How Do I Put Things In A "box"?

[Justmehere]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and ideas! It’s really helped me really dive into this more.

I’ve ended up making and actual box. No joke. And I have been writing down things that come into my mind that I’m worried about, or traumas that I am having symptoms around, or even just symptoms I'm having and putting them into the box. One time, I even wrote down “this strange panicky feeling in my chest” because I couldn’t figure out what that panic was even about. It helped!

The more I have been able to “put it in the box” the more I have started to get a little control on my focus.

@Hope4Now

I wish I had wise words on focusing. I too would like suggestions for focus...especially the kind of focus that is not what often happens to me where it's a hyper-focus that is sort of dissociative and I don't do what needs to get done. I have been trying different things, but with not much success.

I also hyper focus too. It can be really unhelpful sometimes. If I have one thing to do for hours, and it happens to be what I’m really focused on, then it’s good. The rest of the time, it’s quite unproductive. I’m sorry you struggle with this too – it helps to know I’m not alone.
@RussH – thanks for the reminders about eating well and otherwise being healthy. I think that does play a huge role for me. Now that you mention your Doc giving anti-anxiety medication, there does seem to be a huge correlation between high anxiety and low focus for me. That gives me hope that as I keep working on my anxiety, maybe some of my focus will come back.

Justmehere, imagine a mighty angel, a force for absolute good guarding the box. .

I love this image! At first, I got silly and pictured bigfoot. Then I read this and I changed it to a more powerful and peaceful image.

How do you focus? That's a good question, hum let me see, what was the question again? Yes I have problems focusing; unless I am focusing on my PTSD and the feelings my abuse causes, then I seem all too focused.

Me too. So painfully ironic that it works out this way.

The skill you are referring to is known as "containment". I learned it while at Sheppard Pratt…Maybe you could do a search (either here or on google) for this particular skill. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but it is a skill that works for many!

Actually, this was quite helpful to me! I too learned about this in some way while inpatient at a different trauma specialty hospital. It wasn’t what I needed at the time, so none of it really stuck with me. Like at all. Different skills for different seasons of healing I guess. I googled “healthy containment” and it actually lead me to some very interesting and helpful articles. Thanks!

I spontaneously imagined a huge king crab on my back. On was laying on my tummy on the beach. I could sleep but this crab would stay awake for me, eyes seeing in all directions, pinchers in a couple directions. I imagined what it felt like...and it was comforting, but also a little humorous, which took the edge off my anxiety.

I like your image! Humor seems to take the edge off it all for me too. Thanks for the suggestions on how to focus too. It makes sense to start with easier things to focus on.

I also break the task into smaller parts and do physical activity between parts (like walking down the hall to get a drink of water), I use an alarm to time myself for a task (say 20 minutes) then take a stretch break. Sometimes I try to stand while I work, use a squishy ball to release energy, or chew gum.

Excellent ideas! I tried this today with some good success. I broke it down into 5 minute tasks at first, and then it got easier and easier. Walking around and having a way to release energy helped as well.

Hi Justmehere, I have found that kind of visualization really helpful too when there are just too many things to deal with at once. It's important to use the kind of symbols that mean something to you and not just something that someone suggests, unless you like it.

@Mystery – I think you are right that it helps and is a lot more powerful when the symbols mean something to me, rather than just a suggestion. At first, I was silly and thought of bigfoot guarding my box. Then I switched to something that tied deeper into what I already believe spiritually… and it all really clicked with me.


Argh. I’m still typing a response to the rest and I’m fighting a low fever tonight. I’m going to go crawl into bed. I will write and respond more soon!

 

[Dana1010]

Oh Gawd, my therapist told me yesterday to put my stuff in a container to deal with when I'm with her. My first thought was, if I knew how to do that I wouldn't be sitting here right now. I've been trying it all day and failing fantastically.

 

[lux.]

Containment

I have two therapists, and they kept suggesting this containment strategy where you put the bad things you're thinking about in a box. I thought it was so stupid (1) they make up these imaginary things (2) what good is a box going to do? Somehow they both failed that it's just supposed to be like a shoebox; you makeup whatever works for you.

So I had been thinking of these two abusive men in my past. I put them in this double-steel reinforced box meant to contain uranium and other radioactive materials. I covered the rest of the space with rocks, so they were under the rocks. I close the lid, and the entire lid had padlocks around it. I locked all of them, then I covered the whole thing with chains and padlocks. Then I used some sort of metal-working thing to destroy all the keys. I put the box in a boat (some kind of unsinkable boat, just go with it), rode out to the deepest part of the ocean, where there are creatures we haven't even studied because we can't get all the way down there, and dropped the box into the water.

Containment does not mean stuffing. It doesn't men you're never going to think about those things again. After particularly difficult sessions, my therapist and I do one of these containment strategies so that I won't be thinking about whatever difficult things we'd been talking about in session.

Other containment strategies include writing down whatever is bothering you and either folding it to bring to therapy later, tearing it up, or throwing it in the fire. Once, I wasn't doing well because I had previously had a session with my therapist regarding some childhood trauma. My therapist told me to think of myself as that little girl--and I actually had a picture of myself at that age on my phone, so I looked at that--and think of a safe, happy place, like Disney World. As the adult you, take child you to the opening of Disney World where someone you know is waiting. This is a person who is loving and caring, and will protect little you and provide you with the love and attention you need. Before you go, tell little you that you have to leave her for a while, but she will be okay. You will visit her again soon, but for now you have to go do adult things. And you both go your separate ways.

 

[lux.]

Focusing: Grounding Techniques
When you can't focus, it's generally because you're stuck thinking about unrelated things in your head. The best technique to deal with this is grounding strategies--there are a ton of them, so you can try a bunch out and see what works best for you. The point of grounding techniques is that they bring you back to the present.

When you're dissociating or having rapid thoughts about things unrelated to what you're doing, try using grounding techniques. When I was really sick and my brain was really fuzzy, my doctor told me to write down a few grounding techniques on an index card or two and keep them in my back pocket.

The board won't let me put an actual hyperlink in, but look up a site called "psychology tools." They have worksheets, info, and links for just about every disorder out there.

Find the PTSD page, scroll down a bit to the "grounding techniques" header and it has a bunch a links to lists of grounding techniques. My favorite is to look around the room, name an object, and describe as many of its features as you can, then do this for a few more objects.

That site is a great resource for worksheets and links for pretty much every disorder there is.