If you've ever experienced something overwhelming, you've had to cope somehow. Coping is something you do to be able to deal with your internal world (feelings, thoughts, memories) as it reacts to an outside stressor. Simply put, it's a way of comforting yourself.

In reality, you are coping with various stressors every day—a driver cutting you off, a pop quiz in math class, getting stuck in a long grocery line. But sometimes, you have an internal reaction to something that pushes you beyond your normal capacity to cope. When this happens, it's like poking a hole in a small boat.