How to Deal When You Know Something Is Going To Give You FlashBacks, And You Have To Go To Work After

[p0k3p0k313]

So basically, I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow at 9 am.

Details-

Dentist visits, the whole putting things in my mouth while I'm laying down, people above me, etc.

Not pleasant for me. I know I'm not going to be okay to some degree when I get out, I mean maybe but I definitely can't Plan on it.

I have work at 1 pm. I love my job (I'm a cake decorator at a grocery store lol) and it can be really great stress reliever but it's gonna be hard to do anything, let alone do work at a job and taking care of customers.

So I'm not sure how much time I'll have, the appointment won't take that long, it's not too physically intense, so

TL:DR

What are some things I can do to calm down and ground myself before work after a triggering experience?

What are some ways to go through an experience you know will be triggering/hard?

 

[Movingforward10]

oh I relate.
dentist thing too. Added in expecting pain and a man having power over me.
and I had been avoiding some dentist stuff but have recently gone and having some major work done.

what helps me is:
reality check: this is self care, not trauma
messages: something Can be hard, but not traumatic. It can be ok.
thought stopping
Thought blocking
writing down fears and leaving them behind

good luck with it.

 

[Friday]

Quite frankly, I prepare to call in sick… as in; ‘Hey boss, I’m sorry but my dentist appointment this morning is hitting me harder than I expected. I really need to take the day, and maybe tomorrow.”

As long as I know I can call in if I’m a mess? I don’t worry about work. I know if I’m fine, I’ll go in. If I’m not, I’ll call out.