Coping with PTSD Nightmares

I have known some veterans myself. The damage can be ... really ghastly. One of my (unsold) science fiction stories is about a veteran with serious PTSD and the crap job that he's reduced to doing.

The basket is a good idea too, though. *ponder* Especially if someone can think of comforting scents, because smell is so strongly keyed to emotion and memory.

You're welcome. Some things are on the permanent watchlist in my head, and when I see important news about them, I tend to share it. PTSD and nightmares in general are on there, because this culture is short on effective coping techniques. Every little bit helps.

I appreciate the shared experience. I know someone else who finds that technique useful, too.

>>the idea of soothing images to help stall nightmares definitely sounds like it could be effective. <<

That's good to hear.

>>I have no consistently soothing anchors (I actually don't know if I've ever truly felt safe before, post-womb, which I don't remember and don't find soothing to recreate either).<<

One possibility would be to try creating safe space from scratch, and doing that regularly (like once a day or once a week) to establish a new baseline reference for safety. Another option would be focusing on smaller positive experiences, like coming in from a wet day to sit beside a warm fireplace. For someone who's had crummy experience with human beings, a non-human reference such as birdsong or gardening might help.

>>I'm glad they're using biofeedback techniques more often though; PTSD is such a physical / physiological condition that mental/cognitive behavioural techniques rarely cut it. <<

Yes, the automatic aspects of PTSD are really hard to break through. It's a physical problem with some overlap into mental symptoms -- most people don't realize that. But if you look at the biochemical changes ... 0_o

>>Thank you for posting about this.<<

*bow, flourish* Happy to be of assistance. I know several friends deal with some aspects of this, from various sources; and others are writers who are careful about doing their homework so might find this discussion useful.

It helps to have different tools.

However, meditations create positive patterns if you use the same one repeatedly. Listening to a recording of a guided meditation is easier than memorizing the whole thing to run inside your own head. Listen to the same one often enough, and it should be at least somewhat effective even if your brain is too frazzled to follow the instructions perfectly.