No matter what the reason, the holiday season is often difficult for people with PTSD, but there are a number of things they can do to help manage their PTSD during this holiday season:
Understand Your Triggers – Knowing what your triggers are and having techniques to cope with triggers can help you to make it through family gatherings or shopping trips.
Develop Coping Strategies- Anxiety coping techniques, such as deep breathing or removing yourself from the situation for a few minutes can help.
Prepare Yourself – Be prepared for situations that may come up. You may want to write down some of your coping strategies. When a stressful situation arises, you can take out your notes and use the strategies. Sometimes during a stressful situation, you can forget what helps. Having it written down can help calm you down.
Accept You may Need to Leave – If your anxiety becomes difficult or impossible to handle, excuse yourself and leave, even if just for a few minutes. Sometimes leaving for a few minutes may enable you to relax and return for the rest of the event. Other times, your anxiety may require you to leave the event. Whichever it may be, leaving is an option and those people that care about you will understand.
Prepare First – When accepting a social invitation, ask the host or hostess questions to help you be more prepared. How many people will be attending? Who will be attending? By knowing about the event, you can prepare yourself for possible triggers and knowing in advance can help you cope with the triggers.
Create a Support Network – Finding someone that understands and is willing to provide you with support is a wonderful feeling. Bring a friend with you to events you find to be scary or may contain triggers for PTSD. Knowing there is someone that understands what you are feeling and will be watching for signs of anxiety can help and make coping with the situation easier.
The holidays are a time of spirituality. No matter whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah or Kwanzaa, the meaning behind the holiday is love and peace. Family celebrations are meant to accentuate these feelings. However, holidays do not need to be celebrated only with family gatherings. Finding your own way to celebrate can make the holidays meaningful. Take time to volunteer at a local hospital or by providing food baskets to those that need them. Sometimes, reaching out to others that are in pain can help to relieve your own pain.
