Dealing With PTSD

The impacts of a post-traumatic anxiety disorder (PTSD) can be debilitating and disheartening. The symptoms of PTSD may harm your mental health, physical health, work, and relationships. You may feel isolated, have difficulty keeping a job, be not able to trust others, and have trouble controlling or expressing your emotions.

Learning healthy strategies for dealing with PTSD is possible and can provide a sense of renewal, hope, and control over your life. There is an assortment of areas in our lives that may be impacted by the signs of PTSD and, to work toward a healthy recovery, it’s necessary to give attention to each area.

Why Healthy Coping Skills Are Important

If you have PTSD, you’re at much higher risk of developing numerous other mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. By way of instance, scientists have found that individuals with PTSD are about twice as likely as someone without PTSD to develop depression. They are and nearly five times as likely to develop another anxiety disorder.

Social Coping Strategies

Hoping to describe your expertise to others can be challenging. Not only can it be tough to talk to people about the traumatic event itself, but it may be even harder to explain some of these symptoms you’ve been experiencing since the occasion.

Educate Yourself and Others

Individuals who struggle with PTSD frequently do this in isolation, finding it tough to reach out. In actuality, they may not even understand they are struggling with PTSD before the symptoms become almost unbearable. In addition to educating yourself on the signs and treatment, it’s necessary to seek out protected people to associate with who can encourage you on your own journey to recovery. Learning more about the condition will allow you to clearly explain to others what is happening for you and request what you require.

Find Supportive Connections

There are many resources in local communities and online that provide group-based support, such as support groups, classes, community meetings, and online classes.

Connecting with others that are going through a similar experience can break down the boundaries of isolation and help you realize that you’re not alone.

Interacting with others that are in various phases of healthy recovery can be invaluable to you in your healing journey. You may find tips for coping, joining with specialized suppliers, and finding out new and emerging treatment choices.

Spend Time With People

It’s typical for those who have PTSD to shy away from people, draw, and escape.
Frustration leads to fears, anxiety and anger, and confusion. This all leads to having a feeling of being overwhelmed. This is the reason that many people feel more secure staying isolated.

It is important to spend time with family members as well as friends who can be supportive in making a difference to your mood and general outlook on life. Remember that if you’re sharing space with any family members or friends, it’s probable they already notice you struggling.

Many times people do not understand how to help or are afraid to say something for fear of causing more emotional pain. It can be useful for all parties–both you and your loved ones–to have enough time to spend together. Some ways to spend time with other people may include things like:

Going for a walk
Have morning coffee
Play a card game
Talk on the telephone
If you have a funny story, be sure to share it with others.

You may not feel like talking right now; however, you could simply sit quietly in precisely the same area to see a book or paper. Just sharing the same space can feel comforting.

Emotional and Physical Coping Strategies

Among the most significant ways to manage PTSD and other conditions–would be to care for your mental and physical health. There are several strategies that will work with your therapy to help you deal with PTSD and strengthen your body and mind in ways that can help you in your daily life.

Mindfulness

Due to the levels of stress, anxiety, and overwhelmed that we frequently encounter with PTSD, finding time for meditation, prayer, and other mindfulness techniques can help calm our minds and bodies.3 If the notion of this is uncomfortable for you, bear in mind that there isn’t any pressure to perform.

Just beginning with a couple of minutes per day of silent mindfulness may feel like a success. The objective of the time is to remain focused on the present with no judgment or fear. When you feel comfortable, you can add more time to offer yourself minutes to experience a feeling of calm and learn how to balance yourself if you start to feel stressed or overwhelmed.
Exercise

Just as it’s crucial to understand how to calm your mind, it’s also essential to get your body moving.

Taking the time to enjoy the outdoors, get some fresh air, and move our bodies can be a beneficial way to regulate mood and emotions. Research indicates that physical exercise helps our brains better deal with stress.4 In actuality, psychologists suggest that only a 10-minute walk daily may benefit our mood and help to ease both your anxiety and, in turn, your depression. Some things which are beneficial to keep in mind are:
Find an activity that you will enjoy.

Set small Objectives
While you exercise, make sure you listen to music or conversation on the radio.
If possible, work out with a friend.
Always give your self-time! Don’t be impatient.
Always ensure you drink plenty of fluids.

 

Make Time To Take Part In Counseling

It is very beneficial to you to engage with a professional therapist or counselor (such as us here at Inner Strength). At first, it may feel a little intimidating, but can be quite helpful once you’re struggling with post-traumatic stress .

Using a trained person available to provide support and advice in your recovery is an integral element to long-term achievement. Find someone you feel comfortable with, find knowledgeable and trustworthy, and be consistent in attending your sessions.

Counseling offices may provide a secure, calm space that you process with no fear of having to perform or be judged. Being consistent in your involvement helps to build on your progress, continue growing, and find healing.

Keep a Journal

Some folks find it relaxing to journal their thoughts and have a permanent place to return to write and process their experiences. Research indicates that individuals struggling with PTSD can find advantages in keeping a diary, such as diminishing flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive memories, helping them reconnect to people and areas they otherwise might otherwise need to prevent.

Journaling can also aid in your counseling since you can typically bring your journal to sessions as things come up, which you want to process. Talk to your therapist and see if this may be an alternative for you.
Work

Individuals with PTSD miss more days on the job and operate less efficiently.

Certain signs of PTSD, such as difficulty concentrating and problems sleeping, may make it difficult for you to listen at work, stay organized, or make it work on time.

Individuals with PTSD have higher rates of unemployment than people without PTSD. Similarly, people with PTSD frequently have difficulties at school and are less inclined to make it through high school or college.

It is certainly beneficial to speak directly to your employer about matters that could help. Being willing to convey individuals must understand your experience better and help you work around challenges that you’re facing. Examples of items to mention could include:

Asking for flexibility with scheduling
Assist in minimizing distractions
Ask for a little time to get your head straight if you feel slightly overwhelmed.

Reconfigure your workplace to help you feel at ease and secure.
Speak with your HR department about possible Employee Assistance Programs.

Relationships

People with PTSD are more likely to suffer from their marriages than individuals without PTSD.8 Partners of people with the illness might have to deal with a range of stressors that come along with caring for and living with a person with psychological challenges such as that of PTSD. The sources of stress include financial difficulties, managing symptoms, coping with emergencies, loss of friends, or lack of intimacy. These can have a significant adverse effect on a relationship.

Remember that those closest to you may already understand you’re struggling and not know what to say or how to help. That doesn’t mean that they do not care; it only means they do not know what to do.

You Must Be Open And Honest About Your Needs

Take some time to help your family members understand what you’re experiencing and be honest about how they could help. You need to ask them to be patient with you, but just as importantly, be patient with yourself. It is important to place and maintain boundaries around your time and private space when it comes to relationships. It can be very challenging, although vitally important, to ask for help from those people that care about you.

Find Time For Yourself

It is common knowledge that feeling isolated is one of the major factors of dealing with PTSD. Going away from people, shutting down, or staying concealed from significant people in our lives may result in more psychological pain and more debilitating symptoms. Take the time to spend with family members and practice sharing space together, interacting, and reconnecting. Nurturing these connections by dividing time to spend together is great for the connection and beneficial to your recovery and healing.

PTSD Triggers

If you’re struggling with PTSD, you could feel easily overwhelmed, fearful, and anxious. It’s clear you’d do anything you can to avoid people, places, and things that could remind you of your traumatic experience.

There are a couple of different kinds of triggers that individuals with PTSD can encounter –external and internal.

Examples of internal triggers can include:

Feeling lonely
Anger
Sadness
Feeling vulnerable
Muscle tension
Memories
Physical pain

Examples of external causes include:

News program
Film or TV series
Smells
Anniversary
Holidays
Places that remind you of this event
Certain Men and Women

Even though it’s understandable to avoid causes, it’s important not to forget that, based on the injury we experienced, we might not have the ability to avoid everything that might be a trigger.

As opposed to working on attempting to avoid, it’s most helpful to find healthy ways to deal with triggers so you can fully experience life again. Participating in a recovery or treatment program can assist with this, as you learn how to handle and navigate challenging scenarios and possibly triggering experiences.

Lifestyle Risks

Here are some items which you can do to help yourself live the best life possible, even when you are still experiencing PTSD symptoms. As you work in conjunction with your healthcare professional, you can take specific actions to assist in your healing and recovery procedure.

Things to Remember as You Heal;

Avoid alcohol and drugs
Get enough sleep
Exercise
Eat a balanced, nutritious diet
Limit caffeine
Limit display time
Do not isolate yourself.

Not after some of these ideas may become a risk to your well-being, and your general recovery, the symptoms you are experiencing can be overwhelming and debilitating.

Eliminating or minimizing risks can help you find success in therapy and provide you with an opportunity to experience an excellent quality of life after going through a traumatic experience.

Physical Health

Along with mental health issues, having PTSD appears to raise the possibility of physical health complications, including pain, diabetes, obesity, heart problems, respiratory difficulties, and sexual dysfunction.
It’s not completely clear as to why individuals with PTSD have more physical health issues. However, it might be due to the signs of PTSD, bringing about the release of stress hormones, which may result in inflammation and eventual harm to your body.

The stress hormone could increase your risk for specific physical health issues, including cardiovascular disease.

Having PTSD also seems to increase risks for unhealthy behaviors (for example, smoking, lack of exercise, and increased alcohol use), which may further increase the chance of physical health issues.

Getting Expert Help

Learning healthful and practical coping skills can help you live a fuller life and handle a few of the symptoms you’re experiencing with PTSD. However, it’s essential also to seek support from a skilled professional who will help you move toward healing and recovery.

The Best Online Treatment Programs

We have tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of the best online treatment programs such as Talkspace, Betterhelp, and Regain.

There are various treatments for PTSD, which are effective, and treating PTSD may cause improvements in different areas of your life. By way of instance, when people successfully manage their PTSD, they frequently discover that other ailments go away too (even though their other conditions may call for specific, targeted treatments).

Regrettably, only slightly more than a third of individuals with PTSD are in some sort of treatment.