Thespeckledkiwi
Vice Admiral
They have peanuts?
Phase two of attenion whoring: The Aftermath
- Thread starter Squiggy
- Start date
Assuming your primary care doctor refers you to some sort of psychological help, try to make sure that they have experience with the kind of thing you went through. You will be in my prayers, Michael, and I hope you feel better very soon.
talking to someone will help but it also may gradually fade to a bearable level after awhile.
i and a lot of other people went through some of this after the 98 nashville tornado.
i and others were trapped in our office building and well for awhile we didnt know if we would make it.
and for a tornado it was massive and took awhile to pass.
never will forget going back to the office area and looking out and seeing sky where ceilings had been.
then the long trip home to a neighborhood that was also affected.
for awhile i felt out of sync with the rest of the world.
for years until then i could sleep through a storm but for months after ward just the hint of mild storm i couldnt sleep.
gradually it did get better.
so yeah it is normal and you should gradually get better.
I can imagine that in a lot of cases, the images and feelings which haunt you after a traumatic incident form part of a learning process, comparable with how we learn from any other dangerous experiences. It's hard to know exactly what the mind is trying to achieve by replaying an incident over and over to us, but I'm inclined to think that the mind is trying to assess a risk by this process, and perhaps that assessment is from an instinctive-emotional rather than a rational point of view. It's an extension of the fear we feel at the time. It extends the role of fear in that it promotes a continued assessment of a situation.
That replaying does gradually have an effect on us, as it should -- either to desensitize us to it happening again, or to modify our behaviour appropriately.
If I had these feelings I be inclined to embrace them rather than suppress them with distraction or diazepam or whatever. I'd try to help them to run to their natural conclusion: imagining myself back in the situation; reconstructing what my feelings were like at the time; accepting how vulnerable I was at the time; considering the significance of that situation; and so on.
That replaying does gradually have an effect on us, as it should -- either to desensitize us to it happening again, or to modify our behaviour appropriately.
If I had these feelings I be inclined to embrace them rather than suppress them with distraction or diazepam or whatever. I'd try to help them to run to their natural conclusion: imagining myself back in the situation; reconstructing what my feelings were like at the time; accepting how vulnerable I was at the time; considering the significance of that situation; and so on.
Echoing everyone who says see a therapist. Once you see your primary care doc, you can sort something out. But the important thing is to give yourself time. You're already handling this better than a lot of people would.
DON'T get drunk, as some have suggested. You won't sleep better. You may feel sleepy after drinking a lot, but alcohol disrupts REM sleep. And that is what is needed for a good rest.
DON'T get drunk, as some have suggested. You won't sleep better. You may feel sleepy after drinking a lot, but alcohol disrupts REM sleep. And that is what is needed for a good rest.
Getting drunk? No.
A couple of drinks with friends to calm nerves? Maybe not too bad.
I would agree Squiggy is already handling this better than most and I still think it's pretty premature to see a therapist. It's been close to a week now, hardly enough time to get over something that made you flirt with death.
^Yeah, a couple of drinks to unwind isn't a bad idea, as long as he's not drinking alone! 
In general I don't think there's much a shrink can do for you that you can't do for yourself. I have to agree with Shazam! - Man up.
Atrocious advice.
Works for me. We all give advice based on our own knowledge and experience. What works for one person may not work for another.In general I don't think there's much a shrink can do for you that you can't do for yourself. I have to agree with Shazam! - Man up.
Atrocious advice.
Here's another piece of advice - try skydiving!
It might be if you'd just woken up at 12:27PM.
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