Living With PTSD: A List Of Practical Tips To Cope With The Everyday Reality Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Trauma has been defined in many different ways, but the description that resonates with me as someone diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder is that of trauma as "an inescapably stressful event that overwhelms people's existing coping mechanisms". 

If you develop post-traumatic stress disorder after suffering a trauma, your life might start to feel a lot like this definition of trauma. PTSD can itself turn into an endless stress-fest that you have no idea how to deal with. Your coping skills and well of emotional health have been "used up". The trauma, and the PTSD symptoms that now seep into every corner of your existence, take over — and there doesn't seem to be a way out.

The good news is that your life can get better after you have suffered trauma and developed PTSD. The fact that you survived a trauma will probably always continue to have some sort of impact on your life, but it's possible to leave the darkest PTSD pit you're probably in right now behind. 

1. Understanding your PTSD symptoms and reactions better can help you function better

To develop better ways of coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and daily challenges, it first helps to gain a better understanding of the stress you're under and the symptoms you experience with PTSD. Sometimes, no further action is needed. On other occasions, understanding your symptoms better is the start of an action plan.

• Understand that intrusion symptoms of PTSD, like involuntary distressing memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and panic after being reminded of your trauma, are physiological reactions to the stress you're under — things your body and brain do by themselves. They are not right or wrong; they just happen. If you tell remind yourself you are experiencing PTSD symptoms as they are happening, and that these symptoms don't represent a real threat, this kind of awareness can help the moment pass.
• Hyperarousal symptoms like an overactive startle reflex and hypervigilance strike because, after going through trauma, you have been conditioned to expect more danger. PTSD hyperarousal can pose a physical or mental threat to you and others, but it is no surprise that you have them.
• While not everyone develops PTSD after a trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder is far from uncommon — most especially in people who have lived through multiple or prolonged traumas. Having PTSD does not mean that you are "weak" or "flawed". Having PTSD is not your fault.
• PTSD causes emotional numbing or alexithymia (an inability to recognize the emotions you are feeling) in some people. Know that fear can manifest in physical ways, too, such as heavy sweating, feeling jumpy, a choking feeling, hair standing up on your body, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and the urge to run, as well. This is called somatization.

2. Easy PTSD coping techniques nearly anyone can try 

Even small changes in the way you live or react can help. When you are feeling triggered or exceptionally stressed, you can try grounding yourself in the present by:

• Looking for natural elements that calm you — flowing water, rocks, greenery, or the sky. This can include, for instance, having a shower or opening the window to feel the wind; it doesn't have to mean going out in nature, though doing that regularly is very good as well.
• If you are religious, praying. If you are non-religious, repeating an affirmation or mantra, such as "I am safe", or "I can handle this". 
• Concentrating on other physical elements of your environment that you find non-threatening — your children, partner, your kitchen cabinets, a painting you like looking at; whatever's handy. 
• Practicing breathing exercises. 
• Doing stream-of-consciousness writing about the things you're feeling right now. 
• Not trying to suppress your emotions, but acknowledging them: "I had a flashback. It sucked. These are normal in PTSD." Or: "I am feeling physically violent right now. I need to go calm down." 

And to help improve your quality of life and reduce PTSD symptoms, maybe some of these things will help you:

• Working on physical fitness by exercising regularly. Exercise has been proven to help reduce PTSD symptoms, and you can choose exactly how you prefer to work out — from walking to swimming, from gardening to rowing, and from following along with a YouTube exercise video to helping a mate lay a new roof.
• Taking care of your physical body in all the other important ways — eating nutritious meals regularly, showering or washing, and getting as much sleep as you can — means you have one less thing to worry about. 
• Look after your emotional health, too — spend time with the people you care about most if you can, try helping more vulnerable members of the community or sharing your knowledge with society in some way, attend religious services if you are so inclined, consider a peer-support group for PTSD, read books that feed your soul, stay away from toxic people who break down your PTSD coping skills.
• Take the time to learn about your specific PTSD triggers as much as possible, especially triggers that occur more frequently. Knowing what overwhelms you will enable you to come up with an action plan for better coping with your post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, if possible together with your therapist.

3. Avoid the unhealthy coping mechanisms some people with PTSD turn to

Unhealthy coping mechanisms might seem tempting as a temporary quick-fix for specific PTSD symptoms, but relying on strategies that are harmful to your mental and physical health will ultimately reduce your quality of life. Avoid:

• Turning to substance abuse in an attempt to achieve emotional numbing.
• Socially isolating from loved ones and people in general. A social support network is very important. (The term "social distancing" has taken on a whole new meaning since the emergence of COVID-19, of course, so remember that you don't have to meet in person or physically touch to receive and offer support!) 
• Distracting yourself from your PTSD symptoms through a really busy schedule; becoming a work addict. 
• Going out of your way to avoid reminders of the trauma in a way that makes your world extremely small. 
• Taking your feelings out on others or yourself in the form of physical or emotional violence, self-harming, or doing reckless things just to make you feel something or to distract you. 

4. If you are not in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, consider it strongly

Talk therapy or other forms of psychotherapy — like cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy — and medications can both be extremely helpful in allowing you to reduce PTSD symptoms or even in getting you to remission. If you are not currently in treatment but have the option to access it, consider this.

If nothing you have done on your own so far has reduced your symptoms, this is a sign that you need professional help. There is no shame in accessing it, and it can make the difference between being stuck where you are now, and being able to process and heal.