Treating PTSD: Give Yourself a Break

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In all of life we plan vacations, whether it’s a day off or a month-long trip we’re always scheduling time to relax and play. We figure out how much time we need to work, how much money we need to save. We plan holidays, time off, and rest.

So, why don’t we do that in our PTSD healing? Recovery is a job. We work hard. We get paid little. We slave away until we’re exhausted, fragile and at the breaking point. And yet it doesn’t occur to us to schedule down time, time away, days we get out of jail free for good behavior.

Healing post-traumatic stress is about more than slogging through the muck. Sometimes, it’s about climbing into a hammock and rocking through the day. It’s about diving into the ocean, getting lost in a good book, escaping to a movie or doing whatever it is that makes you feel normal and not stressed by the ultimate goal of reliving all your symptoms — even if only for a moment, even if only for a day.

Tip #4 for Staying on the Healing Path: Give yourself a break. Give yourself time away from the task of overcoming PTSD. Plan some time that you don’t think about the next step or where you are, have been, are not, or are trying to get to. Draw a big bubble bath, put on some good music, dance, bike, watch the sun rise or set. Sometimes you just need a moment to regroup. Take it.

BRIDGE THE GAP Exercise:

Incorporate into your healing goals a day off. Pick the day. Pick the activity. Put it on the calendar. Commit to it. Work and work and work up to that date and then — don’t work that day. Let your mind and body, heart and soul completely release all tension. Let your whole self just be you for that day. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t think about yesterday. Just be present in the moment and choose something to do that makes you feel happy. Go on. You deserve it.

(Photo acknowledgement on Flickr.)

Tags: healing, post-trauamatic stress, ptsd, Staying on the Healing Path, symptoms