I Call Them My Meltdowns

[jswife]

Have you learned any compensation strategies when you start to disassociate Ayasha? My husband has combat PTSD and I was diagnosed with secondary ptsd a month ago. He keeps a smooth stone in his pocket which he rubs to stop himself from disassociating. He also uses a technique (I forget what it is called) but when you start to feel yourself disassociate, you do a physical check. For example, if he is driving, he will touch his steering wheel and his seatbelt to help ground him. I try to focus on my breathing which seems to help ground me. My husband also has hearing issues...definitely hearing loss but I think he processes auditory info differently.

 

[Ayasha]

I have been working on different strategies with my therapist. I do have a stone I keep nearby that I can roll in my palm to help me focus. I also try to evaluate my senses. For example, I'll pick a sound and describe it to myself as best I can or I'll remind myself where I am and what I'm doing. If I get too far dissociated these things don't work at all but if I catch it early then I can lower the symptoms dramatically.