Any Ways To Reduce The Startle Response?

[nycowboy]

Hi. I was in the shower yesterday. I have PTSD, non-combat. From childhood bullying.

While in the shower, I heard my kids playing in the hallway. I heard someone come up the stairs and instantly I thought someone was going to attack me or invade my space. Then I realized what was happening- I was being triggered by a noise from an unknown "dangerous" source.

Any ideas of what to do in situations like this? At least I realized I was being triggered. But this doesn't only happen in the shower. It is pretty pervasive.

 

[Cool Cat]

I used to always get slagged for my startle response in school...

If you tapped me on the shoulder I'd jump like an electric shock.

They thought it was funny.

 

[Friday]

The only way I know of is fast & dirty; have someone trigger you on purpose, time and again, over and over.

Had a mate do this with loud noises near my head over a long weekend, Bang! (and then tackle me to the ground, until I could stop lashing out/freezing, and I could keep my head), so I could still work.

Not fun. And it wears off over time without reinforcement, but it's effective.

 

[joeylittle]

I do the opposite as @FridayJones - when I know I'm keyed up enough to be startle-ey, I put a ton of focus on regulating my breathing and staying focused (in a mindfullness way) on my exact surroundings and activities at any given moment. It does work, for me.

 

[nycowboy]

My response to unknown-source noise is a small amount of fear, the thought that someone is going to attack me. I don't lash out or whatever. My esr isn't severe but it is pervasive. And I am starting now to realize how pervasive it is.

 

[Justmehere]

A startle response is just the nervous systems way of trying to keep us very safe. Taking deep breaths actually sends a signal to the brain that it's ok to kick in the parasympathetic system more, and not be so ready to act so quickly.

My startle response is stronger when other symptoms are stronger - and the more I do to ground and breathe deep, the more my startle response goes down.

I have been made fun of my startle response at times too. I will go through seasons where it is there all the time. I have even managed to startle myself! ugh.

 

[Airedale]

I am finally beginning to get a handle on this issue. For a long time I'd react violently to unidentified stressors. Maybe a car tailgating or too much chaos.
For my I might pull over, jump out of my vehicle and go after the occupant. Thank G-d I never hurt anyone. At the time neither my safety nor the possible injury to myself didn't matter.
I just reacted and would up the aggression as much as the other party did.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to these reactions as sometimes the same events might happen and I would not react.
For me the key is two fold. The first is self awareness. That is being aware of how I feel. Am I feeling stressed ,pressured or in danger?
The second is how I deal with minor stressors. People, including therapists often said to think about what might happen before acting. That was silly as it happened so fast that there was no time to think... at least not at first.
Finally I began to practice coping skills with minor stressors. Something so minor as the dogs being pests. Rather than going to exacerbation and then anger I'd remove myself or come up with a reasonably response. As I continue to practice on easier stressors I find that I can handle tougher stressors. Another part of the puzzle for me is to be self aware. For instance I'm being a couch potato zoning in front of the TV. The dogs start pestering for attention. First is being aware that I am zoning and why. So okay, I need to zone and release stress. I'm aware that I am downloading so to speak. So what do I need to do in order to not be interrupted or to handle a disruption? At that point I can be ready and aware and react positively.
I hope that helps.

 

[Nam]

This is a symptom that I did nothing for. I just couldn't. Nothing worked. How do you prevent a reflex? It's very much a physical reaction. I fainted once from a loud noise. I came to right as my butt hit the floor. There is nothing to do for that. Just keep working on the other stuff.

It went away on its own by tackling other symptoms. @Justmehere pretty much said everything else. Deep breaths.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I agree with Nam.

Only, mine got worse as other symptoms got better. Yeah, that kind of sucks. I don't advocate scaring the crap out of yourself as you're just doing further damage to your system by flooding it with adrenaline. Our systems are damaged and need to heal. The nervous system has limited capabilities to heal, so it's not really a good idea to possibly cause further damage.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

My startle response was very bad and very intense and my family always thought it was so funny. But as I kept on working on myself in my healing journey, it eventually went away by itself. This process took years but I am so grateful that it does not happen to me anymore so there is hope for you as well.

 

[shimmerz]

Maybe a car tailgating

I had no idea other people reacted to this too! Thank you!

 

[nycowboy]

Shimmerz: yep, me too with the tailgating. I feel like I'm being pursued or in for imminent attack. When I was a kid, there were bullies who used to approach me from behind to "get" me. I still haven't lost the fear.