Emotion-focused coping is a form of stress management that attempts to reduce negative emotional responses that occur due to exposure to stressors. These negative emotions can include experiences such as fear, anxiety, aggression, depression, and humiliation. Emotion-focused coping involves engaging in behaviors and cognitions that do not directly address the source of the stress. Instead, they aim to reduce an individuals level of emotional distress.
One form of emotion-focused coping is addiction. The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a brain disease indicated by cravings, inability to abstain from the behavior or substance, dysfunctional emotional responses, and a loss of behavioral control” (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2020).
There are many different reasons as to why an individual may turn to drugs or alcohol, such as to use mind-altering substances to help cope in stressful times, or in dealing with difficult emotions, physical ailments, and other issues. These temporary ‘solutions’ offer a short-lived respite from the realities of every day life. They can also enhance the sensations of pleasure as well as decrease anxiety and inhibitions.
Coping mechanisms can be thought of as compulsions, or unconscious and perhaps mindless habits that have formed over time, and serve to help a person manage their unhappiness with a particular situation or their stress levels. Not all coping mechanisms are destructive or maladaptive. However, addiction is certainly both.
Addictions take on many different forms such as internet usage, eating, gambling, sex, and of course drugs and alcohol. I work at a Residential Treatment center where clients come from all over the country for holistic rehabilitation and learn many new coping skills to help them deal with their difficult emotions in healthier ways. One pillar of emotion-focused coping we emphasize is the power of forgiveness. In a research study conducted by Worthington and Scherer, they found that forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce stressful reactions to a transgression (Worthington & Scherer, 2004). Additionally, it serves as an emotional juxtaposition of positive emotions such as empathy, sympathy, compassion and love, against the negative emotions of unforgiveness. As resentments have been shown to be a significant driving factor in addictions, perhaps forgiveness can be used as a clinically significant suggestion of emotion-focused coping in place of addition behaviors and more research can be conducted in the future for the health and wellbeing of suffering populations.
References
American Society of Addiction Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.asam.org/quality-practice/definition-of-addiction
Everett L. Worthington Jr. & Michael Scherer (2004) Forgiveness is an emotion-focused coping strategy that can reduce health risks and promote health resilience: theory, review, and hypotheses, Psychology & Health, 19:3, 385-405, DOI: 10.1080/0887044042000196674
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