PTSD is out of my control - any advice??

Praying with faith will get you through your problems.

I am wishing the best for you and I will pray for you too.

@warmhearted1503 just wanted you to know your not alone I too have CPTSD and I have ups and downs too. I have many things to help on the down times ( I'm in professional therapy) . I use art, journaling, gardening, reading, watching comedies, excercise, cooking or baking sometimes the smell of fresh baked cookies can bring my mood up. I have to be truthful sometimes nothing works and if I can't call on a friend or relative I will go thru a cleaning run. Like take everything out of a closet go thru all the stuff make a pile for donate, keep, or toss. Then re-organize and put the keep stuff in neatly. I hope my post can help you in some way. I wish you the best always 💜 ABB

@warmhearted1503

Hi! I'm sorry to hear that you are going through all of this.

I found an article you can look at for reference.

https://www.7cups.com/traumatic-experience-help/ (This is a self help guide for coping with trauma.)

Also, I believe stress relieving activities can help: reading, journaling, etc.

I hope these can be helpful for you.

Hello Sophie,

I’m new to this app myself but can relate to what you’re going through. I also have PTSD and it’s been a really difficult road. I’m so sorry you’re going through it, too. It really is awful. I’m so sorry you had that experience ❤️

I agree with the previous comments about sometimes it doesn’t seem like there is much that can help. I say this not to be negative but to validate that terrible feeling. It happens to me too—you’re not alone in it. But when it feels like nothing will help, please know that the moment will pass and you won’t feel quite so terrible for ever. ❤️

That said, there are lots of times when there are soothing things that do help tremendously. In addition to things like exercise, cardio, creative activities (journaling, art etc.) that others have already mentioned, I find trying to bring myself back to the moment through mindfulness helps. My psychologist recommends trying to list things I can see, smell, taste, feel, etc. Aromatherapy helps me greatly… I love essential oils. They help ground me. Box breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4) also can sometimes do the trick. Other activities that bring the frontal lobe online (like for one minute listing words starting with s, or listing as many fruits and vegetables as you can think of) help me sometimes too. It sounds silly and like it won’t help but it stops your amygdala (emotional Centre of the brain) from taking over and allows the frontal lobe (logical Centre) to re-engage.

The other strategy I really value is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping. There is a lot of evidence about EFT tapping for PTSD.

Here’s a published medical article about the success of EFT tapping:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6316206/

Here’s a how-to video that helped me learn how to tap:

https://www.thetappingsolution.com/tapping-101/

I find tapping really effective… it really helps to calm me. Sometimes if I don’t have the capacity to say lots of positive things at the end I will just give gratitude or find something that feels accessible (“I am trying” or “it’s okay that things are hard sometimes”).

Often when I’m really struggling it’s almost like my brain forgets how to help itself. I think it’s another sign that my frontal lobe is not online. In those moments I freeze and I can’t seem to come up with these things that I know are helpful. I’ve started making a list of things I’ve found effective in the past so that when I am in the throes of a hard time I can turn to that list and see what I latch on to that doesn’t seem too hard or scary in that moment. My body will often give me a strong signal—either a strong “yes” that will help, or a strong “no”. I try to listen to those signals and be kind to myself. For me, forcing myself to do something my body says no to will make the panic worse. Sometimes I just need to go for the low hanging fruit lol… like aromatherapy which usually feels easy and soothing.

Lastly, I find some things work as protective measures. They seem to spread out the amount of time between difficult days/weeks. Exercise is an important one for me. Sometimes it’s strength training, sometimes it’s cardio, sometimes it’s yoga. It’s really just about finding ways to move my body that help me feel good, and building in variety so that there are high intensity activities that burn off energy/stress/anger when I need it (like cardio) or low intensity activities for days when I feel tired and drained (like gentle yoga). I also find doing guided meditation regularly can help me spread out the difficult moments. When I feel able I try to meditate daily, sometimes only for 10 minutes. I really love the free meditations from the Monroe Institute. That said, I find meditation counterproductive when I am really triggered or activated—it really all depends on the person and the moment I think.

Here are the Monroe Institute free meditations:

https://www.monroeinstitute.org/blogs/free-meditations

(I find the guided meditations with Hemi-Sync really helpful. You’ll know you’re listening to one with hemi-sync because about mid-way through it will sound like the noise circling in your ear. It helps to balance brainwave states.)

Ultimately everyone is different. If these things don’t do the trick for you, just know that something will. Try to take notice of things that make you feel good when the moments are hard, so that you can come back to them when you need them. ❤️

I really hope some of this helped and you are able to find some relief ❤️

K