PTSD is a condition that can improve with PTSD treatment. However, coping strategies can help navigate rocky moments when symptoms arise unexpectedly.
Below are seven coping strategies to carry you through your healing journey.
#1 Write Down Your Feelings
People with post-traumatic stress disorder are distracted by thoughts of the trauma regularly. This makes them anxious and engage in negative self-talk, leading to destructive behaviors. Journaling can organize these thoughts, helping the person reevaluate how they view trauma. With time and practice, this leads to a reduction in symptoms.
#2 Try Breathing Sequences
Post-traumatic stress disorder comes with symptoms such as a heightened sense of awareness and anxiety. These PTSD symptoms leave the sufferer stuck in emergency response mode, unable to concentrate or calm down. According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, deep breathing during a bout of anxiety or stress can take you into a calmer state.
The next time you feel stuck in fight or flight mode, try the following 3-3-3 breathing sequence:
- Breathe slowly through your nose for a count of three.
- Hold your breath for a count of three.
- Gently exhale through your mouth for a count of three.
- Repeat this sequence ten times.
- Alternatively, try the 4-2-6 breathing technique:
- Slowly inhale through the nose for a count of four.
- Hold your breath for a count of two.
- Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of six.
According to the Calm app, the longer inhale in the 4-2-6 breathing technique helps to calm your nerves and relieve anxiety.
#3 Follow a Guided Meditation
Guided meditation guides the practitioner through a series of visuals to keep them present in the moment. The sessions begin with deep breathing exercises or body scans to bring the participant into a meditative state. Like traditional meditation, guided meditation provides several benefits to people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
They include:
- Regulating stress hormones
- Relieving anxiety
- Balancing mood
- Interrupting the negative thought process
- Lowering blood pressure
#4 Join a Support Group
Support groups offer a healthy and safe way for people with PTSD to share their experiences and learn coping strategies to deal with troubling symptoms. Support groups often highlight themes such as abuse, addiction recovery, or combat, allowing people with similar experiences to connect and heal together.
According to the National Center for PTSD, joining a peer support group provides multiple benefits, including:
- Feeling understood
- Meeting new friends
- Learning to open up about difficult topics
- Learning how to ask for help
- Learning new perspectives from others
Although joining peer support groups has many benefits, it isn’t an alternative to treatment but an enhancement.
#5 Practice Reframing
Reframing is a stress management technique that involves thinking of a negative event and challenging the thought with a more positive one.
An example of how to practice positive reframing would be to:
- Observe the negative thought without judgment.
- Acknowledge that this thought exists and that it’s OK to feel that way.
- Replace the negative thought with a more positive one and build evidence to support it.
Reframing can be practiced independently or as part of an evidence-based therapeutic model such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or dialectical behavior therapy.
#6 Ground Yourself
Grounding yourself is the ability to be fully present in the moment. Some ground themselves through deep breathing, while others practice body scanning or meditating.
By grounding and focusing on the now, you can regain control of unwanted thoughts and reduce the physical symptoms that come with anxiety and stress.
Other ways to ground yourself include:
- Focusing on a smell
- Listening to calming music
- Reciting mantras or affirmations
- Journaling about how you feel in the moment
- Following a guided meditation
#7 Engage in a Workout Plan
Exercise is a great way to improve your overall well-being. Regular exercise helps your body regulate stress hormones by releasing endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These neurotransmitters work to boost your mood. You don’t have to run a marathon to obtain these benefits. A simple five-minute walk in nature has been shown to boost mood and self-esteem.
Other benefits of exercising – whether indoors or outdoors – include:
- Weight reduction
- Improved strength
- Improved sleep
- Improved digestion
- Stress relief
- Increase stamina
- Lower blood pressure
- Lower blood cholesterol
Healing Beyond Coping
Coping skills are handy in reducing the symptoms of PTSD. Individuals on their healing journey can use these coping strategies to regain control of their minds and stop ruminating thoughts in their tracks. However, therapy is necessary to work through the trauma and overcome these symptoms.
If you’re ready to get started on your PTSD healing journey, call us at (800) 270-4315 today.
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