Time for a New Coping Mechanism

Apparently, somewhere in the world, there are people who have mastered the art of coping with stressful situations. These people have come up with some actual productive thing to do that helps them handle badness. I've talked to people who claim to be this type of person. They don't drink copious amounts of gin from a bucket or purposely make happy people miserable when shit goes down, like a normal person would do. Instead they do things like go to the gym, write poetry or bake apple pies.

I have not mastered any of these useful and mature ways of dealing. Instead, when things get rough, I assess the situation, decide how bad things are and then, calmly and collectedly, run as far away as possible.

Yes, it's true, I am an escapist. The only thing that cures my stress is getting as far away from what causes it as possible. When actual physical distance is not possible I like to destroy my brain function to the point that I can't think, and therefore can't stress, any longer. When credit card bills come, I go to the movies. When school works piles up and I suddenly come to the realization that if I want to pass this year I will have to pull 5 straight all nighters, I drink a bottle of wine with a friend and go to school hungover, smelling like a brewery and absolutely unable to string together a coherent sentence, let alone focus on the lecture. I'm pretty sure I've always been this way. I have a vivid childhood memory of packing my piggybank and teddybear into a plastic suitcase to run away from home at age 8 because I couldn't understand my math homework. And the worse a situation is, the farther from it I want to get.

Up until this year this strategy has worked very well for me. Running away from shitty roommates has led to better living situations. Running away from immediate financial crises has led to jobs which allowed me to correct said crises. Running to Asia to cure a nursing-school-boredom induced coma was a definite success.

I'm starting to think, however, that this method of coping needs reevaluation. Apparently as you grow up your problems do too and if increasing stress equals increasing distance needed.....I may have to start spending all my time in Fiji. But then what if Fiji gets stressful?