Welcome to the group though sorry to hear what bought you here.
It helped me to do a mindful meditation course and to some extent be able to let memories happen without letting them hijack me. Trying to see the bigger picture and realise we are not alone in this is helpful too. The support and understanding here has helped me a lot over the years. Best of luck with your healing.

Welcome to the group though sorry to hear what bought you here.
It helped me to do a mindful meditation course and to some extent be able to let memories happen without letting them hijack me. Trying to see the bigger picture and realise we are not alone in this is helpful too. The support and understanding here has helped me a lot over the years. Best of luck with your healing.

This is exactly what I've experienced. Please feel free to message me, so we can talk about it

Hi Lilac. Welcome to the forum. There are vast books (both published and unpublished) of tips and coping strategies. Alas, more than anybody can assimilate in one sitting. Personally, I take my own healing journey in very small bytes and chew each byte for a very long time before swallowing.

In my own psychotherapy journey, it helps me to separate my fears from my hyper-vigilance. My fears are real and need to be dealt with. My hyper-vigilance blows my fears out of proportion and convinces me of threat where there is none. I hurt an awful lot of innocent by-standers, including myself, when my hyper-vigilance kicks in, so I focus on getting the hyper out of my vigilance before I worry about the underlying fears.

My most effective exercise for getting the hyper out of my vigilance is validation. When an panic attack hits, I take a minute to assess my immediate surroundings for clear and present danger. No, a neighbor whose security lights look like a child porn set (one of my personal trauma triggers) does not qualify as clear and present danger. If I find no clear and present danger, I move to the calming drawer of my therapy toolbox. Girl, howdy, that's a big drawer in my own toolbox. Breathing exercises were the first tool I mastered well enough to put in that drawer. I still use my breathing exercises more than any other tool in my box. My psychotherapy screwdriver?

But that is me. . . Repeat welcome. Gentle support while you find what works for you, Lilac.

If its possible to seek therapy for your anxiety, I think that would help.
Ummmm, journaling helps for me. Letting it out. Maybe journal and then post it here because i think it helps to have other people know. Keeping it inside or to yourself is the worst. Also on facebook you can get this thing called a woebot which helps too. It helps with your moods and whatnot.
Hope this helps. Breathing exercises and meditation help also. :)

Big hug for you Chale and Welcome to the group.... I am so sorry to read what has brought you here but am glad that you're here

Have you seen a doctor yet?... I would seek some medical help and ask for a referral to a trauma therapist if you can .... People on here are very knowledgeable .... It's a great group of folks.....xo

Good to see you, looney! What you said about how meditation helped you not get hijacked by physical reactions as a sexual assault survivor is true for me, too.

TW

Mine was a physical "butt-clenching" reaction I had all the time when the memory of my childhood assaults my a pedophile was triggered. Like you say, meditation helped that not hijack me completely into being taken over.