antidisestablishmentarianism

My alters:

Hi everyone!

My series “FANGS,” a love story between a werewolf and vampire, has reached its halfway point. The story is free to read and will update twice a week until July, but the entire story is available if you opt to unlock it!

Yes, there are many variations of sign language in the world, but let's face it: if hearing people knew at least one, we would make life much easier for a few percent of the 466 million people who are hoh/deaf.

Today I wanted to touch a little bit about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. 

A large part of having DID is also having and coping with PTSD. My therapist recommended a very helpful book and I would like to pass the recommendation on. It’s called “The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms” and it is a pretty good starting point if you are just being diagnosed with PTSD. You can find it here.

Personally, I have “go to” strategies when dealing with PTSD, and that is what I would like to share.

Knowing my Triggers - Prevention is the key here. I think it is very important to know my triggers. That way I can avoid, a flashback, dissociative episode, or a switch. Knowing my triggers and avoid them all together is by far the easiest route to take, however, it’s not always practical. For instance, sometimes there are things that trigger me that I didn’t know where triggers or that are unavoidable; like the way a certain word is said or a look.   

Grounding - Grounding is way for me to stay in the present when I feel I’m about to go into a flashback or dissociation. I used to think that a good way to do this was to listen to some music, until I realized that I dissociate into my music. But in may be a good way for you. Some ways I ground now are to smell a peppermint - I always have a few on me - or anything strong smelling, have a bite or sip of something sour, grab onto a piece of ice (this one isn’t very practical unless I’m at home or in a restaurant), or concentrate on my surrounds - for instance see how many red things I can find or count the chairs etc.

Meditation - As stress is a very big trigger for me, I like to meditate, especially if I know that the day is going to be a stressful one. This can be a preventative measure or one used as a way of avoiding an impeding flashback or dissociative state. Personally, I only use it as a preventative measure because if I use it as a deterrent I find it only pulls me into the flash back or dissociative state faster.

Bringing a friend - Sometimes the best thing you can do is have a friend around who knows about your PTSD/DID. I like to have my boyfriend around especially if I know I may be going into a triggering situation. This way if I do have flashback or switch, he is there to help me with it.

I hope this proves to be helpful to someone besides me. Again, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has been diagnosed with PTSD.