By Annisha Elsa
What do you do when your car breaks down right before an important office presentation, or when you’re gearing up for a major annual event?
You may have three options:
- Rant and rave: Tell the universe how awful and unfair it has been, count all the mishaps of life, and start criticising every person who may have caused the trouble—including nature’s four seasons.
- Panic format: Roll out an Excel spreadsheet titled “This Month’s Haywire Budget.”
- Find the silver lining: Be deeply thankful it broke down just three minutes away from a McDonald’s.
Dr. Chung Kit Oi, a General Medical Practitioner (GP) based in England and a Fellow of the Royal College of GPs, UK, has much to say about breakdowns and coping mechanisms.
“I practice in Liverpool, England, but used to live in Taman Canning, Ipoh,” Dr. Chung shares calmly. “I work with people who are often living in poverty and ongoing stress, and I also work with people who have fled from terrible situations in their own countries and seek refuge in the UK.”
According to Dr. Chung, “breakdowns” come in many forms—a new diagnosis of a serious illness, the loss of a loved one, a job loss, the breakdown of a relationship, or sudden financial problems. People have different levels of resilience and respond differently to different stressors. Most importantly, coping mechanisms are something that can be learned and developed over time.
Dr. Chung Kit Oi’s 11 Tips to Stay Healthy and Sane
Journaling: Writing down our thought processes eliminates brain crowding.
- Talk it Out: Speaking to someone trusted, whether that is family, a friend, or a professional, helps to ease the heavy burden.
- Release Emotion Through Art: Channel feelings into art, music, or dance. Some of the most powerful works of writing or art have come from an individual’s expression of their deepest loss and pain.
- Grounding & Mindfulness: Focus on being entirely present in the moment.
- Breathing Exercises: An absolute necessity to combat acute stress. Woosah! Woosah!
- Nature Therapy: Spend time immersing yourself in beautiful nature.
- Clever Distractions: Spark creativity and redirect your mind by playing music, reading a book, gardening, or watching movies.
- Chilling to Chill: Sometimes coping is simply about doing nothing at all, allowing yourself dedicated time to rest.
- Go in the Opposite Direction: When you feel intensely negative, try doing the exact opposite of what your mood dictates. Play happy music when you feel sad; give a smile when you feel angry. Try it, it works!
- Challenge Your Thoughts: Examine your mindset and how you react to events. It is incredibly helpful to clearly understand what you can and cannot control.
- Create a Crisis Plan: Keep a ready list of phone numbers to contact trusted friends, family, or mental health crisis lines when things get overwhelming.
From Personal Coping to Systemic Change: Ella’s Law
Sometimes, these coping mechanisms expand far beyond personal routines, transforming deep personal grief into historic, life-changing action. A powerful example of this can be seen in the UK through the story of Ella Kissi-Debrah. Ella was a vibrant nine-year-old girl who endured multiple hospital admissions for severe asthma before tragically passing away from an attack in 2013. Her mother, Rosamund, refused to let her daughter’s death be in vain and pushed relentlessly for an investigation into the environmental triggers of her illness.
In a landmark 2020 ruling, a British coroner’s report officially recorded the cause of Ella’s death as air pollution—making legal history as the first-time air pollution was ever explicitly listed as a medical cause of death on a certificate anywhere in the world.
Since then, Rosamund has channelled her grief into an enduring campaign for public health. In March 2026, Ella’s Law (officially the Clean Air Human Rights Bill) achieved a monumental milestone when it was formally brought before Parliament, driving a powerful movement to legally bind the UK government to meet World Health Organisation pollution limits by 2030. As Rosamund beautifully notes, nothing reduces the profound grief of losing a child, but she feels incredibly privileged to do something in her memory that will protect millions of other children.
The Road Ahead
Mishaps happen, and unexpected losses take place. When they do, the choices are laid out right in front of us. Which road we choose to trudge along or cross is entirely up to us.
And yes, I did pen this article with a chilled espresso at McDonald’s while… yes, you guessed it right… woosah! woosah!
