Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) feels like being trapped in a large haunted house. Something scary is ready to jump out at you and you have no control. People living with PTSD have a fuzzy sense of reality. They have no control over their thoughts, feelings, or reactions. Most people with PTSD have trouble trusting anyone because they no longer know if what they are hearing or seeing is right or wrong. They lose the ability to reason out what makes sense. Sometimes the person with PTSD feels they cannot be loved. PTSD is hard to deal with, but there are some ways to make it easier. Here are eight tips for coping with PTSD.
What is PTSD
First, it is important to understand exactly what PTSD is. PTSD is a sickness caused by being involved in a scary, shocking, or dangerous situation. Some examples include war, rape or molestation, or being trapped during a dangerous circumstance. According to the National Center for PTSD, roughly eight people out of 100 will have PTSD sometime during their life. Many factors interplay in how someone may react to and after the event. Fear starts the fight or flight response. It is natural to want to defend or avoid a scary situation. What causes some people to continue to relive the situation (and experience PTSD) while others move forward in life is difficult to say.
Common Risk Factors
- Live through other past traumas
- How much the person was hurt
- The type of support system in place
- Current level of stress before the trauma and after
This doesn’t mean that if there have been other traumas and the person has a lot stress in their life before the trauma, they will have PTSD. These risk factors have been common among people coping with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Eight Tips For Coping With PTSD
Work on Being Present Through Mindfulness
A key symptom of PTSD is slipping back into the event. This could be through flashbacks or being reminded of the event by an object. A person coping with PTSD can recall the upsetting event in great detail and their mind wants to go back their because it is unsettled. Staying in the present by doing deep breathing or mindfulness keeps the person in the now instead of the past and reduces feelings of helplessness.
Activities and Activity Scheduling
Staying active by doing favorite activities help distract the brain from thinking about the dangerous event. Creating a daily or weekly activity schedule helps reduce the chance of dwelling on past events because the brain can’t think about something about the past and concentrate on doing a puzzle.
Daily Physical Activities
Doing daily physical activity, such as running or playing a sport, increases mood. It drives goal setting and finding a sense of completion, which helps people with PTSD feel in control. They feel in control because they made and achieved the goal.
If you need help coping with PTSD, fill out a contact form or give me a call. You do not have to get through it alone.
