Sufferer Ptsd Mama Trying To Heal

[BananaSockMuffins]

Hello Everyone

I've had PTSD for years but was only diagnosed last year. I'm just about to start EMDR and a series of workshops, counselling and therapy to finally try to heal instead of pretending it doesn't exsist. Just looking for some people to chat with who might understand what I'm going through.

I'm a Mama to two beautiful young children and recently got a chihuahua puppy I'm hoping to train to recognize when I'm having a panic attack.

Looking forward to chatting with all of you. :)

 

[FindingMyself88]

Hi and welcome to the forums :)

I think this is a great place to come to for support and none of us here have to pretend here, we can be honest with each other! I hope you find it as helpful as I do.

Congrats on the puppy :) I have a chihuahua and a chihuahua/yorkie mix. My chihuahua, Jada, is naturally very sensitive to my moods as I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. I have trained her to get on my chest and allow me to pet her until the attack goes away. So I think they are a good dog for that, however I will be getting a service dog soon to go with me everywhere and do more tasks for me.

Good luck with your journey and I hope to see you around! :)

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

Welcome to the forum :)

 

[BananaSockMuffins]

@FindingMyself88 That is so encouraging to hear that you have a chihuahua trained for that! I'm not really sure how to got about training Emma to help during a panic attack but I'm researching it. Any advice? :)

 

[FindingMyself88]

I watched a couple of youtube videos on how the training went, but mostly I used her natural senses and worked with them. Like I said she is very sensitive to my moods. If I start to have an anxiety or panic attack, she will start whining at my feet until I let her up in my lap. She loves to cuddle and get up in my face, which is a good grounding technique. So I started working with her and getting her to sit then lay down on my chest. All I had to train her to do was to lay down and stay, the rest she does herself. She will put her head up against my chin and if that doesn't get my attention, she will start kissing me. So I get her to stay and pet her until I've calmed down.

The biggest thing I can say is right now while she is young, make bonding with her top priority. I let Jada do everything with me. I took her to parks with me, she slept with me, she did everything with me except go to places where she couldn't go. This allows the puppy to be around you most of the time and allows it to get a feel for your "baseline" (your normal emotions, reactions, etc) and when you go off that baseline, then he/she will start to notice. When I first got her, training her for this wasn't my plan. In fact, I didn't have major anxiety at the time, only depression. So hopefully you will have a good start with getting her now :)

 

[Pencil]

Hi, I'm just curious here: could you explain why you want to train a dog to recognize when you're having an anxiety attack? Do you mean that you want the dog to alert you? And aren't chihuahuas rather nervous dogs as it is?

 

[Wookie58]

Howdy BananaSockMuffins! And to any other newbies on this thread.

 

[FindingMyself88]

@Pencil I would like to answer your question about Chihuahuas. yes, they CAN be a very nervous breed. This is why they are not good public service dogs, however they do make good ES (emotional support) dogs. Chihuahuas bond very closely to a family or one individual, which makes them very sensitive to that person or family. Like I said, my chihuahua is great at calming me down from an anxiety or panic attack as long as it isn't one thats accompanied by a flashback or nightmare. If so, then I don't allow her to get close because I don't want to risk hurting her. So I think in the sense of grounding and support, they can be great!

 

[BananaSockMuffins]

@Pencil I want to train her to recognize when I'm having panic attack so she'll either cuddle up on my lap or chest so I can pet her and calm down. :) I have trouble breathing when I'm panicking and my Hubby isn't always around to coach me through regaining me breath. Repetitively petting a dog helps me calm down very quickly. She's also a hugger, I love that about her!

 

[intothelight]

Hi BananaSockMuffins,

Welcome to the forum! :)

I am not sure how you train a dog to provide emotional support, I have just found that they do it. I have a newfoundland and she seems to know when I need some comforting. Just petting a dog lowers your blood pressure and heart rate.

I hope you find this site beneficial to your healing. You screen name made me smile and having four children of my own (all pretty grown now), I wondered if a small sock got donated to the muffin tin? There were some times I found some strange things in the oven. I even had one try to cook their fake plastic food in the microwave and the kitchen ended up smelling for days.:eek:

Debbie

 

[BananaSockMuffins]

@intothelight lol No there haven't actually been any socks in any of the muffins I made, though I wouldn't put it past my 3 year old! I just came up with the name because I wanted something funny and original. :)