Recovery time after a super trigger?

[cupfish]

Good Morning to All, How long does it take you to recover from a bad trigger incident? What strategies work to get back to some kind of steady state? I am sitting at desk like a zombie after horrid Sun and Mon, the dam broke last night and the episode is over, but it takes me up to a week to recover. Looking for new solutions...

 

[Friday]

Triggers? A few minutes, a few hours, a few days.

When it's on the longer end of the spectrum is part of why I'll start triggering myself on purpose, over and over again, to get my reaction times faster. Both how long I spend in them, and how fast I am recovering out of them.

 

[cupfish]

Harcore Friday -- I salute you. Summoning triggers takes courage, but it's like you
have to burn through your episode to emerge calm on the other side again, right?

 

[Friday]

I'm just lucky is all. S'what I was taught. Had my first panic attack in front of people familiar with panic attacks & how to handle them. So we did a fast & dirty weekend of triggering one on purpose over and over until I had my reactions under control. Can't do exactly that on my own, but can do the slower process of exposure therapy on my own. It helps, in a lot of ways, to have the focus be less on just riding them out & more on either recovering faster & faster, or only getting up to the edge of one & backing away before I lose my shit.

LOL. Reminds me of the old Mac vs PC commercials; Lose control. Take command. ;)

Especially as I'm not big on the whole self-care thing, it's a way to circumvent myself. It's not about taking "care" of myself, it's about getting functional faster! <cough> Even if that means taking care of myself. Better. Stronger. Faster. <<< I can sink my teeth into that one.

 

[EveHarrington]

A hardcore trigger?

Days at a minimum.

 

[desiderata310]

Especially as I'm not big on the whole self-care thing, it's a way to circumvent myself. It's not about taking "care" of myself, it's about getting functional faster! <cough> Even if that means taking care of myself. Better. Stronger. Faster. <<< I can sink my teeth into that one.

Damn it, you're right.
:cautious:

 

[cupfish]

Yes -- increase recovery rate. My husband and I - both CPTSD - are amazed how fast we can recover if we are mindful of running out the fuel source of the trigger.

 

[desiderata310]

For me, it seems to depend on the day.
If I was highly symptomatic to begin with, it may take days. If I was pretty grounded when I was triggered, it could take minutes to hours.

 

[cupfish]

If I was pretty grounded when I was triggered, it could take minutes to hours.

That is an interesting observation. I am not as mindful of the circumstances of the moment when the trigger occurs. Rather, I just assume my brain is constantly lying to me, firing fight/flight chemicals, and telling me there is danger all around. I will pay more attention.

 

[SeedMan]

Curiouser and couriser....Downstairs neighbour arrived back and is slamming doors. Being startled, I screamed after every slam and logged onto this discussion to find solace and hints. After 4 or 5 "slam-scream" volleys, he continues to slam doors and I find I've gotten into a dissociated-numb state and no longer scream. I conclude this is MUCH better (legally) than me doing some violent act, but I still don't like it. I'm gonna let the recovery take as much time as it needs....hey, the slamming has stopped....maybe....Thanks for bearing with me on this.