, chalk on the sidewalk...whatever works!)
• Play cards or another game with someone
• "Finger dance" with someone:  touch only by the tip of one finger and maintain this contact as you dance together.

Distract / Engage Your Mind & Body

• Bat around a balloon or a beach ball
• Balance on a balance board or ball
• Take a nap
• Go somewhere outside your home
• Read a "fluffy" book
• Balance something on your head.  Now, try to do some activity while keeping that object on your head.
• Play catch, frisbee, hacky sack, or some other activity that requires concentration
• Watch a movie, TV show, sports event, etc.
• Play a video game - yourself or an interactive online game (biofeedback games are interesting to try)
• Take apart a household gadget (and put it back together)
• Play pool or other game
• Do a jigsaw puzzle
• Try games/puzzles: "pencil" puzzles like sudoku and crosswords, or problem-solving/spatial puzzles like tangrams, sliding "fifteen" style, rubik's cube, tavern games or others.Play solitaire card game
• Hop on rocks to cross a stream
• Make a balancing rock tower
• Play Scattergories by yourself or with someone else
• Bounce a rubber ball or dribble a basketball
• Say the alphabet backward
• Write something with your non-dominant hand
• Draw a simple picture with your eyes closed
• Build a card house
• Stand on one foot with your eyes closed for as long as you can.
• Pat your head and rub your belly (then do it while balancing on one foot)
• Speak in pig-latin or spoonerisms (spoonerisms = fwitch sirst wetters of "lerds")
• Try saying tongue-twisters

Mindful Explorations

• Use sight: Count something in your environment (i.e., how many tree trunks, lightbulbs, ceiling tiles, children, shades of green, etc.) can you see right now?  Look at the world upside down by bending over and looking at something through your legs.  Describe what you see to yourself or someone else.
• Use smell:  How many different scents can you identify or find (i.e., flowers, trash, smell of rain, etc.)?
• Use your ears:  Close your eyes for a minute or more and identify various sounds you hear, creating a "sound garden" in your mind.  Listen for particular types of sounds, like those that are musical, subtle, sharp, loud, made by things that are alive, or whatever else.
• Use taste:  If you can, experiment with taste.  How many different qualities can you name in whatever you are tasting (i.e. sour, salty, bitter, etc.)?  Sample  a bunch of different teas, candies, breads, etc.
• Explore your sense of touch:  How many different textures can you find to touch?  Can you find opposing sensations, like soft and hard?  Smooth and rough?  Create an intense "touch" experience like dunking your feet in a cold stream, walking barefoot on sand or in mud, or take a very cold or very hot shower.
• Walk a labyrinth and count your steps
• Sit in the sun and note how many places you can feel the sun touching you
• Four Square Breathing:  Breathe in to the count of 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, and wait for 4.  Repeat.
• Meditate for 5 (or however many) minutes
• Do a mental scan of your body, noting how each body part feels
• Light a candle while thinking about someone or something that normally makes you smile (with safety in mind)

Get Active

• Play active video game, like dance with Wii, etc.
• Walk around the block, climb a flight of stairs, or do something else active for 5 minutes.
• Do an exercise "micro-burst" - exercise hard for 20 seconds (i.e., run in place, do sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc.)
• Hula hoop
• Jump rope
• Play hopscotch
• Skip
• Climb a tree, go bouldering or rock climbing (with safety and ability in mind)
• Ski or snowshoe
• Roller blade or skate (ice skate or roller skate)
• Go on a bike ride
• Do 10 sit-ups

Explore Interests or "Feel Good" Activities

• Keep a scrapbook of pleasurable triggers, memories, experiences, thoughts, quotes, letters, gratitudes, etc. as you encounter them in life. Anything that, at any point, helps you to feel something pleasurable is fair game.   Turn to this scrapbook when you need a reminder.
• "Half smile" - put a pleasant almost-smiling expression on your face (or bite a pencil to achieve the effect) and observe if your mood changes.
• Open up a favorite book to a random place and read a section, looking for anything of meaning or value.
• Listen to/sing with/dance to some favorite music, or explore new music online
• Search for commercials for favorite childhood toys, watch old shows or favorite childhood movie online
• Browse online sites of interest, or shop online (if you are not prone to over-spending in vulnerable states)
• Pick and arrange flowers – for yourself or for someone else
• Fantasize about sex
• Explore sign language
• Daydream
• Cook something or try a new recipe
• Play a musical instrument or try an instrument you’ve never played before
• Make up a melody/write a song
• Watch/photograph wildlife
• Learn to identify bird calls
• Research something about which you’re curious
• Go on a picnic

Do For Others

• Do a random act of kindness
• Make someone a special meal or treat (like breakfast in bed)Plan a pleasant surprise for someone you know
• Pay someone a compliment
• Do a favor for someone
• Find all the loose change in your home and donate it to an organization that's meaningful to you

Let it Out

• Break ice on pavement
• Scream into a pillow
• Punch a punching bag or pillows
• Make music (sing, beat dreams, play an instrument, etc).
• Exercise to angry music
• Scribble with crayons, oil pastels, etc.
• Transform urges to self-injure into images of transformation (like growing vines) using non-toxic water color pencils (for example) to draw on your body instead of hurting yourself (be aware and stop if triggered)
• Paint
• Vent to a friend, support line, etc.

Do Something Spiritual

• Go to a place with spiritual meaning to you / place of worship
• Pray
• Read spiritual text (like the Bible, Koran, Torah, Book of Mormon, etc.)

Do Something Different Unexpected or Unusual

• Dress up or try on a fancy outfit
• Leave a positive message somewhere public (i.e., with chalk on a sidewalk, message in a bottle, or a note stuck in a conspicuous place for someone to find).
• Write something you want to remember on a sticky note and stick it somewhere.
• Blow bubbles and pop them with a pencil or catch them in your teeth
• Fly a kite
• Read a children's book
• "Hunt" for something (examples:  a perfect photo, a small blue item at a thrift store, something that makes a squeaky sound, etc.)
• Go somewhere you can pick fresh fruit or veggies
• Sing a song at the top of your lungs
• Explore a building in which you've never been before. See what's on the top floor.  Locate the stairs and climb up or down a floor or two.
• Go barefoot
• Splash in puddles
• Build a snowman or make a snow angel
• Examine something from very close (use magnifying glass if you have one)
• Build a "fort"
• Play with your hair, makeup, color your nails, etc.

Get Creative with Writing

• Write a limerick (i.e., there once was a lady from Kent... )
• Write a haiku (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables)Make a list of 10 random words, then write a short story using each of the words
• Make lists:
• • people you know
  • people you remember positively
  • topics about which you have a better than average level of knowledge or expertise
  • desired topics of knowledge, expertise, or skills
  • things you are glad for
  • things you would NOT want changed in your life
  • things you want to do before you die
  • 5 good qualities about yourself
  • 5 qualities you look for in friends
  • things you could do for under $5
  • stuff you could fit into a coffee can
  • feeling words
  • questions to which you'd really like answers
  • a "to do" list with ONE thing to complete today
  • hopeful words
  • things that usually make you smile
  • coping strategies that you've tried
  • coping strategies that have helped
  • coping strategies you'd like to try
• Journal
• Write a love letter
• Write down a favorite memory (or more than one)
• Write a letter of appreciation (i.e., to a manager describing good customer service, to someone who influenced you positively in your past, etc.)
• Write lyrics
• Sing a song at the top of your lungs
• Explore a building in which you've never been before. See what's on the top floor.  Locate the stairs and climb up or down a floor or two.
• Go barefoot
• Splash in puddles
• Build a snowman or make a snow angel
• Examine something from very close (use magnifying glass if you have one)
• Build a "fort"
• Play with your hair, makeup, color your nails, etc.

Challenge Your Brain

• Find something in a thrift store that you can’t identify and figure out what it is, or brainstorm purposes for which it COULD be used
• Create a positive ritual for yourself
• Brainstorm things you could do for under $5
• Brainstorms gifts you could make or give for under $5
• See if you can read lips (online videos on mute, for example)

Get Creative

• Build something with legos, tinker toys, popsicle sticks, etc.
• Draw in the dirt or sand
• Find coloring patterns for adults online and try printing and coloring them
• Make mandalas
• Make a sand castle or play in mud
• Do origami
• Sketch or draw
• Doodle
• Start a scrapbook
• Make something for someone else
• Create or edit a video
• Create a mystery "scene" with planted clues, etc. for someone you know to solve
• Make an "animation" flip book
• Make up a written code
• Write a letter using visual symbols
• Sculpt with polymer clay, play-doh, or homemade sculpting doh

Do Something Useful / Practical

• Repair an item of clothing or sew on a button
• Refinish/repair a piece of furniture
• Paint a room (or touch up existing paint)
• Water plants
• Prune a tree or bush
• Re-pot a plant
• Dust a room
• Vacuum
• Organize a drawer, closet, work bench
• Clean out car
• Wash or wax car
• Wipe out microwave
• Wipe out refrigerator
• Come up with 10 things to donate
  
• Polish silverware or jewelry
• Clean one item in one room
• Change bedding
• Do a load of laundry
• Check batteries in smoke detectors
• Organize papers or files
• Pay a bill
• Back up your computer
• Weed the garden
• Mow the lawn (or someone else's)
• Shovel snow
• Go grocery shopping
• Scan documents you want to preserve to digital format (i.e. old letters, etc.)