Driving in a storm.

[DogTired]

Driving home today in not the best of weather. Cold, sleet, then heavy rain, and 60mph gusts.
You might say a bit stressful for a fit person but I had no choice, it was me or no one to collect something from town, 14 miles away.
Humidity was high, windows forever steaming up, down country lanes shedding leaves, twigs and the occasional light branch.

Five miles out from home and I'm gripping the steering wheel so hard I can hear it scream.
So I parked on a pull in, turned the engine off, locked myself in, put the seat back, and closed my eyes.
Instant sleep. (Wow, that's a first for over a year). Then B A N G!
No damage to the car but a massive hit to me in the form of a flashback of being hit by a RPG in an APC.
Only I'm seeing the inside of the APC and not my car. First thought, "FIRE!" and get the hell out!
I felt trapped and disorientated to hell, as handles for doors were in the wrong place, and I was the only one there.
WTF, how the hell do I get out! (Enter P A N I C) until "Tap, tap, tap" on the window.

Everything returned to Now and not THEN and I opened the door to an elderly couple looking very concerned.
A 6ft long, 4 inch branch had fallen on the car but had bounced off the car rails doing absolutely no damage.
They had seen what happened and pulled in behind me to check I was alright.
Which, funny enough, I wasn't. Hands shaking, couldn't get my words out, it took a minute or so to refocus.
Eventually they drove off and I attempted to follow. I got about 20 yards before I swung in again. Best described as ARGH! It was pretty obvious to me that I wasn't safe to drive.

In the end it took over an hour to recover "my composure" enough to drive again and a 20 minutes drive home took an hour in real time.
So what have I learned that is new? I'm used to flashbacks but normally they run, I'm immobile till the end (unless pushed to safety by the dog or someone touches me), then I'm back.
This was a flashback caused by an event, BUT the prelude to that was I was already strung out and asleep when it happened.
My question is has anyone with combat inspired PTSD been awaken by an event and gone straight back into "THEN" i.e. combat?
And has anyone worked out a a quick way of dealing with the disorientation I experienced??

 

[arfie]

does a child fighting off adult janes and johns count as combat? if not, read no further. i just a nerd corps non-com.

if so, yes, i have. too many times. no i haven't found a microwave solution, but breathing and staying task oriented helps me function well enough to do what needs to be done. springing from the scenario you painted, i would have stopped the car for long enough to regulate my breathing, then i would have focus on the task at hand and nothing but the task: drive safely. armed with a pocket phone, i would probably call a therapy supporter for some help in grounding myself.

once i have achieved safe arrival, i update any therapy supporters who helped me through the crisis, then i let myself fall apart while i get out my therapy toolbox and get to work at cleaning up the aftermath.

 

[DogTired]

Janes and John's? Probably, if you didn't have access to a sidearm.
Ordinarily, if I am swamped by something when driving, I do as I said, pull in, chill out, and start again, BUT this was different.
The bang triggered me, plus someone (with the best intentions) joined in, and that wasn't a good thing.
My one and only brain cell overheated, emotion regulator (dog) not present, SWMBO back home, and I won't use a phone in a car stationary or not (seen too many accidents doing that). So, second try at chill out worked BUT I crawled home as all the 'fuss' had exhausted me physically and mentally.
As for breathing? Once the flashback finishes, I return to whatever normal is for me within a minute or two, just tired out but Hyper-aware for hours.
I've got to say, it's unusual that a FB shook me that badly.
As for discussing it? There is no support group but I can leave a message which will be returned with 24 hours. (That's considered good in the UK).
So no. I tend to muddle my way through things although this time I did tell SWMBO who wasn't well pleased I had driven home.
And hell have no fury like an enraged SWMBO!

 

[arfie]

all adequate coping tools, dog tired. a microwave solution remains pretty high on my wish list, but? ? ? just wishing. some things are just plain hard.

attempted humor alert
wanna pit the fury of your SWMBO against the fury of my HWMBO? i've had dog fight officianandos tell me they won't pit an alpha male against an alpha female. they claim the male is hard-wired to go belly up and say, "yes, dear." put your money on the bitch. size diffs be damned. all that aside, i wouldn't dream of telling my HWMBO the incident had occurred, not even if he was with me at the occurrance. the gain ain't worth the pain.