I was a guest on the the Relentless Dentist podcast where we discussed the very real and emergent topic of stress in dentistry.

In the last episode of this three-part series on Dental Stress Reduction, we learn the Top Coping Methods for Stress

Listen to Episode 3:  Top Coping Methods for Stress

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Inspiring Dentistry!  Interviews with today’s top dentists & tips from world-class dental experts.

Quotes & Notes:

When it comes to coping methods for stress, the first thing is to know what kind of stress you have.

Coping with stress is not a blanket where I am going to use coping method A and that is going to impact all of my stress.

There are three kinds of stress:

1. Situational-the most common and most popular type of stress that people have in their lives.
   1. Coping methods for situational stress is somehow related to efficient time management
2. Psychological-This is the kind that is most avoided because psychological stress is that type of stress which is self-induced.  It is typically the really bad negative, yucky things we say to ourselves.
   1. The only appropriate coping methods for psychological stress are psychological activities. The best thing to do to reduce your psychological stress is to increase your curiosity.
3. Physiological-This is the kind of stress that people aren’t even aware that they have. Physiological stress is directly related to health and wellness.

It’s about diagnosing the problem and the appropriate solution for the condition.

Alot of times what stresses people out really comes from that psychological stress because most people have skill in the situational stressors.

The top five coping methods are:

1. Breathing
2. Humor
3. Mindfulness
4. Connect with people
5. Get a minimum of eight hours of sleep