Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms & Holiday Stress: 7 Simple Tips To Help You Keep Your Cool

Dec. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- December 03, 2010 – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms typically increase during the holiday season. For survivors struggling with symptoms of PTSD the added pressures of family gatherings, social events and the holiday atmosphere can intensify anxiety and make the month of December a time filled with more nightmares, panic attacks, insomnia, emotional numbing, hypervigilance and hyperarousal. There are, however, simple, no-cost actions anyone with posttraumatic stress can take to alleviate the pressure.

According to Michele Rosenthal, founder of http://www.healmyptsd.com  “The best way to manage PTSD symptoms and holiday stress is to plan in advance. Don’t wait to find yourself reeling from an incident. Being aware of and organized about your experience can make any holiday season more easy to manage.”

Rosenthal suggests the following seven tips:

1 – Stay in the moment; don’t think ahead. Keep yourself present TODAY rather than upping the anxiety ante by imagining what some future day will be like. (Actually, this is a good practice year round!)

2 – Strategize your holidays. Decide in advance who you want to see, and who you don’t; what you will do, and what you won’t; where you will go and where you won’t. Plan your activities so that you spend the most time with people who are good for you and minimize contact with everyone else.

3 – Have an escape plan. You can’t always anticipate how you’re going to feel and who’s going to say or do what affects you. Have a backup plan so that if you need to make a quick getaway you have an out.

4 – Incorporate alone time. In the hustle and bustle of holidays it’s helpful to carve out time when you can decompress. Decide in advance when that will be, and stick to it so that you have built in periods of downtime to regroup.

5 – Do what feels comfortable. Family and friends can really get going in a whirling dervish of plans and activities during the holiday season. It’s okay for you to say, “No!”. Pick and choose what you want to participate in and then draw the line. There’s nothing wrong with a little boundary setting during this time of year.

6 – Pace yourself. If you feel you’re getting too caught up and overcommitted on the party circuit, slow down. It’s better to unmake plans than go through with them and bring on a meltdown. When you feel yourself reaching your limit pull back.

7 – Maintain your privacy. Properly managing PTSD during the holidays doesn’t require you to explain PTSD to everyone you know. It’s all right to decline an invitation without giving a full explanation of why. Certainly, share your reasons with people you trust and love, but for others a simple, “No thank you,” is enough.

And one bonus tip: Do what feels right to you. In every moment follow your intuition. Your own inner voice knows what you need, and how and when. Listen to it!

Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for 24 years. And then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage! Today she is 100% PTSD-free. A Self-Empowered Healing Coach and passionate PTSD advocate, she founded http://www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. In addition to PTSD facts, the site contains several complimentary support resources including downloads, teleseminars, and a healing workshop, plus monthly radio programs.

For more information: http://www.healmyptsd.com
Contact:  Michele@healmyptsd.com, 561.531.1405.

# # #

Organization dedicated to advocating for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder awareness, eduation, treatment and self-empowered healing.