Coping with Stress

     This past week in class has been all about stress and how to cope with stress. We were asked to come up with a list of stressors that have affected our families. The first one I thought of was when my mother's gallbladder ruptured. My youngest brother woke me up and sad that mom needed me and she was in her bathroom. I remember rolling over to look at the clock and noticed that I still had an hour to go before I really needed to wake up. I thought, "If she isn't dying I'm going to kill her!" Then I walked into the bathroom and there she was laying on the floor dying. Now that I look back on it its funny. I had to call 911 and take on all my mother's responsibilities. my family was shaken but we were all able to get through it. 
     It took one of my younger brothers over a year to get through it. He used what is called scapegoating. It is a negative coping skill. He blamed God for what happened and couldn't understand why God would let this happen to someone who was good. What we wished we as a family would have done is reframing. We needed to share what happened with our mother and put it into a different perspective so he could deal with his stress better.
    Now as different stresses arise I know that we as a family need to make sure everyone is coping with it well and if not to help them cope well.