CTRL+ALT+DEL For Your Feelings
Ctrl+Alt+Del For Your Feelings
September is Suicide Prevention Month, and while a lot of conversations focus on what to do in a crisis 🚨, we don’t talk enough about the before. Prevention isn’t only about hotlines and emergencies (though those are life-saving and important!) — it’s also about learning healthier ways to handle emotions before they boil over.
Think of coping strategies as tools 🧰 — not just the ones you grab when the house is on fire 🔥, but the everyday ones that keep things from getting that far in the first place.
Coping Isn’t Only About Crisis
We tend to imagine coping strategies like the emergency glass you break when everything is falling apart 🔨. But really, they should be everyday practices that help you feel grounded, supported, and less overwhelmed 💆♀️.
Crisis coping = calling a hotline ☎️, reaching out when you’re at risk 🚨.
Daily coping = the stuff that builds emotional muscles 💪 and reminds your brain, “I can handle this.”
Both matter. Both save lives 💜.
Everyday Coping Strategies (a.k.a. Emotional Cheat Codes 🎮✨)
Here are a few real-life, not-so-clinical tools that actually help when you practice them:
Movement: Not marathon training 🏃♀️, more like dancing in your kitchen to 90s throwbacks 🎶 or walking the dog 🐕 with a podcast.
Connection: Text a ridiculous meme 🤣. Call someone who makes you feel seen 💌. Even introverts (yes, even you 👀) need people.
Grounding: 5 things you can see 👀, 4 you can touch ✋, 3 you can hear 👂, 2 you can smell 👃, 1 you can taste 👅. Basically the Ctrl+Alt+Del of your nervous system 🖥️.
Creative outlets: Journaling 📓, doodling ✏️, baking 🍪, or building a questionable IKEA bookshelf 🪑 (Swedish curses included).
Rest: Actual rest 😴. Not doomscrolling until 3 a.m. 🌙. Bonus points for napping like a cat in a sunbeam 🐈☀️.
Breathing exercises: Box breathing 🟦 (inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4). Karaoke for your lungs 🎤.
Self-talk: Hype yourself up 💃. “You got this. Beyoncé would be proud.” 👑
Distraction (healthy kind): Puzzles 🧩, retro video games 🕹️, or organizing your closet like it’s a Friends montage 🛋️.
Nature: Go outside 🌳. Touch grass 🌱. Stare dramatically at the sky like you’re in a 90s music video 🎧.
Too Busy for Coping?
We all get caught up in the chaos — work 💼, family 👨👩👧, errands 🛒, endless scrolling 📱. It’s easy to tell ourselves we don’t have time for coping strategies. But here’s the truth: coping doesn’t have to be a 2-hour meditation retreat in Bali 🧘♀️. It can be two minutes of deep breathing in your car 🚗before heading into the grocery store.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986,).” 🚙💨 And sometimes “looking around” just means pausing long enough to notice you’re stressed, and giving yourself one small tool — a walk 🚶♀️, a song 🎵, a laugh 😂 — before life sweeps you up again.
Why Humor Belongs Here
Here’s the thing — coping strategies don’t have to be serious and heavy 100% of the time. Sometimes laughter is the strategy. Humor doesn’t erase pain, but it makes it lighter to carry. It’s like adding wheels to a suitcase 🧳 — the load is still there, but now you’re rolling through the airport like you’re in a Mentos commercial from 1993 😎.
The Comfortably Human Takeaway
Suicide prevention isn’t just about one big dramatic moment. It’s about a thousand small ones 💡 — the choices we make to care for ourselves in messy, imperfect ways. Whether your coping strategy is journaling like you’re auditioning for a sad indie film 🎬, blasting Salt-N-Pepa while cleaning 🧹, or calling in reinforcements when things get dark 🌑 — it all matters.
Depression isn’t just a bad mood you “snap out of.” It’s heavy, complicated, and sometimes feels like your brain is running Windows 95 and keeps freezing 🖥️❌. Prevention means stocking up your emotional toolbox 🧰 ahead of time, so you’ve got options. The tools don’t have to be pretty ✨. They just have to be yours ❤️ (bonus if they make you laugh-snort).