5 Techniques To Help Manage PTSD

PTSD is a terrifying condition. You can find out what cause my PTSD in my Regaining My Self Confidence post. I wanted to share with you today some techniques that helped me manage PTSD. This is not intended to replace the help & support of a medical professional. If you think you are suffering with PTSD, please go to see your doctor. The right support will help you manage this condition better & hopefully shorten how long you are suffering. If I had received the right help (I had to fight really hard to get support), I feel I would’ve seen an improvement in my symptoms sooner. These tips may also be helpful for people with other mental health conditions.

Techniques To Help Manage PTSD: Finish The Day By Writing 3 Positives

When you are living in a constant state of fear, it is hard to see the good things that are happening. One of the helpful techniques that my counsellor suggested I do was to write down 3 positive things at the end of every day. The key here is that you have to physically write them down, rather than just thinking them. As writing makes them more tangible. These three things don’t have to be anything major. They could be as simple as “I got out of bed” if that is something you are struggling with. By doing this, you go to bed with the positives (however small) at the forefront of your mind. It might seem a hard thing do to start with, but it gets easier the longer you do it. You’re also likely to find that the positives you are writing down become more substantial.

Techniques To Help Manage PTSD: Meditation

Meditation can come in various forms. The meditation my counsellor gave me to do consisted of 40 minutes of breathing, slow, movement & guided meditation. Unfortunately, I’ve no idea where the CD now is, so I can’t give you any more details on this. When I was given the meditation CD, I initially thought it was going to make things worse. I was in my final year of uni & time was of the essence. I thought taking 40 minutes away from my studies every day would make me stressed that I had so much to do & had just ‘wasted’ 40 minutes. What I actually found, was that I was able to go back to my studies each day with a clearer head & get more done as a result. There are some good meditation apps out there. I’m currently using The Meaning Of Life App & will have a review of you soon.

Techniques To Help Manage PTSD: Identify Your Triggers

This might seem obvious, but identifying your triggers can really help you to manage your PTSD. Unfortunately, while some triggers can be obvious, others aren’t. Identifying triggers when you are in a constant state of anxiety can be very hard. It’s worth trying to keep a diary to identify when you get particular symptoms, alongside what you were doing at the time. Once you build up a picture, you can look back through your diary & see if you can identify any common themes. I’d suggest doing this on a better day &, if you feel you can, have a friend with you to help. This can help you feel safe & they might spot something from your diary that you didn’t.

Once you’ve identified your triggers, you can work with a counsellor to reduce the effect these have on you. This could be through avoidance (this isn’t always the best option) or having coping techniques for when you experience your trigger. For some people, just knowing that something will cause them a problem can help when they experience it because they know the cause of their reaction. This takes away the fear that they are destined to randomly experience symptoms.

Techniques To Help Manage PTSD: Grounding

Grounding is a technique aimed at bringing you into the present moment. I found this helpful when having flashbacks. There are different ways to do this, so it’s worth trying a variety to find out which works best for you. The one that worked best for me was to concentrate on feeling the floor under my feet. A flashback can feel like the world is falling apart around you, so I found concentrating on the feeling of a solid floor helpful. It acts as reassurance that the the world around you is not changing, even though your mind is perceiving it to be. Even just the focussing on something other than the symptom can reduce it’s effect.

Another grounding technique is to use a reassuring object or smell to help make you feel safe. This didn’t work for me, as with all of my allergies, I don’t have any scents that I associate with safety. I used my engagement ring as my object, as it’s always on my finger. This did help, as it reminded me that I was loved & not all the awful things my ex told me I was. But often this was short lived, as it brought me back to the situation that caused my PTSD.

Techniques To Help Manage PTSD: Allow Yourself To Sleep When You Need To

This was something I never would’ve though of, but allowing yourself to sleep when you are emotionally exhausted is really helpful. It was my counsellor who told me to do this. She explained that my brain is trying to repair itself & it needs sleep to do this. By fighting sleep when I need to, I was delaying improvement of my PTSD symptoms. Being told that it was ok to sleep when I was tired was a big thing for me. I was given permission to take care of myself, regardless of the social expectations being put on me.

These are just some of the techniques to help manage PTSD. I may write another post along these lines in the future.

What have you found to help manage PTSD?

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