“Too bad you can’t buy a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin real fast and freak everybody out.”
Jack Handy
Sometimes we just have to blow off steam to deal with work and life challenges. Surprisingly, only about 30 percent of individuals experiencing severe life trauma and pain experience post traumatic distress (PTSD) or are unable to cope effectively.
In our own research with our stress/resilience tool StressScan, we have found the following associations between coping styles (trait) and a variety of health outcomes:
- People who utilize negative appraisal coping (i.e., high self-blame and self-criticism) report significantly higher levels of psychological distress (e.g., depression).
- People who utilize high levels of threat minimization coping (i.e., feel and express emotions but are able to let go and move on) experience less job burnout, absenteeism and adverse physical health.
- People who use positive appraisal coping tend to report the highest levels of happiness or psychological well-being.
- People who use problem solving coping respond better to psychoeducational interventions aimed to enhance well-being and resilience ((Giesser, B., Coleman, L., Fisher, S., Guttry, M., Herlihy, E., Nonoguch, S., Nowack, D., Roberts, C. & Nowack, K. (2007). Living Well with Multiple Sclerosis: Lessons Learned from a 12-Week Community Based Quality of Life Program. Paper presented at 17th Annual Art & Science of Health Promotion Conference, March, 2007, San Francisco, CA)).
We know that expression of emotions (particularly behavioral in the form of writing) is significantly associated with improved physical and psychological health. The largest recent meta-analyses show that emotional expressive writing has about the same effect size as those produced by other psychological interventions–shorter intervals between writing sessions produce larger overall effect sizes and males seem to benefit even more than females ((Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A Meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 823-865)).
In general those who write and use more positive emotional words than negative tend to improve (negative emotion use is curvilinear with the greatest benefit coming from those who don’t use either a very small or very large amount). Overall, the greatest benefit seems to come with a focus on positive thoughts and feelings about the situation causing pain, trauma or stress for individuals. When individuals write about the positive aspects and express positive feelings regarding a distressing situation it seems to produce favorable therapeutic effects including post traumatic growth ((Tedeshi, R. & Calhoun, C. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 1-18)).
Stick it to the Man (or Women) Exercise
My wife recently took a trip to New Orleans. I jokingly asked her to bring me back a voodoo doll — and she did. It came with an instruction book and was bigger than most “Happy Meal” toys. So, in the spirit (no pun intended) of the existing literature of the impact of emotional expression I offer the 5-minute “stick it to the man (or woman)” stress reliever technique:
- Buy or make a “stick it to the man (or women)” voodoo doll
- Visualize the toxic person at work or home that is creating stress, strain and/or unhappiness being the voodoo doll (it helps to place a small piece of paper with the name or image (e.g., face) on top of the voodoo doll.
- Use or find a small needle, pin, paper clip or pruning shears and insert into a strategic location (or give to your pet who likes to shred stuffed animals).
- Focus on the pleasurable feelings you have “sticking it to the man (or woman) and express a positive mantra (e.g., “I feel as much pleasure right now as smashing a Piñata and enjoying all the goodies that spill out”).
- Repeat each day for one week (or until the toxic person improves their jerk behavior).
OK, now this technique has not been clinically tested in a rigorous manner or conducted in a placebo controlled double blind study but I’m guessing it can’t hurt (except for the man or woman you stick it to).
Even if you don’t find or appreciate the attempt at humor here, focusing on the positive and finding the benefit and blessings in tough situations or interpersonal interactions might actually make us stronger and happier. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you (or just give me the needle about this Blog).
If you want to find out how resilient you are, just let me know at ken@envisiaonline.com and I can set you up with a free trial of StressScan…..Be well….
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
