This is the sixth post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.

This isn’t going to come as any surprise to those of you who have followed Grey Thinking for any length of time…. but watching DVDs of TV series is one of my favorite “coping skills.”  I may be stretching the idea of a “coping skill” a little bit here, but anything to justify my House marathons…
I like to watch four hours of old Grey’s Anatomy episodes (especially during evenings that I’m depressed) because I …

This is the fifth post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.
I’m not sure that “crafting” really encompasses the coping skill that I want to mention, but it’s the best term that I could come up with.  When I say “crafting,” I mean any of the following:

coloring
making collages
sudoku /crossword puzzles
word searches
computer solitaire
kitting
drawing / painting
origami

…see my point?  Semi-creative (and low-stress) activities that keep your hands busy.  I don’t know what it is about keeping my hands busy, but it really helps with the anxiety.
Personally, I prefer …

This is the fourth post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.
If you don’t know what a “kudos chart is” – it’s a sticker chart.  You know those charts that your mom made when you were five that had actions like “make bed” and “brush teeth” on it?  Yep, those.  I heard someone refer to them as “kudos charts” on twitter several months back, and since my current chart is not actually using stickers, I’m going to go with that terminology.
My explanation is simple: a …

This is the second post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.
I don’t know why more people don’t hang out in card stores.  Just think about it… when you have a friend that’s upset, it’s not uncommon to send them some kind of “cheer up / feel better” card.  So, if you’re upset… doesn’t it just make sense to spend an hour in a card shop and read 100 of those?
I know that there is more to getting cards than the card itself (say… the …

I’ve written several posts on the negative aspects of therapy as well as my disdain and frustration with positive self-talk, so I was pretty excited to see this headline: Study Shows The Negative Side To Positive Self-Statements In Self-Help Books
“…individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.”
“…paradoxically, low self-esteem participants’ moods fared better when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.”
Now, I don’t think I’ve ever claimed positive self-talk caused anyone to feel worse… …