PTSD

[RegularJackass]

Speaking as someone who has PTSD, I know just how little current treatments work for the problem. I have assembled a list of some things that work for me and maybe, just maybe, they'll help you. As I find more I will add more.

Firstly, unload on someone you can trust with your life over a period of years, maybe even decades. If you have a person like that in your life. You have to tell them the worst parts of what's going on in your mind. When more of it comes up, unload it on them. Do the same for them if they have any trauma in their past and you can help each other. PTSD has a way of mixing truth with illusion and it is necessary to have someone help you through the worst of it. Discuss your triggers with that person and try to come up with a strategy for combating your panic state. This will have two parts: 1. making you aware that you are triggered when you are having that reaction, possibly through intervention on their part or by intervention on yours, and 2. learning to "ride it out" when you reach that point of being aware that you are triggered. Make a "triggered toolkit" list of things to do when you are, so that you can fight it instead of succumb. Some of the things I do include drink coffee, watch TV and snuggle my cat. I have a whole slew of other things on my list but they're personal and probably wouldn't work as well for you anyway.

Get a pet. If you already have one, consider getting another. When your world is crumbling around you it's helpful to see a furry creature that loves you no matter what.

Use these three resources: Unfuck Your Brain by Faith G. Harper, Clan of the Goddess by C.C. Brondwin which actually contains helpful visualizations and exercises for mental health and doesn't have to involve magic at all, and this particular manga called Rurouni Kenshin https://atozmanga.com/manga/read_rurouni_kenshin . I'm dead serious, the manga will take you through all kinds of therapy, and all while entertaining you. That said, manga #163 and onward will fuck you up even if you don't have PTSD, so be sure you have family and a support system right next to you if you do decide to read it. It is worth it, but you'll need someone to help you through it.

See a pain specialist doctor about controlling any chronic or acute pain you might be having. If you are scared of getting hooked on opiates or similar things, but have excruciating pain, you should take the damn opiates, just in moderation and with breaks or a rotation (swap it with various NSAIDs or something for a week or so; talk to said pain specialist) to avoid building a tolerance. Or alternatively take marijuana pills since they're opiates lite. For milder pain try these options. http://www.witchesandsandwiches.com/for ... ?f=48&t=33

Avoid falling into belief traps that hinder your progress. Among these include the "suffering makes you stronger" bullshit, the "everything happens for a reason/because God intended" bullshit, the "it's all in your head so just get over it" bullshit, and "you weren't in the military so you don't have PTSD" bullshit. Very often, people become walking talking versions of these traps so avoid them, mmkay?

Avoid people who lie to themselves lest you become one of them. That's like pouring gasoline on a fire for someone with PTSD. It may be helpful to try to root out things you could be lying to yourself about within your own mind. Thinking about what's currently stressing you out the most may help you find them and change what needs changing. Are you putting yourself under any kind of obligation or expectation? Is it realistic?

It is important to understand that sometimes you can get lost in your thoughts and not know the way out. The trick to riding it out is to understand that you are not mentally well and that your brain is "doing the thing" again. It is too easy to think that you are always in control - the key to understanding mental illness is that people who are completely irrational never feel like what they're thinking or doing is irrational. Once you understand that maybe you're not thinking straight, you can absolve yourself of the guilt of "not pulling yourself back together" because believe it or not, you probably can't. Brains are physical organs and no matter how much we may think we are in control of them or think that they are "our souls," they're just parts of us like hearts and lungs. Sometimes they need extra TLC to start working right again.

The "hurr durr just get therapy" bullshit is one of the worst things about having any mental illness, not just PTSD. Lest we forget, therapy is extremely expensive, time consuming, and rarely if ever helpful. I actually have PTSD from my therapy now on top of what I already got, so unless you've been referred to a really good shrink by a veteran you trust, it's probably not worth it. In fact, I have actually never seen therapy work. On anyone. Ever. For anything! You know what does help? Talking with someone who actually cares about you instead of someone who pretends to care about you in order to take your money. That being said, I recently discovered a website that might change the current paradigm. It's called www.talkspace.com and it's $65+ per week. Hell of a lot cheaper than the other options, and possibly better.

I have seen veterans smoke weed to cope with their PTSD, and I don't know if it works because it's illegal in my state. If you can get some, give it a try. I have also seen someone claim that riding a motorcycle every day was the only thing that helped them with their traumas. I have to agree with the latter statement. It really does help.

Avoidance of triggers is crucial to your sanity in the first few months to years of fighting PTSD, but it's majorly inconvenient and makes you lose out on a lot of fun. It is important to do this, though, so until your mind settles down, it's best to put yourself in a situation where you are, realistically speaking, as safe and secure as possible. Ask your friends and family for assistance here. While you are in this comfort zone, it is a good idea to add things to that "triggered toolkit." This way, when something inevitably makes you freak the fuck out, you'll learn what works and what doesn't in a safe environment.

Once you're halfway decent at managing to control yourself when you're triggered, then it is a decent idea to try to expose yourself to small amounts of what freaks you out in a safe environment. For instance, I freak out when I play video games despite how much I enjoy them (don't ask, long story). Therefore these days I play solitaire and Windows Pinball. It's been a couple of years since I started doing this. At first I panicked and freaked out all night after I played. I only freak out rarely when I play these things now. I guess you could call this a kind of therapy. But don't forget that it takes a long, long time.

Other things to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2-FwPsVEeA Mantra of Avalokiteshvara