Having been diagnosed with Depression and CPTSD 20 years ago, I attended a lot of course and had a lot of therapy to try to help manage my symptoms. There are hundreds of techniques out there for calming, grounding, distracting yourself. Some of them will work, some of them wont. Some of them may even make things worse. I would recommend trying out as many tactics as you can to find the ones that work the best for you in any given situation.
Something I have learnt the hard way though is that trying out a new technique when you’re actually having a panic attack or flashback is very difficult. Trying to remember the steps and what to do when it feels like there’s a tornado blasting through your mind is next to impossible. Instead I would recommend practising once or twice a day when you are calm or just slightly anxious until you have mastered the technique. Then it becomes a bit like Muscle memory and you can use it when struck with a panic attack or flashback as it wont require so much conscious thought.
As for which techniques will help and which wont, unfortunately that is down to trial and error. You can usually tell straight away if a technique or strategy is going to be bad for you, as I’ve found just thinking about doing it makes me uncomfortable but how well something will work only time and practice will tell.
Below I will list some of the tactics I use to cope with the symptoms of my disorders:
Distraction
Not to be underestimated, if you are feeling just slightly anxious or your thoughts seem to be tending towards things you’d rather not think about just then, attempting to distract yourself is hardly the worst tactic. I think its best to stick to activities you enjoy as this also has the effect of lifting your mood which we all could use.
My typical distractions are: Reading, writing, arts and crafts, a good film or TV series that I love (Rewatching old favourites is a definite win) listening to music, cooking new recipes.
Anything that you can focus your attention on instead of sitting with the bad thoughts or anxiety.
Breathing Techniques
There have to be thousands of these listed online from the simple to the complex. I find the simple ones really useful during a bad panic attack or flashback as even with my brain in turmoil Breathing in for the count of 4, pause, Breathe out for the count of 4, pause and repeat is easy enough that I don’t really have to think about it anymore.
Experiment with different timings and other suggested techniques to find the ones that work for you.
Meditation
This is something that I find both either really helps me or I just cant focus enough for it to do any good. Again there are hundreds or thousands of websites, youtube videos etc that will teach you various was of mastering this. Again practice the ones that sound useful to you.
Stretching/relaxing
A lot of people, my self included, report that they often feel disconnected from their physical bodies. This can become even worse during times of high anxiety. A simple way to reconnect can be working your way up (or down) your body doing some simple stretches or just tightening and releasing the major muscles as you go. This controlled movement can help you “feel” your body and more importantly, feel in control of it.
There are also many forms of yoga, Thai Chi, Somatic stretching that are reported to be very helpful. Have a look at your local mental health charities and you’ll find that a lot of them offer some sort of class if not for free then often at a reduced price. Although again, youtube is a wonderful resource in this.
(More to come later)
Hanging by a thread 