Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group

Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.

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Anxiety Disorders
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What an amazing group full of insight

UndercoverAngel
UndercoverAngel
Thank you all for your words and help with my loved one with PTSD. I am not an expert but I have been doing a lot of research and received amazing words from many of you, What I see happening is that he was triggered when I left, his daily struggles as well as the bigger struggles have put his anxiety in overdrive. I believe overdrive is a word that cannot even begin to describe it but it is all I have right now. It appears he has shut down the best he can so he can try to make it all go away when indeed it will not. I want to call him and tell him to breathe and I am here for you. However as much as that sounds like a good idea to me (non-sufferer) it could only set him off worse because those are silly words to someone who has been triggered and overridden with anxiety and negative emotion. What does a carer (for lack of better word) do in such a situation? Do I completely heed the request as long as it takes and leave him be or do I encourage him in some way? This is a slippery slope and I want to make sure I am not adding fuel to the fire but also not disappear into the abyss.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday.
LeoX3
LeoX3
This link realllly helped my hubby, and the words "blanket tent" are frequently used in our house now. It also gave him some idea of why my reaction to an overture could be Yes or No or Get the eff outta here....

Hope it helps you

http://sometimesmagical.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/supporting-a-loved-one-through-ptsd-or-panic-attacks/
UndercoverAngel
UndercoverAngel
Thank you Leo.
yadlim
yadlim
Leo that is a great link.

My left field suggestion? give him 100% space for a couple of weeks, then happily ping him again and just act that nothing went wrong. You can't actually help him through a trigger from a distance - but you can be part of his life when he gets back to himself.

It is worth a try.

yadlim
LeoX3
LeoX3
I take no credit. LillyPotter shared it with me waaay back last year and when I found it again, I put it on my bookmarks so I wouldn't "lose" it, so kudos to Lilly.
arfie
arfie
I am on both sides of the PTSD coin; both sufferer and supporter. On both sides of the coin, I find that when I do not know what to do, nothing is usually the best thing to do. On your mark, get set, SIT!!! Sometimes the mud just needs time to settle.

Buttttt... Insert Tom Petty link here... "The Waiting is the Hardest Part."
UndercoverAngel
UndercoverAngel
I am not good at doing nothing. That is exactly what I am doing now and I feel like I am losing it. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
LeoX3
LeoX3
Cultivate the way. Read the book of Tao. It has helped me be less of a mess many times in my life, even before my PTSD diagnosis.

Sometimes, in stillness, we find the answers. That's what makes stillness so dang scary for us, sometimes.

Breathe. Center. Ground. You are Here. You are Now. This moment is a moment to never be experienced again... Focus on what you see. Hear. Smell, Touch. Taste. And suddenly: you may find you've been still without feeling anxiety about it....

Works for me sometimes.
gizzy2010
gizzy2010
When stuff is going on for me, I also if sit and do nothing, freak out. SO it does help to do what people are saying, to sit, breathe, slowly in and out breathe, it takes practice, and like suggested, to ground, by smells around you can be a way of grounding, among other things can. I have had to tell myself that "this will pass"...in the moment type anxiety. That "I'm gonna be okay." "I am okay." - and I have needed to re-say these many many times and sometimes had to do it for hours, to get through.
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