Uncover Repressed Memories

[AlignUpABQ]

@Smile--your therapist and I are saying two different things. They want you to take yourself out of the memory by observing it. This may be hard for your brain to handle. It was for mine (it might be a fine approach for other people though).

Keeping your brain in the present moment, in present time shows the ANS part of your brain (the part we can't control) that the event isn't actually happening again.

If mental skills are too hard (they were for me), I'd HIGHLY recommend you do physical stuff to keep your body relaxed. I'm convinced from working on myself and my students that this is something PTS people have to do everyday. Singing and TaiChi are especially good. A restorative yoga class would be good (not the regular kind for some bodies.) The brain gets frazzled when there's too much tension in the body and unfortunately when our stress state is high enough, our brain tells us we're fiiiiiine.

 

[AlignUpABQ]

Oh! And good point about going slow. Think of handling recovery from Trauma like you would a soda bottle that had been shaken up for 5 minutes. You wouldn't just open the cap at once, right? A little at a time. And remember, TEND TO YOUR BODY. The fallout from the stress etc..lives there!

 

[Smile]

And no session is wasted or a water of money - you arrived feeling angry - well work with that! A lot of the time, whether we intend it or not, the therapeutic relationship mirrors other key relationships in our past or present. Especially if you're feeling intense emotions about yr T or are triggered into feeling while with your T - see it as an opportunity to dig deeper to who the anger is really at.

Your 100% correct about that! I was mad after the last session and sent my T an email saying I want to take a break. But I forced myself to go back and the first thing T said to me was, "it's very important to discuss what upset you in last session because that reflects inner emotions". So your right and T is right... But boy, short term, it's so much easier to just fall back on my previous way of dealing with things... Not "working" on it :)

 

[Friday]

I just can't handle finding new triggers every day and having to spend so much time figuring out how to deal with each one. It feels never ending :(

@Smile I have zero repressed memories. I remember absolutely everything in a trauma sense, and almost everything in a life sense. I am not eidetic, but I'm close, most of the time.

That doesn't help me one whit with minimizing triggers. It really doesn't work that way.

Not only are all the "originals" there... But the brain makes associations, whether we want it to or not. So things that weren't triggers 5 years ago, or 10, or 15... Can become triggers, today. So in addition to primary, there are secondary, tertiary, etc.

For example, I bought a new shampoo, which wasn't even on the market during my time in traumas... But it was what I was using during some really bad PTSD Times 10 years later. Guess what? That shampoo took me right back to having panic attacks and screaming in the shower. Crap. New trigger.

Other things, which were present during the trauma and have never been triggers (sunshine, for example) will periodically become triggers. It's usually a subtle thing (the way the wind feels on my cheekbones, the angle of the sun through glass), but can be a not so subtle thing, as well. The state of Florida. Something. Anything.

It doesn't even have to be a thing. I can have a couple emotional knocks that are in no way bad or overwhelming (or can be) but I've felt that way before. So bam. Not a new trigger, but an old one, in new clothes.

Our brains make connections, look for patterns. It's just what they do.

 

[Smile]

@FridayJones, ur right. I've personally had that. But how do you deal with the constant knowledge that something can/will trigger you?

I've become somewhat agoraphobic in the past 6 months & I think that's the reason why. I don't trust my insanely sensitive mind in this big world full of constant action...

 

[Laurence]

Yes, focus on your basic needs, like eating, and try to be kind to yourself (I recovered from anorexia and...

Chava. I want to learn more about Somatic Experiencing. I could use some advice. I'd be grateful if you could contact me.

 

[Ben From NC]

If you are looking for release and relief of PTSD symptoms, forcing memories up (if there is such...

Did your phobias get worse during this time? Im feeling worse after what I think was a retriggering.