History Main / CopeByCreating

* In ''Literature/TheMermaidsDaughter'', opera singer is a descendant of Literature/TheLittleMermaid who suffers from severe chronic pain in her feet and tongue. Singing is one of the few things that can distract her from it. Her friend Tom is also an example - singing makes him forget about his insecurities and his father who [[IHaveNoSon disowned him for being gay]].

* Before ''Literature/TheShipWho Won'', [[SapientShip Carialle]] survived a truly harrowing experience and was rescued, poisoned by her own wastes and in utter terror of the dark and [[HatesBeingAlone of being alone]]. This being a setting that averts ThereAreNoTherapists, numerous people poured intensive time and effort into helping her, and art therapy was part of this, starting with the suggestion that she paint her fears. She started by flooding canvases with utter blackness, only gradually working her way towards more complex work. By the time of the book she's better, with only a few rare reminders of her trauma, but she's discovered a love of painting as a hobby.
** With a new brawn who enjoys {{LARP}}ing, Carialle also happily becomes his GameMaster, designing holographic places and characters and challenges for him in her cabin.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E14FameAndMisfortune Fame and Misfortune]]", when Rarity's boutique is being boycotted because of negative reviews about the friendship journal, she copes by "stress-sewing" and churning out large amounts of dresses. She's later seen wearing a completely ridiculous and tacky outfit. When Rainbow Dash asks her what it is, Rarity snaps, "My emotions, darling! ''STRESS COUTURE!''"
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Reaching Out", Luz is depressed over the fact that [[spoiler:she's unable to perform her yearly ritual of visiting her father's grave with her mother]] and basically does anything she can to keep herself distracted. When Eda and King wake up, they find her furiously scribbling down notes on a board to try and figure out what Belos' plans are, with her having already started work on a (haphazardly thrown together) portal door prototype and discovered a new glyph combo before they woke up. [[ObviouslyNotFine Both of them are immediately able to tell that something is bothering her]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor Vincent and the Doctor]]": {{Discussed|Trope}} by an museum curator regarding the art of Creator/VincentVanGogh. Going by van Gogh's [[ManlyTears reaction]], he hit the nail on the head.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E22MadeOfHonor Made of Honor]]", Steven explains to Bismuth the revelation that [[spoiler: her leader Rose Quartz was also their supposed worst enemy Pink Diamond, that she had faked her shattering the rest of the Crystal Gems were corrupted as a result]] and that he had unbubbled her without telling the others. When Steven tries making her reappearance a surprise to the others, Bismuth wanders off and drowns her sorrows by working in her forge, making weapons for an army that will never use them because they have either died or were driven mad with corruption presumably because of an idea ''she'' had given to Rose.

* In ''Literature/TheShipWho Won'', [[SapientShip Carialle]] survived a truly harrowing experience and was rescued, poisoned by her own wastes and in utter terror of the dark and [[HatesBeingAlone of being alone]]. This being a setting that averts ThereAreNoTherapists, numerous people poured intensive time and effort into helping her, and art therapy was part of this, starting with the suggestion that she paint her fears. She started by flooding canvases with utter blackness, only gradually working her way towards more complex work. By the time of the book she's better, with only a few rare reminders of her trauma, but she's discovered a love of painting as a hobby.

* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', it is revealed that [[PhysicalGod Foolish]] uses building and construction to maintain a sense of control over his life, a much healthier coping mechanism than [[spoiler:burning down and massacring villages]] as he did in his past.

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' features a mix of this and CopeByPretending in the ''Tiny Tina Assault on Dragon Keep'' DLC, which takes place after the main game and follows Tiny Tina guiding her fellow Vault Hunters through a campaign of [[MagicAmpersand Bunkers & Badasses]]... which right from the get-go appears to be Tina's means of ignoring (if not [[IRejectYourReality outright denying]]) [[spoiler:the recent death of her beloved ParentalSubstitute, Roland]]. The players spend most of the game allowing Tina to indulge her wacky fantasies, but as the campaign nears its climax and [[CreatorBreakdown it becomes increasingly more reflective of recent events]] through her [[SelectiveObliviousness selectively oblivious]] lens, they start getting very uncomfortable and try to get her to stop the game and face the truth. [[spoiler:They eventually do get to her, and only once Tina comes fully clean with accepting Roland's death does she and the party come up with their own happy ending to Roland's story, allowing her to heal and move on.]]

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': The Nosferatu {{Vampire Variety|Pack}} are twisted into TheGrotesque and are usually stuck living in underground enclaves at the fringes of undead society. They're also a rare exception to vampires' CreativeSterility, channeling their alienation into eerie sculptures, haunting songs that use the acoustics of subway tunnels, or bizarre fungus gardens.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', it is revealed that [[PhysicalGod Foolish]] uses building and construction to maintain a sense of control over his life, a much healthier coping mechanism than [[spoiler:burning down and massacring villages]] as he did in his past.

* Katya from ''Literature/{{ByAnyOtherName|2013}}'' painted to cope with missing her dad, who had made powerful enemies through some kind of business deal, and worrying about his safety. But it was her own safety she should have been worried about, because her father's enemies kidnapped her to hold her to ransom.