Category: Managing Petey | PTSD管理

I learned something the other day.
In a full blown panic attack, there is an easy (kind of) way to get you out of panicville. Make yourself a simple document (half or quarter A4 and laminate it) or a business card (might be too small) with a few do’s and don’ts for by-standers or paramedics to read.
And don’t forget to write “please”.
Something like:

I apologize for my behavior, but I am not fine. I have PTSD.
When I am highly stressed, I lose the ability to speak. But I can type on my phone.

Please Don’ts:
Don’t ask me if I am OK. I’m not.
Don’t ask me what happened yet.
If I complain, don’t disagree.
Don’t suddenly touch me. It may freak me out more.

Dos:
Ask me if I want to hold your hand.
Ask me about (Name of someone you love)
If I am able to communicate, tell me about your day.
Or tell me a an interesting story.

Please understand it can take 15 minutes or more for me to calm down. I cannot make it home by myself. Help me call someone to come get me.

I’m Going to make a PDF in English and Japanese.

Rewrite your dreams
So you’ve had a nightmare. You wake up in a sweat or wake up screaming. The dream eats at you. You desperately want to tell someone. And you feel distraught for the whole day.

I am not going to bore you with how dreams are formed, the subconscious and whatnot. All you need to know is that your daily stresses and experiences created them. It’s not your fault. Your forever working subconscious mind created them. Normally, in your stressed out state, your mind creates these nightmares and you are left feeling out of control. But you’re not.

Here’s what to do.

Before you do anything, take a pen to paper. Or open a memo pad on your phone or computer. Write about it. Put down all the details as you remember them. Leave nothing out.

THEN
One a separate page…
Imagine how you would have wanted the dream to happen if you were the author. Imagine you have complete control. If there was a monster, turn it into butterflies. If you felt trapped, make an exit appear. If you were at a loss for words, make it so you are the most wordily person in the world. What ever conditions existed in the dream that were not to your liking, change it to your liking. Make yourself the hero in your own dream. Fight off those SHEs. Make sure to write yourself a happy ending.

Once completed, read it to yourself. Then read it again. Read it a third time. Every time that nightmare repeats itself, read it again. Tell yourself “I am in control of my dreams!” say it with earnest and say it with joy.

The more you repeat this exercise the more infrequent these nightmares will become.