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I'm also an author. I've written several useful books in Anxiety and Anxiety Recovery,

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Hey everybody, welcome back to The Anxious Truth. This is episode number 181. Welcome back to the

program. Welcome back to the show. This episode is entitled What Are Coping Skills? And do we want

them? Which I know probably sounds kind of weird, because of course we want coping skills.

Everybody wants coping skills, right? I get it. But, and this might be largely a semantic argument,

one word versus the other, but let's really get into what coping skills are, and let's find it

if we really do want them or not. So first of all, I am Drew Linselata, creator and host of The Anxious

Truth. And if this is your first time here, welcome. I am glad that you are here. This is the podcast

where we talk about all things, anxiety, anxiety, disorders, and recovery related. If you have been

here before and you are back to listen to another episode, welcome back. I'm very appreciative of

your time and attention. So let's talk about coping skills. This is a phrase we hear all the time

in mental health circles, especially when it comes to anxiety, like coping skills, coping skills,

coping skills, everybody wants to teach you coping skills. What are coping skills and do we actually

want to use them? Which is the question of the day. So here's the way I see it.

Coping skills. And again, this might be semantics, but sometimes the semantics matter. So stick

with me on this. Coping skills traditionally in what I see are skills, techniques, tips, tricks,

rituals that people will often try to teach you. Sometimes therapists and counselors and doctors

will teach you or try to give you that are designed to be used in periods of anxiety-related

distress, discomfort, and fear. So when you are afraid because you are having a panic attack

or you're in the middle of an anxiety wave or in some way you are feeling fear or discomfort

...