An individual will engage in maladaptive coping strategies if they are unaware of adaptive coping strategies or are aware of them but believe that they are not capable of carrying out the required actions. Individuals then resort to maladaptive coping strategies to reduce the unpleasant emotions of fear and anxiety brought about by the threat. There are four types of maladaptive coping strategies.

Avoidance or denial of the problem

This occurs when the individual perceives that they are powerless against the hazard and refuses to accept what is happening or would likely happen in the future. They will then be in denial of the problem, helping them to reduce negative feelings of fear and anxiety. However, this coping method may worsen the situation and prevent them from adopting adaptive coping strategies.

Wishful thinking

Wishful thinking is when the individual forms beliefs that a favourable event is likely to happen and an unfavourable one will not. These beliefs are often unrealistic.

Religious faith

Religious faith is the use of religious resources to overcome the disaster. Having a spiritual view can help one to build resilience against the challenges brought upon them by the unavoidable situation and provide them with a new perspective to make sense of what occurred, giving them hope.

Another way is through community support, where if a substantial number of people are affected by the same disaster, the members of the community are each other’s coping system. Community reactions can improve or worsen an individual’s reaction to a disaster and an individual’s reaction can spread among the community. The interactions between these two factors influence the collective identity of the community, which determines the way how the community as a whole cope and recover from the disaster.

Currently, Vietnam is experiencing a drought, which is a slow-onset disaster. Droughts are naturally occurring but longer dry seasons, brought about by climate change has resulted in the increased frequency and severity of droughts. Droughts are usually seen by the community as a natural part of seasonality and they take some time to become noticeable. The time needed for the effects of droughts to become severe enough to affect and become a concern to the community may be too slow. Thus, community awareness may not arise and a community support system for coping may not be available when needed.

Fatalism

A type of fatalism is helplessness. Helplessness occurs when the individual perceives that they are unable to control the threat and believes that any actions taken to overcome the threat would be ineffective.

Prolonged periods and repeated experiences of helplessness may result in learned helplessness. These individuals make no effort to change the events that happen to them, even though there is a potential solution to change the outcome. Overtime, this behaviour can result in depression. When one becomes depressed, it can impact their mental health, affect their ability to make decisions, causing them to become less functional as a person. Moreover, they draw away from their daily lives, affecting their relationships.