Tips for Coping with Emotional Stress

There are many forms of stress that can impact your life, but emotional stress is one of 
the most difficult to handle. Even someone with amazing emotional wellbeing and 
excellent resilience will struggle a bit with emotional stress. While you can’t avoid 
stressful situations, you can control how you react to them and what kind of effect they 
have on your life. 

Here are some helpful tips for coping with emotional stress.


Focus on What Makes You Feel Positive

Even if you feel like your current stress is overwhelming and like you can’t possibly 
focus on anything else, there is something positive in your life that you can think about 
instead. Even on your worst day when it feels like all hope is lost, there is something to 
be grateful for. If you just had the worst day of your life, but now you are sitting at home, 
in the home that keeps you safe and comfortable, that is a blessing that not everyone 
has. 

You can’t think positively all the time, and you shouldn’t. This isn’t about forcing yourself 
to feel happy or toxic positivity. It is more about looking on the bright side when you can, 
and not just focusing solely on your stress 100 percent of the time. 


Look for Healthy Distractions

Sometimes what you really need to deal with stress is a healthy distraction. If you have 
some time to yourself to do whatever you want, turn on something that makes you 
laugh. Listen to your favorite music. Read from a fiction novel. Do something that is just 
for you and nothing productive. 

This is not the time to go down your to-do list and get more work done or work on house 
projects. It is the time for self-care and self-love. For doing something just for you to 
take your mind off your stress for a moment. 


Express Yourself Honestly in a Journal

Journaling can benefit everyone no matter the circumstance, and dealing with emotional 
stress is definitely no exception. Journaling comes in many forms, from keeping a 
gratitude journal to doing daily brain dumps of all your thoughts. For stress, a 
combination of different journaling strategies works great. 

If your stress is from a brand new situation you haven’t really worked through 
emotionally yet, then you want to do a brain dump, often called stream of 
consciousness journaling. This is where you just write whatever is on your mind. Be 
open and honest and brutal with yourself. Allow your thoughts to flow onto paper, no 
matter how many different streams of thought come out. 

Another great method for stress journaling is to write down what you are grateful for. It 
is another way to look on the bright side even if just for a few minutes. Find 5-10 
blessings in your life that you can be grateful for and write them down. It helps even 
more if you can write down WHY you are grateful for these things.


Meditate for a Few Minutes

Don’t worry about having to master meditation and do it for hours a day just to benefit. 
For emotional stress, all you really need is a few minutes a day to start calming your 
mind. For stress, breathing meditation is probably best. This takes all the added 
pressure over trying to clear your mind.

Just sit quietly, close your eyes, and focus on your breaths. Take deep inhales and 
exhales, focus on how they feel, and where your mind goes. Focus on the sounds of 
your breaths. Set an intention to relax more and more with every exhale. You will soon 
be in a meditative state without even realizing it.


Move Your Body

Release endorphins through your favorite form of exercise to start dealing with your 
stress in a healthy way. Any type of exercise can release the happy chemicals in your 
brain, but cardio does tend to work the fastest. Even if you aren’t in good shape, you 
can just go on a walk around the neighborhood to feel better. Plus, when you exercise 
outside in nature, the fresh air and scenery can help tremendously with your stress 
levels.



