Navigating Solutions and Darkness

Behavioural Coping Allowing yourself reminders of the trauma can cause overwhelming anxiety, depression, or anger. This is a legitimate concern . Grounding skills can help you regain your focus on the present moment and remind yourself that you are currently safe.  Relaxation and breathing techniques serve the same purpose  These techniques help when you are reminded of the traumatic event and during painful flashbacks.  Exposure Therapy  A lot of energy is often spent avoiding people, places and things that remind you of the traumatic experience.  In the short term, avoidance strategies work fairly well. But in the long term, these strategies can cause your life to become very limited. Premise: Talk about your traumatic experience in small, planned and manageable portions. (Talking, writing, or confronting in small steps situations that remind you of the traumatic event.) Based on the principle of systematic desensitization:  Pairing...

It's a pity we don't have a mental Olympics. Maybe people around us would be happier to acknowledge the work that goes into recovery if there was, since such tangible demonstrations seem crucial to understanding and acceptance. But that's a whole other discussion. 

"Is it normal to want to slash your arms because the cats chewed up a second pair of earphones in one week?"