Psychological Mechanism of Coping with Loss and Terror

People have different internal mechanisms when trying to cope with difficult situations, and are generally divided into two categories. One group is composed of attenders and the other of distractors. Attendors are those people who like to be informed about the negative situation. In the example of a child getting a shot, an attendor child wants to know why he is getting the shot and how it is going to work. A distractor child wants to have his attention diverted. He will take part in other activities that will shift his focus from the difficult situation. Both children are healthy and have normal approaches to coping. Attempting to change the method with which they handle their individual situation would contribute added stress. It is best to let each person deal with difficulty in his own way. Both distracting and confronting a stress is helpful in learning to deal with it.