- Celebrate Small Steps - http://traumahealed.com/articles/celebrate-small-steps. (June 2019)
- Taking a Break from Healing - http://www.traumahealed.com/articles/take-a-break-from-healing.html.
- Understanding Integration - http://www.sidran.org/resources/for-survivors-and-loved-ones/understanding-integration/
- What are the signs that I'm recovering? (from CPTSD) - http://pete-walker.com/fAQsComplexPTSD.html (Note: Scroll down).
- Why does it take so long to actually get that you're recovering? (from CPTSD) - http://pete-walker.com/fAQsComplexPTSD.html (Note: Scroll down)
That site* (Sundown Healing Arts) is a gem, isn't it.
I think it took me half a year, or maybe even a whole year until I had read all articles.
At first many didn't appeal to me at all. But the more I delved into 'coming out of the FOG/Storm' the more articles seemed to be relevant to the 'new state' I had come into, when I had taken yet another step, the FOG had lifted another bit so to say. And so on.
I'm glad to see that quite a few articles from her have found their way to the various 'stickies' with recourses.
I wish many people will find them helpful along their journey of recovery.
I still return to them regularly.
:thumbup:
*) edit: clarification of the site I referred to, since now more resources have been added by Kizzie :thumbup:
Thank you Kizzie! :thumbup:
This is a great article and I look forward to reading many more. I just had a session with my therapist this week. He told me that over the 2 years that he has known me that he has ever only seen me truly relaxed one time. Unfortunately, that one time was not a result of a positive event. I was relaxed because I had come to terms with a plan that we will not talk about and felt at peace with myself.... It might have been the only or one of very few times that I actually have been relaxed, not tensed up and hypervigilant. I remember what it felt like this time around but can't seem to figure out how to do it naturally as a result of positive thoughts and feelings of self-worth and having any value. I will read this article many times and ingrain this in my head to use a tool going forward to help me with rest and relaxation, actually taking a break every once in while! :yes:
Lol, MaryAnn :hug:
Thanks Dutch for leading me (us) to the site (Sundown Healing Arts - http://www.traumahealed.com/index.html), what I've read so far is fabulous :yes: She captures nuance and compassion for one's self like no-one else can. If she were closer I would see her in a heartbeat.
The article really is a good reminder and so validating isn't it MaryAnn? I find the articles I have read so far are all that way. The kindness and compassion she reminds us to have for ourselves is definitely a message most of us can benefit from. We should print copies of it in a giant font and post it around the house!
:hug:
So good!!! Thank you so much for sharing that. :hug:
Thank you Kizzie, just what I needed x
Hi Sweet Sixty - haven't 'seen' you in a while - welcome back! :hug:
Thanks Kizzie, I've been around but I'm a terrible lurker I'm afraid! Been working hard on recovery with intense periods of psychotherapy in the last 18 months. Now I've retired I decided to dedicate my time to it in a last ditch attempt to heal. Took a while to realise it can't be fast tracked and is a life long commitment lol.
I'm getting there though :-)
Glad to hear you're making progress SS! :hug:
Saw this on Twitter today:
"When it feels disheartening to learn that trauma changes the brain, remember that healing changes the brain too."
:thumbup: ;D
Quote from: Kizzie on January 20, 2020, 07:15:51 PM"When it feels disheartening to learn that trauma changes the brain, remember that healing changes the brain too."
I love that, Kizzie.
Me too Snowdrop :yes:
Tks to CreativeCat ( :hug:) for a link to this great article about how to manage regret over the choices we made in our lives. In a nutshell it's about being realistic and having compassion versus heaping more blame and shame on ourselves - https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/how-handle-regret
I came across this article this morning and thought it might fit here - The Surprising Benefits Of Warmth For Trauma Survivors (https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/warmth-trauma-survivors).
Thanks, Kizzie, that was a very interesting read! (I also love seeing how a national health care system works with people. Off work for 5 weeks? My American mind is blown.)
I wrote in my journal a few months ago about how I hate being chilled or cold. A theory I had, that I think this kind of supports, is that we become used to the actual adrenaline flush in our bodies in that fight or flight mode. Scared or angry, adrenaline can actually make you feel chilled. Perhaps we seek warmth because it signifies not not being in that mode. Just a thought. I know I can complain about a heatwave and our 90-degree days in the summer, but I'll take them in a heartbeat over being the slightest bit chilly.
I found when I had cancer back in 2007 I could never get warm and I think you're right, it has a lot to do with what happens physiologically when we experience fear, anxiety and illness. I would have to take a long hot shower to feel warm again, my toes and fingers especially.
I have to say that I am a window wide open in the bedroom person except in the depths of winter because I LOVE snuggling under a warm blanket and taking the chill off. It' so comforting :zzz: maybe because CPTSD means we're often adrenalized and physically uncomfortable.
Interesting read for me too....I developed an anaphylactic reaction to cold weather when I was 15 and going through the worst of things with fear over my mom's suicide threats. I was spending the night at a friend's house and would have been so scared about being away from my mom and not able to protect her. I remember going inside from playing in the front of my friends house on a chilly evening covered in hives. Ever since then I break out in hives in temperatures colder than 67F/19C. Worse exposures lead to throat swelling, dizziness, and passing out. And just generally I always have a warm drink on me, wear down jackets in the summer etc.
Oh no Armadillo, I'm so sorry to hear that! I actually just saw a fellow rescued in an episode Bondi Rescue (guilty pleasure of mine) who had the exact response you're talking about to cold water. I guess he was OK near the shore where the water was shallow and warm but he got caught in a rip and was pulled out to deeper, colder water and had a reaction so they rescued him and sent him off to hospital in an ambulance.
I never knew that was something people suffered from - that must be hard to deal with :hug: :hug: :hug:.