Search results

The biggest thing that helps me is deep breathing. When I'm panicked I often hold my breath, so 3-count belly breaths make a world of difference.

I have heard of a therapy technique where a therapist urges a client to push against a pillow, to physically enact resisting an attack. So it's not unheard of. However, it surprises me that he would want to do this before you had talked about the incident in more depth, and without a LOT of...

It is really scary, when the coping skills you have been using for so many years stop helping. You are having difficulties now because you are no longer able to cope with the traumas you endured as a child. At a certain point, our brains just can't fight off dealing with what happened. This is...

Thanks for making the upgrade!

I brought up a similar question to my therapist, She Cat, and as intothe light said, he said, "What's wrong with that? I think the world needs more people who can't tolerate such behavior." I hadn't thought of it that way. He didn't mean more abuse victims, of course, just that too many people...

That's what I've been told, too. As hard as it is in the moment, I try to take some deep breaths when I notice I've been holding my breath. I learned it in some relaxation training. Holding your breath causes a vicious circle; we hold our breath because we're scared, and without proper oxygen...

Rumination means you think about something a lot, like the trauma, or what you could have done differently, or how you are changed, or how the world is not safe, etc. Your mind is like a dog with a bone that it won't let go of. A diagnosis is a description of symptoms that help your doctors...

As I understand it, hospitalization is seen as a last resort, at least in the States. It is a temporary, stop-gap measure to stabilize someone when they are in grave danger, completely out of control. Generally, after admission, you will be medicated, stabilize, and released as soon as possible...

Before I was diagnosed, my caffeine intake was excessive. Since I wasn't sleeping well, I was exhausted during the day and drank coffee/'energy drinks' all day long to keep myself going. These, I am sure, made the sleeping problems worse. Now that I am in treatment and take a med to help me...

Welcome to the forum.

Seeing someone, a therapist, social worker, psychiatrist, whoever, can really make a huge difference. But I know it is scary. Remember, you don't have to walk in and share everything. When I sought help, I did not say a word about the traumas (though my therapist figured it out almost...

It can be hard when we change our patterns with friends and family, like when we stop always saying "I'm fine," and instead tell the truth. It might take them a while to get used to your new honesty. Give your friends a chance; some of them might surprise you with how supportive they can be...

OCD is when someone has obsessive thoughts and compulsively does rituals to deal with the anxiety of those thoughts. For example, if after your obsessive thoughts about the foot fungus, you had treated yourself for foot fungus five times a day, that would be a ritual you were doing compulsively...

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum.

I would also ask for a consult with a neurologist. Sudden, extreme behavior changes may indicate trauma to the head and brain.

It sounds like you are dependent upon someone for the first time, which is incredibly difficult for you do; a natural protective response is to distance yourself from the relationship and take a break. I'd suggest fighting that urge and instead muddle through with this hard stuff in therapy. If...

I was never able to just avoid the flashbacks, but if they got bad enough I would dissociate and be much less affected. That's not an ideal way to cope, though! After I worked through the bulk of my traumatic memories, I can now detach myself when flashbacks happen, so I can say to myself, "This...

I'm glad you survived the visit. It's hard to care about someone, but have to keep your guard up around them, too.

Thanks, Anthony, for doing this. I like celebrating the holiday on here!

This has certainly been my experience. At times, I have talked about talking about something for weeks--even months--and my therapist has patiently wlaked through it with me over and over again. When I finally talk about the scary thing, I always feel like I am doing so of my own volition...

I'm glad the appointment set some balls rolling. It was good of you to keep pushing him to go and to be there with him, and he was brave to face it and go!

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of good resources here, and the people are very supportive.

I think gdf gave some really good suggestions on how to check out your practitioner. In addition to finding out more about the therapist's training, I recommend you ask her about her experience treating people with trauma backgrounds. That experience is really important, as you don't want your...

I bet your therapist thinks that you are suffering tremendously and bravely trying to change that. It's what I think, too. Writing down the words was huge. What I remember from my exposure work was that the beginning was just horrific. Everything I did felt retraumatizing, and I had so few...