Has Anyone Ever Calmed Down In Response To Being Told To Please Calm Down?

[Deleted member 12723]

That is a good one, just once I would like to listen to a human being that can really communicate correctly with me after realizing that I was just harassed and that I am fearful. Just once would I like to witness the correct response to that.

me too.

 

[bring em all in]

Your posts bring a smile to my face. Someday I hope to get to point I can say what I am thinking without...

That's a great suggestion! I have panic attacks just seeing a police car, even with its lights/sirens off.

And I'd never take a polygraph. If they asked me if I killed JFK my response would probably set the machine on fire- and I was 5 months old when he was killed!

 

[bring em all in]

Your posts bring a smile to my face. Someday I hope to get to point I can say what I am thinking without...

Just popped into my head a possible drawback to the card for the police officers idea- (I can think of something to worry about any and everything!). Cops are so nervous themselves (and with good reason considering how many have been shot this year), that reaching for the card might cause them to, well... And that wouldn't be good.

 

[EmmaOwl]

Just popped into my head a possible drawback to the card for the police officers idea- (I can t...

I have done something similar with a little card that goes with my "disabled" hangtag. As long as you are dealing with getting pulled over in a car, there's no reaching or anything needed, only a small piece of paper that you should be able to put between license and registration. Mine's already driver's license-sized, but if you make something on your own, or with your doctor, here is my suggestion: Make the paper small, fold it up with a short notation showing up front and center (so the officer doesn't have to unfold it to see its general purpose) and you slip it right out with your license and registration.

This helped me recently. It doesn't make sense that I'd have a disability hangtag for PTSD but since I included the card behind my driver's license, it did make the police officer ask. So I could answer his question directly - instead of me being wooden and scared and seeming defiant when the real problem was that I was extremely frightened. Again, though, this was being pulled over in a car, not standing in the street and grabbing something out of my pocket.

 

[Enaila]

Yes, the therapist suggested having it with my license or proof of insurance card. I gave my friend permission to share about my ptsd if I happen to be with her. My boys are also aware of my fear.

 

[bring em all in]

I have done something similar with a little card that goes with my "disabled" hangtag. As long as you...

Wish I had thought of that. My memory, concentration, and thinking are so foggy these days- I could hide my own Easter eggs and never find them!

 

[EmmaOwl]

I could hide my own Easter eggs and never find them!

Hee the Easter Bunny at my house started to make a list each year, as he was known for his extremely creative hiding techniques and one year we missed one (luckily not an actual egg!)

 

[Heather]

Works about as well as when my mom tells me to go take yoga

 

[EmmaOwl]

I gave my friend permission to share about my ptsd if I happen to be with her. My boys are also aware of my fear.

Enaila: Those are amazing steps to have sorted out and in place.

I don't drive a lot, but for the times I venture more than a few minutes from home, I tell a supremely kind friend so that he knows to grab any "emergency" cell phone calls from me.

Preparation can be the best thing you can do.

 

[EmmaOwl]

My Memory, concentration, and thinking are so foggy these days-

Me too. It sucks.
What is really fun is when I get going into unanswerable, either/or questions: Am I worse off from sleep meds, or worse off from lack of sleep? Is a mood stabilizer the thing to keep me concentrating, or might that blur things after a while?

Even more difficult: What has been absolutely destroyed by depression and PTSD, and what might I be able to recover? I'll never get back 100% of what I once had, so how far do I push myself?

 

[Breezi]

I had an instructor for an Emergency Dispatch class many years ago. She trained us all to avoid saying anything like "Calm down" or "Relax" for all the reasons stated above. It's amazing to me how in many 911 calls, played on the television, many operators still use this language. Very unhelpful.

 

[Freedomfighter]

Seriously.

I was massively triggered by an abuser violating a restraint order this morning and conta...

Yeah, that is pretty stupid: someone saying you should calm down in that situation. I was assaulted by someone that is connected to several stalkers that have harassed me for over 7 years now. All of the people around me seem to think that such things should not upset me.

Seriously