Coping Styles

Coping styles vary differently from males to females. Females use the tending and befriending coping style. Women respond with nurturing activities that are designed to protect themselves and others from a potential threat (the tending) and create social networks that provide protection from potential threats (the befriending). The nurturing helps to lower stress and improve immune system functioning. The befriending creates close ties between women when they use social support as a coping skill. Befriending will help women to exchange resources and watch out for predators and support each other to provide childcare.

Men are more likely to use the fight or flight coping style. They consciously make a decision as to whether they will stay and fight or leave the situation to cope. Men are more aggressive and competitive than women and they generally do not care for children as much as women do. The fight or flight response doesn’t work as well with women because of their home duties and personalities. Women attempt to avoid aggressive behaviors due to danger during pregnancy and their participation in the care required for the children.

Social support perceives others to be responsive and receptive to one’s own needs and is useful in both males and females. Social support helps to improve mood, reduce fear and lengthen ties. Studies have shown that persons who have a life threatening disease such as cancer are less stressed and their immune systems functioned more properly than persons without a strong social support system. The research does indicate, however that the social support must be positive in nature.

These gender differences occur because women are more nurturing than men by nature. Women are more emotional in reaction to events than men. Men use a different coping style and many times demonstrate being aggressive because they try to outdo one another and society views this as an expected reaction.

There are health implications that come with different ways that people cope. One of the best ways to decrease a health problem when experiencing traumatic events is journaling.
Journaling is a very good way to release tension and stress. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur in people if they don’t seek an outlet for traumatic events that they have experienced. PTSD is a frequent occurrence in ordinary people’s lives that have experienced extra ordinary events that traumatized them. When someone journals it can lead to feeling better, cause them to think through their feelings, reflect about the event and feel more relieved.

Although I have never experienced anything that has caused me PTSD I have kept a journal for many years. Since I was in 2nd grade I have kept journals in composition books. I love to write so I started journaling and found that I love it. Journaling is a very good documentation of events that occurred in someone’s life. I love to re-read my journals every once and a while to remember my experiences and how I felt at that time in my life. Rereading events in your life that maybe were a big deal or causing stress for you at the time, can be are viewed differently when you read it later. It helps you realize that you have made it through and everything can work out and be ok.