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Mental Health

People Are Sharing 'Bad' Coping Mechanisms in Viral Twitter Meme and It's Hilarious

Renee Fabian
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When the going gets tough, the first thing that pops into your mind probably isn’t a healthy coping mechanisms you’ve been honing for months with your ever-patient therapist. In fact, you might default right back to some of the same unhelpful coping skills that landed you in therapy in the first place. The latest meme sweeping Twitter this month shows just how relatable some of those “bad” coping mechanisms really are.

By now you may have seen the format of this new meme. It starts by posting a line your therapist would say while trying to encourage you to use new coping skills in a difficult situation, like what you would do when you feel sad or stressed. The next line is your response, an unhelpful (yet hilarious) coping mechanism your therapist is most likely to shut down immediately. Here’s an example from Twitter user Priyanka Aribindi:

my therapist: and what do we do when a new meme format is sweeping across twitter?

me: I do the meme

my therapist: no

As you can imagine, Twitter had a heydey with the new meme from shrines dedicated to Nicholas Cage to self-care face masks gone wrong and the all-too-relatable moment when you shut out the people you love most after your stress kicks into high gear.

Part of the reason this meme is so hilarious is because we’ve all been there. It’s hard to do what’s in our best interest when we’re overloaded emotionally. Even after years of therapy, it’s easy to default back to where we started. As Mighty contributor Anna Lente wrote in her article, “10 Reasons Why My Struggle With Mental Illness Will Make Me a Better Counselor,” using more effective coping skills is something that takes a lot of practice:

Over my 15 years of recovery, I have learned about an enormous number of coping skills, which I constantly practice. I will be able to share this knowledge with my clients. I have coping skills I’ve invented myself and have been effective for me. Coping skills are how I’m able to manage my illnesses.

What would your therapist meme say? Let us know in the comments!

And for some coping skills and self-care tips, check out these articles that helped others in The Mighty community:

What’s your take?

Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Header image via Priyanka Aribindi’s Twitter

Renee Fabian
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Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.

reneeyfabian
Originally published: July 24, 2019
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