Betsy Alvarado (FGCU): Coping Mechanisms

I wake up every evening with a big smile on my face
And it never feels out of place
And you’re still probably working at a 9 to 5 pace
I wonder how bad that tastes

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell

Now where’s your picket fence, love?
And where’s that shiny car?
And did it ever get you far?
You never seemed so tense, love
I’ve never seen you fall so hard
Do you know where you are?

And truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I’m lying

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell

If you find a man that’s worth a damn and treats you well
Then he’s a fool, you’re just as well, hope it gives you hell
I hope it gives you hell

Tomorrow you’ll be thinking to yourself
Yeah, where did it all go wrong?
But the list goes on and on

(chorus)

Now you’ll never see what you’ve done to me
You can take back your memories, they’re no good to me
And here’s all your lies, you can look me in the eyes
With the sad, sad look that you wear so well

(chorus)

When you hear this song and you sing along, well you’ll never tell
And you’re the fool, I’m just as well, hope it gives you hell
When you hear this song I hope that it will give you hell
You can sing along, I hope that it puts you through hell

I don’t want to come off as bitter, but this song makes me smile every time I hear it. When I first heard the song, and the times thereafter, I would sing with enthusiasm because maybe, if I sung loud enough, the person I dedicated the song to would hear and realize what an idiot they were. If not, it made me feel better to think that way. This song holds personal, symbolic value. It was a coping mechanism I used to get over someone I had feelings for. I’m sure that if this song didn’t exist, I would have found another song to replace it or dealt with my feelings in another way. I didn’t realize, until I researched, but there are many different coping mechanisms. “Coping mechanisms can be described as the sum total of ways in which we deal with minor to major stress and trauma. Some of these processes are unconscious ones, others are learned behavior, and others are skills we consciously master in order to reduce stress, or other intense emotions like depression.”

The amount of adrenaline flowing through our bodies increases when we are stressed or experiencing other intense emotions. Coping mechanisms help control emotions that derive from these experiences. Some mechanisms are not helpful or beneficial to a person’s health; they can even intensify emotions. Some mechanisms that aren’t helpful are “Self-harm Mechanisms.” These involve an individual’s emotional problems developing into physical problems. For example, worrying too much about a stressful situation can cause someone to develop ulcers, rashes, or even paralysis for a short period of time because of the large amount of stress they put on their bodies. The effects depend on the problem the individual is faced with. Another category of coping mechanisms are called Avoidance Mechanisms. These types are when an individual rather avoid the issue at hand and create excuses to disregard problems they are going through. Even though they may not be observed or recognized, people use these types of mechanisms on a daily basis. One mechanism that I found interesting is called Passive-Aggression. A person who uses passive-aggressive method to cope with stresses on them does this by ‘attacking’ others through passive means. I have been on both ends of this mechanism: as the person attacking another and as the person being attacked. Upon think about this mechanism, I realized that I only engage in this mechanism with people I feel most comfortable with. It is easier to attack someone who won’t return any hurtful remarks because they care and know something isn’t right. From the story behind the song mentioned to discussing coping mechanisms, people deal with issues in different ways, but we all use the same sociological methods of coping.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-coping-mechanisms.htm

http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/coping.htm

This entry was posted on 12. April 2009 at 18:41 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.