PTSD/CPTSD/TRAUMA SUPPORT THREAD

Post Reply New Topic

Post information, experiences of and any techniques to help, support and inform people who are suffering with any kind of emotional trauma and also for the families or carers to those who are trauma survivors/sufferers.

This thread is for educational purposes and not for the purposes of diagnosis.

Post traumatic stress disorder https://g.co/kgs/eJHjDE

Complex post traumatic stress disorder
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-sup ... he%20world

I'm not sure why I'm just now seeing this. Good idea.

It's been a few years for me since I was doing trauma work, but I recall how helpful it was for me to have a 'self care kit' assembled. I put one together when I was in an okay headspace and had it ready for times I was not. It was full of things that soothed me. I kept that thing by this comfy chair I'd curl up in when things got especially rough so it required no thought to find it. It was always there. I had issues with this things like body memories, flashbacks, and getting holed up in my head in the worst kinds of ways. The self care kit had things in it that I would use as an anchor to reality, so to speak. I remember stumbling onto citrus fruit as a nice way to engage multiple senses at once and it really helped to keep me present and give me something to focus on outside of myself. I could roll an orange, for example, around in my hands, maybe toss it back and forth from hand to hand, see it, smell it, and it was really helpful to me. Sounds silly, but I swear, oranges and the like were a must have for me for a while there. I found them awesome anchors when one is needed and totally worth keeping in a self care kit.

Flashbacks all day yesterday. Screamed and shouted my way through my therapy session. Triggered to f*ck on WP.

I luckily took a fluffy jacket with me to my therapy session yesterday so at least I had something to cuddle. I'll do that in future I think even though I'm supposed to be as hard as f*****g nails. It's so embarrassing to become a child like that.

I'm a bit better today but the flashbacks are still hitting me like a f*****g brick every now and then.

Tomorrow's another day I suppose. I'm living for tomorrow atm.

Oh I'm OK thanks.

Another thing I found is that when I'm in my therapy sessions me and my T play ball a lot. It's a technique to keep me awake because I dissociate A LOT, like I literally fall asleep. Anyway we've found that if I use my left hand to throw and catch (I'm usually right handed) then that helps me stay more present.

Also drinking fruit juice is grounding as well. Especially if it's really sweet.

Yes it's due to the ptsd and the dissociation.

Your therapist sounds like a keeper. I'm glad you found someone that works for you. I'm thinking about giving therapy another shot. I didn't find it that helpful in the past, but I think I'd like to find a different therapist/type of therapy.

I've found journaling and hiking really helpful lately. When my PTSD is bad, it's hard to stay still so getting out has been very helpful. Stuff always tends to come up then, but maybe it's stuff that needs to be dealt with on some level. I've just been in a strange place these past few months. In some ways, I don't think that things will ever be the same again. That might be a good thing. I don't know.

Yeah probably finding a therapist who you can trust is half the battle.

I get what you're saying about walking/hiking.

I was still struggling with the flashbacks this morning and I had to go out to a hospital appointment regarding my adhd. The walk did me so much good (even though I'd made a mistake with the appointment) It acted like a kind of circuit breaker.

I also used to go for really long walks alone on a Sunday morning. it was about a 3 hour walk and I used to follow the same route. It was so therapeutic for me. It was like I'd start off in a state of stress of the week and the mental health that brought with it and by the time I got back home I was like a fresh person again and ready to get back to work on the Monday. Of course it used to all build back up again by the end of the week.

Bath, cup of tea, chocolate. In that order.

That's what I need now. I feel like I'm finally recovering from my flashbacks I've been having for the last 2 days and now I just need self care and comfort.

Oh not to forget a good box set to binge on as well.

Imagine a dog that gets kicked once and then it takes a while to trust people but eventually with a bit of kindness it forgets and is happy again. Then imagine a dog that keeps getting kicked again and again and again and is never shown any kindness by anyone in its life...

This is extreme and it is how I see the difference between ptsd (first example) and cptsd (second example).