Put your feet up and give in to the cry. Even that seems to help at times.

I am not afraid to say to myself " Go to bed, take a nap" The guiltiness of what I might not get done that exact moment is the trade off of taking twice as long to getting anything done when I am frozen with (you name the feeling) and can't reason solutions. I spend twice as long stuck in the sand or more if I don't give myself that break.

I have felt this way every day since my PTSD reared it's ugly head some six years ago now. I try to do things that are nice for myself throughout the day to make me feel better. I'm not talking big things just little things like putting on some nice smelling hand lotion and just sitting there and sniffing for a good long while. You can do the same thing by lighting a scented candle. I take time out of my day to read for 30 minutes (I love reading). Sit outside in the direct sunlight for at least twenty minutes to get your vitamin D for the day which will make you feel better. Listen to music and let yourself dance. Wash your face; not just splashed with water really scrub it so it feels really clean. The ideas are endless. Indulge yourself in something you like or that will distract you. Don't sit and give yourself time to dwell on your mood swinging back and forth. Could be your meds need to be tweeked too. This is all easier said than done. Along the PTSD journey we seem to loose the ability to be kind to ourselves.

Possibly the most important thing I have learned to do is accept my own feelings with gentle kindness. Over the course of learning this self acceptance, I have come to believe my feelings, both better and worse, ARE the best of me. Well. . . the valid feelings are, anyway. When I repress and/or put myself down for having feelings, they spin and morph into the outer reaches into new creations that have lives of their own. These, I invalidate, but my core feelings each have their own beauty. Even the unpleasant ones since they lead me to places in need of healing, be it my personal healing or the world around me.

Since I started validating and listening to my feelings instead of beating myself up for having them, it easier to figure out how to ease the pain that accompanies them all to often. Even pleasant emotions can bring me pain when my hyper-vigilance kicks in and starts looking for the Catch. . .

For what it's worth, I envy people who cry easily. I don't and my own repressed feelings build into extreme negativity when I let them build up.

Every day every other day is my story and I say, "Cry, nap, and reboot."

I have not done so the last week ro so, and today in therapy I melted down super-bad, and it was nasty... Now I'm all worn out worse. *grr*

Even a small thing helps, though. I drink a cup of super-rich cocoa. I cuddle in fleece that I just put through the dryer. I sniff favorite scents. Anything I can as I can.... "me" only moments, if that makes sense?

I agree on Vitamin D. It's super hot here, so sitting out in the sun is an invite to sunburn or sun sickness, but outside summer it's awesome to do (I live where it's sunny a lot in winter).

I've been told that releasing my feelings is what will enable me to heal. I have even been advised to put on sad movies or sad songs to help myself cry if that's what I need to do. So maybe if you let yourself sob and feel the sadness and show yourself much compassion for it it will move you forward in your healing. I hope so.

I hear you, for sure. I am going through a divorce and the triggers are huge, for sure. I have an incredible support system, but when the tears flow, they just flow.

Even before I read donna's reply here, I was going to say the same. I know that it can be annoying or even alarming to be weepy. But I built up my PTSD over such a long time that I had a problem with dissociating. It's as if I was a frozen block of iced over emotions inside. When the dissociating was no longer needed because I found myself in the safety of my therapist, it's as if that frozen block inside me thawed out. Result: the water flowed.

Sometimes it was disturbing, and sometimes--especially since I'm a guy in the USA--it was embarrassing. But it was cathartic and cleansing, too, and a relief in that it let me know I had feelings, lots of feelings, underneath all of that numbness. I wasn't a hopeless case, it was not too late for me. Of course, I've spent the years since trying to sort out which backed up emotions go with which traumatic event back in my past. But I have an emotional life now, albeit one that's kind of got a jumbled up timeline.

Lately crying and laughing and all things in between exposure to sisters drama and sadness brought on taking on her ptsd for the day so i had to turn off tv shut down chaos hold my dog and cry,, i cry for both of us and a lost childhood cry a river it is good for the soul

Personally, I am jealous. I feel like I have a huge reservoir of tears but I just can't find the spigot to turn on. Enjoy your crying, it cleanses your soul. I hope to find my spigot one day.