Other common symptoms of the condition include intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance of reminders, negative thoughts, and a heightened startle response. Such symptoms can contribute to increased anxiety, making it difficult to function in different aspects of everyday life. Fortunately, there are many healthy coping skills for PTSD that can help ease anxiety and other symptoms. These strategies may help reduce the intensity of anxiety, lessen its frequency, and/or make it more tolerable. Over time, people forget how to breathe this way and instead use their chest and shoulders. This causes short and shallow breaths, which can increase stress and anxiety. Fortunately, it is possible to re-learn how to breathe deeply from your diaphragm and help protect yourself from stress. Practice simple deep breathing exercises to improve your breathing and combat anxiety. In addition, by tensing your muscles (a common symptom of anxiety) and immediately relaxing them, the symptom of muscle tension may become a signal to relax over time. It is important to note that this type of self-reflection can sometimes bring difficult emotions or thoughts to light, particularly if you have a history of trauma. Some research has also reported that some people may experience significant distress when practicing mindfulness, including increased anxiety symptoms, dissociation, and emotional numbing. People are creatures of habit. This means they often go about the day without thinking about what they are doing, feeling, or experiencing. Lack of awareness may make people feel their thoughts and emotions are unpredictable and unmanageable. Unfortunately, this means that people cannot address uncomfortable anxiety symptoms without first being aware of what situations bring up these feelings. However, simply having someone available to talk to may not be enough. There are several important pieces to a supportive relationship that may be particularly beneficial in helping someone manage their anxiety. These supportive connections, whether they come in the form of an in-person support group led by a mental health professional or an online group, can help people with PTSD connect with other people who share their struggles. This can be a source of valuable connection, encouragement, advice, and strength as people cope with the troubling symptoms of PTSD. Therefore, it is important to learn coping strategies that you can do on your own. These coping strategies focus on improving your mood and reducing anxiety and are sometimes described as self-soothing or self-care coping strategies. Self-soothing tactics that can help calm your body include:
Incorporating the senses to ground you in the present moment Self-touch, such as self-holding or self-massage Lying down with a weighted blanket Listening to relaxing music Aromatherapy
In PTSD, in particular, expressive writing has been found to have several benefits, including improved coping, post-traumatic growth (the ability to find meaning in and have positive life changes following a traumatic event), and reduced PTSD symptoms, tension, and anger. Some helpful distraction techniques for coping with PTSD include:
Talking to a friend or family member Doing housework Exercising Engaging in a creative task Watching a tv show or movie Reading a book Playing a game Counting backward Reciting a mantra or affirmation Visualizing an enjoyable scene Coloring in an adult coloring book Playing a video game Taking a nap Doing yoga Meditating
Behavioral activation is a way of increasing your activity level, as well as how much you engage in positive and rewarding activities. Through behavioral activation, you can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. To try this approach, make a list of activities that you find rewarding. Examples might include:
Spending time with friendsEngaging in exerciseGoing out for coffeeVisiting the libraryVolunteeringRearranging furnitureHikingTaking photosPaintingCooking a mealListening to a podcast
Next, set a goal for how many activities you want to complete each week and then track your progress as you engage in these different tasks. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
