What are adaptive coping mechanisms?

Adaptive coping mechanisms are strategies that individuals use to manage stress or adversity effectively. Tim Ferriss and Dr. Peter Attia discuss these as techniques to handle past traumas and challenges constructively. Rather than simply reacting to stress, adaptive coping involves understanding, acknowledging, and managing your emotions and behaviors in ways that foster well-being and growth. A key aspect highlighted is the notion of self-empathy and introspection, recognizing how certain responses may have served as protective mechanisms at some point, and then consciously deciding how to adjust these behaviors for better outcomes in the present 1.