A diary of living with PTSD

Are you experiencing any of these signs? Every one is a little step forward in your healing!

If you need help healing after trauma register for our free and helpful recovery training by going here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/8x68

❤️🫶❤️Christine

My very 1st public vlog about PTSD... be kind

Shared by Pat.
from Nate Postlethwait

"Humans are wired for connection, but PTSD wires you for protection"

I heard this quote today and really rang true for me.

This is why relationships are so hard.

Part of you craves and needs that human connection, while another part pushes people away in order to protect yourself.

Learning how to heal this dynamic is essential.

If you want help with your PTSD register for our free recovery training here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/2sl

Take care!
Kayleen

💜 If WE can ‘ground in’ before it gets too deep which leads to full blown intrusive memories, these affirmations can work. The key is catching ourselves before it gets to that stage. 💜

Trauma did NOT make you stronger.
It traumatized you, broke your heart, dysregulated your nervous system, gave you PTSD, sleepless nights, trust issues, connection difficulty, almost killed you, and stole your will to live.
YOU made + make yourself stronger…by surviving. – Dr. Jen Wolkin

A survivor of complex trauma may not even know they're traumatized because there wasn't a single major event. It was their normal.

You are seen & heard

You are worthy, you are needed and you are not alone. No matter how hard things get know that there's someone in the world that believes in you!

If you need help healing after trauma register for our free and helpful recovery training by going here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/wgd

Very familiar to me...

Dissociation is one of the most common symptoms of PTSD. Are you struggling with it?

If you're struggling with dissociation and need help, check out our free and helpful recovery training here:https://www.overcomingptsd.info/go?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

There's no shame in having PTSD, your body and mind are doing there best to protect you from pain... they just need a little help to process the past.

If you need help healing after trauma register for our free and helpful recovery training by going here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/1s4b

The power of music.....thanks to Bigger Better Brains for sharing.....♫

People pleasing is really fearing people’s reactions, rejection, or abandonment.

In the cycle of being afraid to disappoint those whose opinions we hold in high regard, we often willingly open ourselves up for self-disappointment.

Our desperate need to be loved and accepted by others leads us to think that we need to overextend ourselves and perform for others to earn their love.

The more desperate we presented ourselves, the more likely it was that abusive people were going to take advantage of us. In the end, we succeed at making everyone else happy except ourselves.

Get a greenhouse... my oasis of calm!

Why It’s Important to Relax From PTSD

You’re always stressed.
You’re always on edge.
You can never find a way to calm down.
The truth is relaxation is a vital step on the way to recovery.

It takes you out of that constant cycle of pain and gives you moments of peace.

Click the link below to learn more
http://help.overcomingptsd.info/w05

Then you're overreacting.....🤔.....but what are they doing???
Sean
💚

It's so important to be aware of triggers big and small, they give you invaluable insight into what needs to be healed.

If you need help healing after trauma register for our free and helpful recovery training by going here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/1itb

When a song comes on the radio that you haven’t heard in years, it’s amazing how all the lyrics flow back to you seamlessly without even thinking about it.

We can store so many songs in our brains (and we recommend Heardle to put your memory to the test!).

But why can I remember all these songs from way back when, but not where I put my keys five mins ago?

Here’s the science bit...

🧡 EMOTIONAL RESPONSE 🧡

“Music is inherently bound up with personal identity; music can trigger the reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory.” (Dr Kelly Jakubowski)

Does listening to a specific song take you back to a certain moment? Perhaps it was on an album your parents always played in the car or your favourite CD in your Walkman when you travelled to school?

“Emotional stimuli are remembered better than non-emotional ones.” (Fiona Kumfor)

If a song was played over and over again, then repetition has a role in why you remember it so well. But perhaps more interestingly, so does your emotional response. Songs that were played or sung at a time of happiness or even a period of change in your life will take you back to that feeling.

“Orientating yourself towards the emotional message actually helps you remember the actual music better.” (Dr Andrea Halpern)

🧡 A LEARNING TOOL 🧡

Music can be used as a mnemonic device, ie to aid memory. That’s why teaching children the alphabet is a lot easier when done to a song.

“Singing the lyrics to a very well-known song is a form of procedural memory – ie a highly automatised process, like riding a bike: it’s something we are able to do without thinking much about it.” (Dr Kelly Jakubowski)

“The features of music serve as a predictable ‘scaffold’ for memory. Rhythm and beats give us clues to the next word in a sequence, ie signalling that a three-syllable word fits next. Songs also make use of literary devices like rhyme and alliteration, which further facilitate memory.” (Dr Kelly Jakubowski)

So singing about where I’m putting my keys down when I’m doing it is a genuinely helpful idea...

🧡 MUSIC & DEMENTIA 🧡

Singing has been found to improve memory retention, so it can be used to help support people living with various neurodegenerative disorders.

“When we sing we get more blood flow to precortical areas, which are areas usually preserved in dementia, concerned with autobiography and emotions. Sometimes a song does something really strong and visceral, and that feeling is really important - it awakens people with dementia and makes them feel more involved.” (Dr Simon Opher)

Singing is proven to be so valuable for people with memory-related conditions that music therapy is available for care homes, there are charities that support dementia with music, such as Mindsong, and there are specific singing groups, such as the Alzheimer’s Society’s Singing for the Brain.

“My favourite memory of singing is that of a man in the later stages of dementia who was played Edelweiss. He started singing the tune but to the words ‘I belong, I belong’.” (Maggie Grady)

🧡 RESOURCES & MORE INFO… 🧡

Dr Kelly Jakubowski is Associate Professor in Music Psychology, Durham University

Dr Andrea Halpern is Professor of Psychology at Bucknell University

Fiona Kumfor is Research Officer, Neuroscience Research Australia

Dr Simon Opher is a Family Doctor & Clinical Lead for Social Prescribing

Maggie Grady is Director of Music Therapy at Mindsong

Can singing improve our health? BBC CrowdScience podcast, 2019

theconversation.com/the-science-of-why-you-can-remember-song-lyrics-from-years-ago-204167

londonsinginginstitute.co.uk/what-happens-when-we-sing

time.com/6167197/psychology-behind-remembering-music

🥀🥀🥀

💜

Fact: 70-91% of PTSD patients have difficulty falling or staying asleep.⁠
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If you suffer from PTSD and can't find the right treatment click the link below
http://help.overcomingptsd.info/370

Words from my book The Tears That Taught Me 🌿

This is where its at... overwhelmed & decompressing

'The disappearing Empath' 😉 🤣

This has become very important to me recently.
And for that person, I didn't realise you had my back that way, I didn't expect you to notice.

❤️
Good morning ladies and gentlemen 🙂
Sean
💚

You are not a bad friend.
You are not a bad person.
You are someone who went through something really traumatic and lost a big part of who you were.

It might not be the phone you are not picking up, but it might be that you stopped cooking, or baking, or gardening or whatever thing was special to you.
I am here to tell you that this is part of the journey after loss.
I don’t know if something positive can come out of this.
Sugar coating everything doesn’t appeal to me.
What appeals to me is understanding ourselves and respecting our new needs after loss.
We cannot re-enter life after loss if we don’t find out who we now are.

- Christina Rasmussen

www.coverbandcentral.com

Have you heard of this major study, which revealed the power of music to help shape our emotions and wellbeing?

In 2020, the British Academy of Sound Therapy released results after they tested 7,581 participants about the effects of listening to music.

The study found the optimum listening time of 13 minutes – and many benefits were reported, including ‘decreased muscle tension, negative thoughts disappearing, feeling peaceful and contented and being able to sleep better’.

Music of a slow tempo, simple melody and no lyrics was also identified as the most effective.

Music has saved me on more than 1 occasion...

Your health has WAY more to it than just the diet and exercise. Your mind is the center of everything, take care of it.

If you need help healing after trauma check out our free and helpful recovery training here: http://help.overcomingptsd.info/rcmn

Relatable

💜 Ptsd is caused by trauma usually one off event. Cptsd (complex) is caused by repetitive abuse. 💜

💜 Hyperacusis is hard to cope with. 💜