distress tolerance

When experiencing intense negative emotions, it’s not uncommon to feel like “this will never end” or “this will last forever.”  It’s not surprising that when in this distressed state of being, one might resort to the use of unhealthy coping mechanisms (like binge eating, use of illicit drugs, self-harm) in an effort to self-soothe.  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) founder Marsha Linehan developed distress tolerance skills that are easy to access and straightforward to help people use more adaptive, less destructive strategies when in crisis.