Hi Guys!!!
I am back…. sorry for the delay with my next blog entry. I apologize for taking about 10 months to write a new one! But I am back and with an important topic that is near and dear to me. DISTRESS TOLERENCE!!! Distress Tolerance is a super cool idea. The idea is to focus awareness on something other than the distressing thoughts and emotions we may be having.
While it can be extremely hard to stay focused on the activity, if you are able to pick something to get into, pay attention to the details of it, and bring your focus back if your mind wanders the benefits of it are truly amazing. This concept is based on an idea created by Doctor Marsha Linehan’s. Doctor Linehan created a therapy called DBT, (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) which utilized Distress Tolerance skills to help people cope with problems.
The reason I really love Distress Tolerance is because these are activities you can do anywhere, anytime, and even being able to focus on the activity for only 10 minutes can really make an impact on one’s mental health. Like stated above, if you can be focused and stay present in the activity, that distraction can really help someone calm down, think more clearly, and when they return to their normal life, be better able to make smart decisions.
Below are some simple and fun ways to engage in Distress Tolerance.
Activities: Exercise / do hobbies or puzzles / games / clean the house / play computer games / surf the web.
Contribute: Volunteer / do something nice for someone else / send a “thinking of you” note / email to someone.
Generate Opposite Emotions: Watch comedies on TV / read joke books or funny greeting cards / listen to emotional music (of a different emotion than you’re feeling) / look at photographs of loved ones / recall happy events.
Think about something else: Count to 10 / count backwards by 7’s from 100 / count the colors (or shades of the same color) in the room or a picture / read detective novels / watch the fish in an aquarium / visualize a calming scene.
Generate strong sensations: Hold ice or an ice pack (even colder!) / squeeze a rubber ball really hard / stand under a hot or cool shower / listen to very loud music
Take a brief vacation: Get in bed for 20 minutes and pull the covers over your head / read a pop culture magazine / eat something sweet / take a break from doing tasks and massage your neck or sit in the sun / take a bubble bath.