Tips for PTSD Flashbacks Community Group
We've been triggered and are now deep into a flashback....how do we stop it? How do you stop the hell that can come with flashbacks of trauma before we feel so deeply inside of it that we can't get out? How do we stop it before we go into an intense and frightening panic or anxiety attack? Share what you have learned so that others may learn and feel relief!
Reply #1 - 12/21/12 4:25pm
" Thank you Mujica.
Awhile back, I started a couple of Groups to store all those great tips. If you click on the green Groups logo at the top right of the page, you can find the 2 groups on the second page. They are Tips for PTSD Flashbacks and Tips for PTSD Triggers. Would you do me the favor of putting this on those groups so that we have them hopefully, for a long time?
Someday, I'll do a couple more groups on panic/anxiety attacks and dissociation. Those of us who are learning need a place to share what we have learned with others.
hugs, my friend.................Jen "
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Grounding Tools
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mujicaptsd
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I went to the opposite end of our postings here to the earliest on the site, dating back to 2006, and saw something that might be just as useful today to us as it as to them back then. It's a list of "grounding tools" for PTSD I could sure use them. I'm pasting them in here. Anybody else have any to add as a 2012 update? Mujicaptsd
"Grounding Tools-some a little corny...
from hope71
Found these at http://members.tripod.com/mysteryic...
Breathe from the diaphram and try to remain as calm as possible.
Chew on ice.
Rub ice over the body.
An anklet surrounded with little silver bells that someone sent to us on another group (thanks, Rhi!) that seems to work by having us focus on the noise it makes....also guaranteed to bring every cat in the house out of hiding so that they can play with it!
Place a loose rubber band around the wrist and snap it hard enough to feel it but not to do any damage.
Jump into either a hot shower or a cold shower depending on the weather in order to shock ourselves back into the present. We have been known to do this fully clothed. Whatever works at the present time to get back to reality.
Listening to music that suits the emotion and cranking it up and singing out loud while stomping our feet.
Stroking one of our cats and just closing our eyes and feeling the fur and hearing the purrs.
Brushing the dog and concentrating on the feel of the brush strokes.
Biting into a lemon.
Eating *yes, eating* salt.
Putting a small pebble in our shoe and walking around.
Digging our nails slightly into our palms just enough to cause dent marks and pain, but not enough to cause damage.
Brushing our hair until the moment(s) has passed.
Popping bubble wrap. (Cheap at Big Lots or other discount stores) (This is also guaranteed to annoy the heck out of anyone trying to watch tv while in the same room with you....just ask my ex-husband!)
Searching for jokes to submit to our email support groups and friends keep us grounded by distracting us.
Playing with the dogs or cats.
Brushing the dogs and/or cats.
Clipping cats and dogs nails.
Taking inventory of something, like our tapes, videos, DVD's and putting the list on computer just to be doing something.
Listening to a certain music collection called Collage, Collage II, Collage III, Collage IV, Collage V and Collage VI (can probably get it via Tower Records, I tried looking elsewhere and was unable to find it.)
Thought they might be of some help to us."
mujicaptsd
With holiday time on my hands & prepping for my Christmas day trip, I came across the tips for managing flashbacks that I got here a while ago. Kind of like the grounding tools. Thought given what people have been bringing up here lately it wouldn't hurt to give them back to the group. They've helped me. --mujicaptsd
Peter Walker 13 Steps for Managing Flashbacks PTSD
http://www.pete-walker.com/13StepsM...
Say to yourself: "I am having a flashback". Flashbacks take us into a timeless part of the psyche that feels as helpless, hopeless and surrounded by danger as we were in childhood. The feelings and sensations you are experiencing are past memories that cannot hurt you now.
Remind yourself: "I feel afraid but I am not in danger! I am safe now, here in the present." Remember you are now in the safety of the present, far from the danger of the past.
Own your right/need to have boundaries. Remind yourself that you do not have to allow anyone to mistreat you; you are free to leave dangerous situations and protest unfair behavior.
Speak reassuringly to the Inner Child. The child needs to know that you love her unconditionally- that she can come to you for comfort and protection when she feels lost and scared.
Deconstruct eternity thinking: in childhood, fear and abandonment felt endless - a safer future was unimaginable. Remember the flashback will pass as it has many times before.
Remind yourself that you are in an adult body with allies, skills and resources to protect you that you never had as a child. [Feeling small and little is a sure sign of a flashback]
Ease back into your body. Fear launches us into 'heady' worrying, or numbing and spacing out.
[a] Gently ask your body to Relax: feel each of your major muscle groups and softly encourage them to relax. (Tightened musculature sends unnecessary danger signals to the brain)
[b] Breathe deeply and slowly. (Holding the breath also signals danger).
[c] Slow down: rushing presses the psyche's panic button.
[d] Find a safe place to unwind and soothe yourself: wrap yourself in a blanket, hold a stuffed animal, lie down in a closet or a bath, take a nap.
[e] Feel the fear in your body without reacting to it. Fear is just an energy in your body that cannot hurt you if you do not run from it or react self-destructively to it.
Resist the Inner Critic's Drasticizing and Catastrophizing: [a] Use thought-stopping to halt its endless exaggeration of danger and constant planning to control the uncontrollable. Refuse to shame, hate or abandon yourself.Channel the anger of self-attack into saying NO to unfair self-criticism. [b] Use thought-substitution to replace negative thinking with a memorized list of your qualities and accomplishments
Allow yourself to grieve. Flashbacks are opportunities to release old, unexpressed feelings of fear, hurt, and abandonment, and to validate - and then soothe - the child's past experience of helplessness and hopelessness. Healthy grieving can turn our tears into self-compassion and our anger into self-protection.
Cultivate safe relationships and seek support. Take time alone when you need it, but don't let shame isolate you. Feeling shame doesn't mean you are shameful. Educate your intimates about flashbacks and ask them to help you talk and feel your way through them.
Learn to identify the types of triggers that lead to flashbacks. Avoid unsafe people, places, activities and triggering mental processes. Practice preventive maintenance with these steps when triggering situations are unavoidable.
Figure out what you are flashing back to. Flashbacks are opportunities to discover, validate and heal our wounds from past abuse and abandonment. They also point to our still unmet developmental needs and can provide motivation to get them met.
Be patient with a slow recovery process: it takes time in the present to become un-adrenalized, and considerable time in the future to gradually decrease the intensity, duration and frequency of flashbacks. Real recovery is a gradually progressive process [often two steps forward, one step back], not an attained salvation fantasy.
Don't beat yourself up for having a flashback.
" Thank you Mujica.
Awhile back, I started a couple of Groups to store all those great tips. If you click on the green Groups logo at the top right of the page, you can find the 2 groups on the second page. They are Tips for PTSD Flashbacks and Tips for PTSD Triggers. Would you do me the favor of putting this on those groups so that we have them hopefully, for a long time?
Someday, I'll do a couple more groups on panic/anxiety attacks and dissociation. Those of us who are learning need a place to share what we have learned with others.
hugs, my friend.................Jen "
---------------------------------------------------
Grounding Tools
Stop Watching this Topic
mujicaptsd
View More Posts
I went to the opposite end of our postings here to the earliest on the site, dating back to 2006, and saw something that might be just as useful today to us as it as to them back then. It's a list of "grounding tools" for PTSD I could sure use them. I'm pasting them in here. Anybody else have any to add as a 2012 update? Mujicaptsd
"Grounding Tools-some a little corny...
from hope71
Found these at http://members.tripod.com/mysteryic...
Breathe from the diaphram and try to remain as calm as possible.
Chew on ice.
Rub ice over the body.
An anklet surrounded with little silver bells that someone sent to us on another group (thanks, Rhi!) that seems to work by having us focus on the noise it makes....also guaranteed to bring every cat in the house out of hiding so that they can play with it!
Place a loose rubber band around the wrist and snap it hard enough to feel it but not to do any damage.
Jump into either a hot shower or a cold shower depending on the weather in order to shock ourselves back into the present. We have been known to do this fully clothed. Whatever works at the present time to get back to reality.
Listening to music that suits the emotion and cranking it up and singing out loud while stomping our feet.
Stroking one of our cats and just closing our eyes and feeling the fur and hearing the purrs.
Brushing the dog and concentrating on the feel of the brush strokes.
Biting into a lemon.
Eating *yes, eating* salt.
Putting a small pebble in our shoe and walking around.
Digging our nails slightly into our palms just enough to cause dent marks and pain, but not enough to cause damage.
Brushing our hair until the moment(s) has passed.
Popping bubble wrap. (Cheap at Big Lots or other discount stores) (This is also guaranteed to annoy the heck out of anyone trying to watch tv while in the same room with you....just ask my ex-husband!)
Searching for jokes to submit to our email support groups and friends keep us grounded by distracting us.
Playing with the dogs or cats.
Brushing the dogs and/or cats.
Clipping cats and dogs nails.
Taking inventory of something, like our tapes, videos, DVD's and putting the list on computer just to be doing something.
Listening to a certain music collection called Collage, Collage II, Collage III, Collage IV, Collage V and Collage VI (can probably get it via Tower Records, I tried looking elsewhere and was unable to find it.)
Thought they might be of some help to us."
mujicaptsd
With holiday time on my hands & prepping for my Christmas day trip, I came across the tips for managing flashbacks that I got here a while ago. Kind of like the grounding tools. Thought given what people have been bringing up here lately it wouldn't hurt to give them back to the group. They've helped me. --mujicaptsd
Peter Walker 13 Steps for Managing Flashbacks PTSD
http://www.pete-walker.com/13StepsM...
Say to yourself: "I am having a flashback". Flashbacks take us into a timeless part of the psyche that feels as helpless, hopeless and surrounded by danger as we were in childhood. The feelings and sensations you are experiencing are past memories that cannot hurt you now.
Remind yourself: "I feel afraid but I am not in danger! I am safe now, here in the present." Remember you are now in the safety of the present, far from the danger of the past.
Own your right/need to have boundaries. Remind yourself that you do not have to allow anyone to mistreat you; you are free to leave dangerous situations and protest unfair behavior.
Speak reassuringly to the Inner Child. The child needs to know that you love her unconditionally- that she can come to you for comfort and protection when she feels lost and scared.
Deconstruct eternity thinking: in childhood, fear and abandonment felt endless - a safer future was unimaginable. Remember the flashback will pass as it has many times before.
Remind yourself that you are in an adult body with allies, skills and resources to protect you that you never had as a child. [Feeling small and little is a sure sign of a flashback]
Ease back into your body. Fear launches us into 'heady' worrying, or numbing and spacing out.
[a] Gently ask your body to Relax: feel each of your major muscle groups and softly encourage them to relax. (Tightened musculature sends unnecessary danger signals to the brain)
[b] Breathe deeply and slowly. (Holding the breath also signals danger).
[c] Slow down: rushing presses the psyche's panic button.
[d] Find a safe place to unwind and soothe yourself: wrap yourself in a blanket, hold a stuffed animal, lie down in a closet or a bath, take a nap.
[e] Feel the fear in your body without reacting to it. Fear is just an energy in your body that cannot hurt you if you do not run from it or react self-destructively to it.
Resist the Inner Critic's Drasticizing and Catastrophizing: [a] Use thought-stopping to halt its endless exaggeration of danger and constant planning to control the uncontrollable. Refuse to shame, hate or abandon yourself.Channel the anger of self-attack into saying NO to unfair self-criticism. [b] Use thought-substitution to replace negative thinking with a memorized list of your qualities and accomplishments
Allow yourself to grieve. Flashbacks are opportunities to release old, unexpressed feelings of fear, hurt, and abandonment, and to validate - and then soothe - the child's past experience of helplessness and hopelessness. Healthy grieving can turn our tears into self-compassion and our anger into self-protection.
Cultivate safe relationships and seek support. Take time alone when you need it, but don't let shame isolate you. Feeling shame doesn't mean you are shameful. Educate your intimates about flashbacks and ask them to help you talk and feel your way through them.
Learn to identify the types of triggers that lead to flashbacks. Avoid unsafe people, places, activities and triggering mental processes. Practice preventive maintenance with these steps when triggering situations are unavoidable.
Figure out what you are flashing back to. Flashbacks are opportunities to discover, validate and heal our wounds from past abuse and abandonment. They also point to our still unmet developmental needs and can provide motivation to get them met.
Be patient with a slow recovery process: it takes time in the present to become un-adrenalized, and considerable time in the future to gradually decrease the intensity, duration and frequency of flashbacks. Real recovery is a gradually progressive process [often two steps forward, one step back], not an attained salvation fantasy.
Don't beat yourself up for having a flashback.
which holding in anger Leads to : SELF DESTRUCT. (for myself) & UNFAIR SELF CRITICISM.