Help Tips Required.......

[wife of]

so guys n gals,anyone got any advice on how to handle hubbys extreme confusion that he encounters when recovering from flashbacks?? Will sometimes get "stuck" in the early nineties upon coming out of a fb and cannot comprehend where he is,does not recognise our home enviroment,and takes a lot of convincing that the young man of the house is our son whom he expects to still be a baby,reiterating some of the facts of our lives over the last 17 years can sometimes be quite painful for both of us(re family bereavements) but glossing things over or lying to him is not an option when he assks me direct questions about where people are.This can sometimes go on for around an hour depending upon the severity of the fb.....

 

[Steph_F]

maybe when he is with you in the “here and now” you guys can make a small scrap book with photos from birthdays, family weddings, obituaries, that sort of thing…something you can grab off the coffee table real quick. Make sure you have calendars around that have the YEAR and the month in most rooms. Mirrors here and there can help too, I think so he can see himself. Just suggestions. That’s a tricky one, good luck!

 

[Jimmy1]

Personally, his flashbacks should not last so long. When I did the PTSD course over here and therapy, I was taught basic grounding techniques.
I have woken up from a bad dream and not known where I was. The scrapbook is good, but he needs to learn the grounding techniques. For example. 5 things he can see, 4 things he can hear, 3 things he can smell, 2 things he can touch. This works great for anxiety too. Once he gets practiced, it won't last that long. Using the scrapbook or mirror in the things he can see can be good.

The idea behind it is that it takes you from where you went, back to the present.
If I hear the artillery on the range (I live in a garrison city), it sounds like the primary sound of a mortar. My hackles used to go up on my neck, my heart used to race. So I had to practice the grounding, and tell myself I was not in Iraq.
Now my flashbacks still happen on occasions, but they don't last long.

Its just my opinion.

Jimmy

 

[Ladyhope Somerset]

Hubby uses the grounding techniques as described above and has built a routine around it by getting himself downstairs and preparing the breakfast things for the morning, find the cereal, bowls & spoons then make a mug of tea which awakens the sense of smell and finally the taste. He will then sit down & use the computer to listen to music or watch a comedy show on line with his headphones.

I like the little scrapbook idea :)

 

[Redheaded Stranger]

I like the scrapbook idea and this may not work, but did anyone see the movie "50 first dates"? She had no recall and started every day thinking it was the same day as her accident. Her love interest created a video tape with all of the important milestones (accident, wedding, children, etc) and explained what happened. She watched it every morning to catch up with her life. A lot like the scrapbook idea but you can say what needs to be said and maybe explain it in better detail.

Just another idea.

Red