It’s so very hard watching someone you care about struggle with depression.
You feel powerless to do anything about it. After all, if you could, you would brush away their depression so that they would no longer struggle.
However, that’s not realistic. But there is a more practical solution.
You can be part of their support system so that they get the help they need. This doesn’t require any specific skills. In fact, you already have everything you need to help.
Here are three ways that you can support a loved one who has depression.
1. Listen to Your Loved One
First, listen to your loved one. Allow them the space to talk freely about what they are experiencing. This is actually very important.
Listening sends the message that someone wants to understand what is happening to them. Why is that important? Because people who struggle with depression often believe that nobody truly understands them. Or others just don’t “get” it.
That leads to your loved one retreating even further inward. They cut off others who could help because they feel so isolated. When listening to your loved one, practice active listening. Let them speak, then summarize back what you have heard. This further reinforces that you are not only listening but understanding.
2. Show Empathy
Another way that you can support your loved one struggling with depression is by demonstrating empathy. Empathy is where you can relate to your loved one. However, don’t worry about not being able to relate precisely to your loved one.
You might not have the exact life experience that they have had. However, you can connect bigger-picture issues from what they are going through to your own life. For example:
Sadness
Loneliness
Powerlessness
Isolation
Grief
It’s important to note that empathy is not pity. With pity, you want to change the circumstances of what is happening, so that your loved one no longer feels depressed. That is neither realistic nor healthy. You can’t change those circumstances.
Really, it’s up to your loved one to make positive changes in their own life.
3. Be Involved
You can also be a resource for your loved one by staying involved in their life. For example:
Schedule a weekly get-together to chat over coffee
Do something fun and active together, such as playing sports or hiking
Invite them to activities with others so that they stay connected to people
At some point, your loved one may decline these offers. That makes sense if they are particularly struggling with depression. However, don’t give up. Continue to offer to spend time with them. Remind them that your door is always open and you are there to listen.
Avoid These Two Things
When you are supporting your loved one, it’s important to avoid these two things.
Judgment: It can be frustrating and even scary seeing your loved one struggle with depression. As tempting as it might be, do your best to avoid passing judgment. Instead, try to understand why the depression is happening.
Enabling: People with depression often also have trouble with substance abuse. They attempt to cope by self-medicating with alcohol or illegal drugs. Try to avoid enabling these kinds of behaviors.
If you both spend time together, make sure that it is not while having a few drinks or using drugs. In the long run, they don’t help with resolving depression.
People who have depression need compassionate, caring, and understanding people in their lives. You can help fill this role as one of many supports for your loved one.
Another important support is therapy for your friend or family member. However, if you have trouble coping with the emotional pain of or loved one, or need some support yourself, reach out to us, 256-686-9195, and find out today how depression therapy can help.
If it’s wintertime, then that means the seasonal blues are not that far away. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a serious mental health condition that leaves you feeling sad and depressed.
The cold winter months, with its shorter days and cold weather, keep you indoors longer. You feel cut off from others, and less motivated to do things that you typically enjoy. Even if you have struggled with SAD for a long time, there are ways that you can break this seasonal cycle.
These are simple techniques that you can do to feel better and chase those seasonal blues away.
Add Omega-3 to Your Diet
One way to improve your response to seasonal affective disorder is by adding Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet. Research suggests that Omega-3 may play a role in reducing depression. The reason why is that when you consume Omega-3 it can be absorbed easily by cells in the brain.
It also has anti-inflammatory properties. Omega-3 is found in fish and fish oil, nuts, and certain oils. Check with a nutritionist about how much Omega-3 is right for you.
Exercise to Chase Those Blues Away
A tried-and-true method for chasing away seasonal affective disorder is exercising regularly. That’s because it has so many positive effects on your body. For example, exercise:
Lowers your blood pressure.
Improves your cardiovascular system.
Releases serotonin and endorphins, which both influence your mood.
Helps you focus on something else besides seasonal depression.
But what if you don’t regularly exercise and don’t know where to start? That’s okay! Start with something simple, such as walking regularly every day outside. If you decide you want more of a challenge, there are plenty of fitness apps and programs that you can do at home.
These are useful because they provide structure to your workouts, such as warmups, a challenging workout, and cooldowns. Make sure though to check with your health care provider before beginning a new exercise program.
Maintain Healthy Personal Relationships
One big issue with depression is that it is so isolating. It’s actually easier to isolate in winter when everyone spends more time inside. However, this also means it’s harder to have social connections with one another. But that shouldn’t stop you from having healthy personal relationships.
Mobile phones have become a powerful tool for communication. You can text, email, receive updates through messaging apps, video chat, and even make phone calls (remember those?). However, mobile phones can also amplify depression when it comes to social media. If you use social media, do so sparingly and balance it out with other in-person communication.
Medication When Appropriate
When seasonal depression gets to be difficult to manage through lifestyle changes, it may be appropriate to consider medication. Depression medication may be just the edge you need to get things back on track.
Medication isn’t meant to control you or make you feel any different from who you are. Instead, it helps you to gain some clarity so you can make better decisions about your health. Medication is useful in helping you to absorb the lessons learned in therapy, too. That way you can put into action what you have learned more quickly.
Seasonal affective disorder, if left untreated, is a terrible condition to endure year-after-year. However, you don’t have to spend every winter struggling through depression. Diet, exercise, and healthy personal relationships go a long way towards canceling out the effects of SAD. However, when it feels like things are getting out of hand, medication can also help.
If you are experiencing SAD, contact us to learn more about depression counseling, 256-686-9195.
If your teen has social anxiety, then you can sum up the experience in two words. It stinks!
You watch your teen struggle when interacting with their peers. They seem so overwhelmed with anxiety when talking to other kids.
You want them to have friends. But you also know that learning how to engage with others and build connections is a skill they will need to be successful later on in life.
How can you help, yet in a way that is encouraging and not pushy? Here are four tips to help your teen deal with social anxiety.
1. Focus on One Thing at a Time
Even considering where to start is overwhelming! However, this is a great opportunity to teach your teen about setting goals. Sit down together and come up with a list of possibilities that they can work on. Then hone in on one idea to start.
Doing this helps your teen to focus their attention and direct their energies towards that one goal. Otherwise, it becomes a scattershot process where they will find little success. Once they have identified a goal, help them build out an action plan. This can include:
What they want to accomplish.
Steps towards accomplishing that goal.
Benchmarks to identify success.
What the end result should look like.
2. Practice Relaxation Techniques Together
Another thing that you can do with your teen to help deal with social anxiety is practice relaxation techniques together. Now, you don’t have to be a mediation master to pass on helpful tricks to relax. For example:
Practicing breathing in and out calmly.
Listing to relaxing music.
Using art to express themselves.
Writing in a journal.
Basic yoga moves.
Exercising together.
Again, don’t flood your teen with a lot of ideas at once. They will get quickly overwhelmed. Instead, practice one skill at a time until they get the hang of it.
3. Encouraging Them to Stretch Their Comfort Zone
We all could use a little encouragement in stretching our limits beyond our comfort zones. This doesn’t mean going so far that your teen goes into a panic. Rather, it’s about taking small, incremental steps.
These allow your teen to be more comfortable with a situation and boost their confidence. For example, perhaps going to a school dance is too overwhelming. But, what about:
First driving up to the school, but not going into the building.
Next time, walk into the dance but stay less than thirty minutes.
At the next event, staying an hour.
This step-by-step process empowers your teen to gain more confidence with a particular social situation and helps avoid overwhelm.
4. Recognize Their Successes
Finally, when your teen is successful, recognize and celebrate those accomplishments together. Even small steps of progress deserve recognition. A hug, smile, and saying, “I’m so proud of you,” will go a long way.
You can also build in celebrations when your teen is planning out how to meet a social situation challenge. For instance, if they can stay at the dance for an hour, they can earn a reward.
Therapy and Social Anxiety
An important part of your teen’s journey for overcoming social anxiety will be therapy. They may be hesitant to engage in therapy, or not trust the therapist. Your child could feel embarrassed that they have to go to a therapist.
Try to normalize therapy. Going to a therapist doesn’t make them “weird” or different at all. Therapy is just one more piece in the puzzle to empower your teen to navigate complex social situations. It is also a place where they can be themselves and not fear being judged by anybody.
You play such an important role in your teen’s life as a parent. Social anxiety isn’t easy. Yet, you can support, encourage, and celebrate with your teen as they work to overcome this issue. Find out today how we can help with anxiety treatment, 256-686-9195.
The holidays are just around the corner, and that fills you with dread. It’s not the socializing or having to spend time with your distant relatives that’s the problem. You can handle that.
Rather, it’s the alcohol. Being in recovery during the holidays is fraught with danger. It’s so easy to relapse. “I’ll just have one,” you say to yourself. But you know that you can never have “just one” drink.
Whether this is your first holiday sober or you’ve been in recovery for many years, here’s what to keep in mind when you’re in recovery during the holidays.
Acknowledge the Reality of the Situation
First, it’s healthy to acknowledge the reality of things. There’s going to be alcohol present, and you can’t escape it. Rather than fleeing from this thought, embrace it. Denying that reality will only cause more stress.
Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to like the situation. But acknowledging the situation allows you to move forward and be proactive. That’s a much better position to be in than being caught off guard, panicking over what to do. Take a few breaths, relax your muscles, and give yourself a break. You’ve got this!
Work the Problem
Once you have acknowledged the situation, it’s time to work the problem. Let’s take that big problem and break it down into smaller ones. Consider certain situations that you might find yourself where alcohol might be present. For example:
The company party
Gatherings with friends
Dinner with family
These are very common during the holiday season, and alcohol can be present at all three. Let’s take a further look at what to do in these situations.
The Company Party
Many companies and organizations have a holiday social hour or party to celebrate together. Depending on your organization, alcohol may or not be allowed. If it’s an on-site gathering during work hours, then alcohol may not be permitted.
That makes things easy! But what if it’s after-hours or alcohol is allowed? Here are some thoughts:
Have a wingman. Someone who has your back to get through the party
Always have a non-alcoholic beverage with you
Give yourself a time to leave that’s reasonable
Gatherings with Friends
Gatherings with friends is a little more tricky. Hopefully, these are friends that are supportive of your sobriety and genuinely want you to be with them. Those are the kinds of friendships that mean the most.
But sometimes there’s someone you know who isn’t supportive and insists that you come to their celebration. What do you do?
Try to be polite and decline in the most diplomatic manner
If that doesn’t work, be more forceful
Educate them about why you need to stay sober
Give them a firm “no”
You might feel that saying no is risking ending the relationship. Perhaps it helps to ask why the relationship is more important than your sobriety. Your sobriety isn’t selfish. It’s fundamental to your health.
Dinner with Family
Nothing screams a sobriety nightmare than dinner with family. And it might be harder to say no to family dinner with alcohol present than with friends. First, talk to your family about your sobriety and how important it is for you.
Communicate that you won’t be drinking at the dinner, and ask them to respect that choice. That should work. After all, the important thing is to be together. But what about that cousin or uncle who’s always a jerk and pokes fun at your sobriety?
Don’t hide from them. Rather, embrace it. That will help to diffuse the situation.
Video Chats and Holiday Gatherings
Many groups may choose to have a video call to celebrate the holidays. That doesn’t mean alcohol won’t be present. Many people will have drinks in their hands while on the call. In a way, this scenario is a little easier to navigate.
There’s more distance between yourself and others. Thus, there’s less pressure to drink. You can always have a non-alcoholic beverage with you and most likely nobody will say anything, anyway.
If the thought of alcohol and the holidays is way too overwhelming, there’s help. Talk to a therapist who is skilled in addiction counseling and understands these problems. Find out today how therapy can help you get through the holidays, 256-686-9195.
You’ve spent 11 months avoiding them. But now there’s nowhere to turn. Even though you love your family deeply, there are a few relatives that you find “unyielding.” And that’s being diplomatic!
For the rest of the year you keep them at arm’s reach. But there’s now way of escaping the holidays. In the past they have just driven you up the wall, or worse. No wonder the thought of having to spend even an hour with them is anxiety-inducing.
So, what can you do? If you are facing the holidays with unyielding family members, consider these suggestions for how to best cope.
Work Out Before the Family Gathering
Really? Yes! Exercise has been shown to be a healthy way to manage anxiety. For example:
You have an outlet to physically release pent-up energy.
It allows you to shift your focus away from the worry and anxiety.
Exercise releases dopamine and other mood-enhancing neurochemicals.
Besides, working out before a holiday meal is helpful for your appetite too. If you are planning on spending an extended period with your family, schedule a workout time each day. This also gives you an excuse to take some space from family and have personal time alone.
Keep a Friend on Speed-Dial
Need to talk to someone about how your relatives get on your nerves or drive you up the wall? Have a friend or two with whom you can call when feeling stressed-out. Communicate with them ahead of time of your intentions and needs. Offer to be a support for them too as they cope with the holidays.
This way you don’t feel alone and isolated. In fact, it might surprise you how many of your friends also feel the same way about their relatives!
Set Boundaries
When you are with family, set firm boundaries. For example:
If you are talking with a family member and the conversation goes way off-topic, firmly but diplomatically steer things back on track. If they continue, tell them firmly you don’t want to go there.
Have set arrival and departure times. These allow you to enter and exit gracefully, but on your terms.
When concerned about overindulging with alcohol, set a limit for yourself.
Don’t let other family members pressure you into drinking at all or too much if that’s something you are avoiding.
Remember, you have a say in how you want to be treated. That’s true, whether or not it’s the holidays.
Gathering Remotely During the Holidays
Even when gathering virtually, you can still cope with anxiety. In fact, remote gatherings may even help a little more with anxiety management. For instance:
You have control over when you log on and log off.
Travel (whether it’s across town or the country) is not required, which means less stress.
It’s possible to have a chat window open with a friend or be texting while still on the remote call.
There’s less stress from having to be physically present with your relatives.
When you think about it, if family holiday gatherings stress you out, then a remote gathering may actually help you better cope with your anxiety this year.
Taking Time to Talk
Because the holidays are so stressful, it’s a good idea to be working with a therapist before the season begins. However, it’s never too late to book an appointment with a counselor. Therapy will help you better manage your anxiety and stress. You can learn coping skills to keep your anxiety under control. Plus, you will have a healthy place to vent where your perspective is honored and valued.
Family can be stressful regardless if it’s the holidays or not. Knowing how to cope in ways that support your mental health will be critical to get through the season. If you think you need more help, don’t hesitate to reach out today about anxiety treatment, 256-686-9195.
Substance abuse is a devastating problem. It often seems that there is nothing you can do to change the situation or get better.
Yet, what happens when the person with the substance abuse issue is your partner? Then that feeling of helplessness only intensifies.
There isn’t anything that you wouldn’t do to help your loved one get better. But right now, getting better feels more like a hopeful dream than reality. It seems like all you can do is just sit by and watch.
However, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Here are some ideas that you can use when your partner has a substance abuse issue.
Establish Ground Rules
It’s important that you establish firm ground rules with your partner. Even if you have been together for a while and they have had these issues, it’s never too late to start. Some examples of ground rules include:
Zero tolerance of substances in the home
Substance use is never acceptable in front of the kids-ever
Agreeing to consistent drug testing
Nobody is invited over to the home to drink or use drugs
Violence, whether it be physical or emotional, will not be tolerated
Be clear too what the consequences are for breaking the rules. This often involves your partner leaving the home. Let’s acknowledge that’s a hard thing to do, especially to someone you love. Yet, it’s important for them to know that you won’t accept unsafe behavior and that their actions have consequences.
Separate the Person from the Addiction
Next, when you have a loved one struggling with substance use, it helps to separate the person from the addiction. For instance, when your loved one gets intoxicated, they say really hurtful things to you. However, when they are sober, they are the exact opposite-loving, kind, and gentle.
Separating the person from the addiction allows you to focus more on the addiction as the problem. Considering your partner as the problem won’t help your relationship. Separating allows you to consider the addiction logically and rationally, rather than personally.
Communicate Appropriately
When your partner does things that are problematic, communicate appropriately. For example:
Avoid getting drawn into arguments that go nowhere and solve nothing
Refrain from using blame-and-shame language
Frame feedback in terms of how you feel
If you feel angry and not in a good space, take a break to cool down and regain composure
It’s important for your partner to know how their actions are affecting you. However, communicate in a way that allows them to better hear the feedback. Also, hold off on these intentional conversations until they have a clearer head.
Know What You Can and Can’t Control
There’s always the temptation to try to control your partner. If you can just figure out how to structure their life, then they will never be tempted to use. However, this isn’t a healthy approach for you or them. You will always be fighting a losing battle.
Your partner will, in the end, turn to substances. Plus, they will resent you for trying to control them. They will see you as part of the problem, even though you just want to help. So let go of what you can’t control. If things escalate to where you are not safe in your home, leave. Often, that is the last bit of control you have. Taking ownership of your situation and not let your partner’s actions impact your safety.
There is much that you can do to provide love and support to your partner. However, ultimately professional intervention is required to break the cycle of addiction. If you believe that your partner is struggling with addiction, find out today how addiction counseling can help, 256-686-9195.
“I just tried to move past that time and get on with my life.”
Have you ever referred to your past trauma in these kinds of terms? It makes sense that you would want to set those experiences aside and not focus on them.
But what if you haven’t moved on? Instead, you feel down, emotionally numb, even hopeless. It’s been like this for a while, so you don’t even notice that you might actually be struggling with depression? Trauma and depression can certainly be linked together.
Here’s how.
The Impact of Trauma
Trauma has the potential to be incredibly impactful on your life. This is true whether it was a stand-alone event, or multiple traumas experienced over a stretch of time (even years). These moments become embedded in your mind and psyche.
Now, even after much time has passed, you might not be actively thinking about the trauma every day. However, it is in the background. Those experiences influence your mindset today. They may even come roaring back as a triggering moment.
Triggers cause your brain to revert back to the traumatic moment. And of course, they bring up distressing emotions, such as fear and anxiety.
Numbing Your Emotions
One way that people cope with both trauma and depression is by numbing their emotions. It is easier to feel nothing than something. This happens in a couple of ways:
Your brain seems to have switched off the parts that control emotions. Things that should cause you to feel joy or sadness have no effect at all.
When you have troubling emotions arise, especially if they are related to your trauma, you numb them yourself through substance use. Alcohol and drugs have long been used as tools to “forget” about what happened. Even if the effect is only temporary.
If you experienced traumatic events and are struggling with numbing your emotions, especially through substance use, then you might also be coping with depression as well.
A Feeling of Hopelessness
Many people who report feeling depressed say how they experience a sense of hopelessness. Hopelessness is a very strong word. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hopelessness as:
“having no expectation of good or success”
There is an important word in that definition: expectation. Or the lack of it.
When we expect nothing positive in our lives, then of course we are going to experience depression. Hope keeps us going and to live for the future. It could be as simple as looking forward to hanging out with friends and watching the big game Saturday afternoon. Or the prospects of retirement and traveling with your partner.
However, if you have unresolved trauma from your past, that can linger as hopelessness.
When the Memories Don’t Go Away
There’s another way that trauma haunts you, eliciting hopelessness and numbness, causing depression. It’s when those traumatic memories just don’t go away. Every day you recall a memory from that time.
These are things that you can’t just push away or ignore. They remind you of when you were vulnerable, scared, and even afraid for your life. No matter what you do, you still can’t stop thinking about them.
Now imagine that happens spread throughout the months and years, and you can imagine how you could be depressed.
Finding Hope Despite the Trauma
Even though you have experienced trauma, that doesn’t mean you can’t find hope and peace in your life. The process to do so requires several approaches. These include:
Lifestyle changes that support a healthier mental state
Counseling sessions with a therapist trained to treat depression
Medication
No-one has to be defined by their past. Rather than letting it hold you hostage, you have the power to do something about it. This includes getting professional help from a therapist. To learn more, reach out today, 256-686-9195, to find out how depression therapy can help you.
You’ve known something has been different for a while now.
Things just don’t feel the same like they used to. You don’t have your usual level of energy and zest for life, which was such an important of who you are. Or things that you used to do are no longer exciting or interesting.
So what happened?
It might that you are struggling with depression. It would certainly explain this change. But how do you know when is the right time to seek help?
Here are some tips on when you should seek support, and how depression treatment can help.
When You Notice a Change
One indicator of when you should seek help is when you notice that something has changed and feels different. Why? Because most likely you have already been in a more depressed state of mind for a while now. You just didn’t notice it until this point.
Typically, you need to have been experiencing symptoms of depression for at least two weeks in order to be diagnosed. Take some time and think about what the last few weeks have been like. Were any of the symptoms of depression present? These include:
Difficulty sleeping.
Feeling hopeless or worthless.
Changes in appetite.
Loss of interest in what should be activities you typically enjoy doing.
Withdrawing from the World
Another sign that it may be time to get help for depression is when you withdraw from the greater world. Now, that doesn’t mean that previously you were a social butterfly! But social withdrawal is an indicator that something may not be right. For example:
You don’t engage in social activities like you used to (going to a dinner party or meeting a friend for coffee).
If somebody calls or texts, you don’t respond.
When you respond, you are not very engaged in the conversation.
It feels easier just to be alone all the time.
Again, take a moment and try to pinpoint any moments in the last few weeks when you withdrew more from others. This is especially important if they were people whom you are close to, such as friends or family members.
The Energy Just Isn’t There
Everyone’s had that feeling in which they think to themselves, “Ugh, I don’t want to do this workout today.” Or substitute “workout” for any other task. For instance:
Going to work.
Completing household chores.
Running errands.
Going to appointments. That home project that you’ve been procrastinating on.
However, people with depression often report that they just don’t have the energy to do things. They feel drained. Even doing the basics takes up a lot of energy. This happens for a couple of reasons. One is because depression soaks up a lot of mental energy. You are more focused on why you are depressed rather than the things you need or want to do.
The other is that, if you are depressed, most likely your diet and sleep have also been impacted. These are important for maintaining adequate energy levels.
If Your Safety is at Risk
Finally, if your safety is at risk, then you should definitely seek help immediately for depression. This includes if you have had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm. You don’t have to wait for a therapist appointment to get help. You can reach out to the National Suicidal Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or, you can chat with them live via their website at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
So, when should you seek help for depression? The answer is when you notice that something is wrong and that you don’t feel like your typical self. You don’t have to wait until there is a crisis to get help. But do know there are resources available if you are in a crisis. Otherwise, you can reach out to Luminous Counseling and Consulting to learn more about depression therapy, 256-686-9195.
Often when we consider autism, it’s usually with children in mind. This makes sense, as children with autism may struggle with forming and maintaining social relationships with other children.
But what about adults?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5,437,988 adults have autism. That’s approximately 2.21% of the adult population in the United States. Keep in mind that there are many people who have autism, but go undiagnosed.
So what are the signs of autism for these people? Here are some more common traits of autism disorder in adults.
Social Situations are Challenging
One indicator that someone might have autism disorder is how they manage social situations. Interacting with other people can be challenging and awkward. For example:
Trouble making eye contact with another person
Difficulty interpreting nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions
Having a monotone voice
Appears to lack empathy
Adults with autism might avoid social situations altogether. The reason is that these moments can be stressful. There may also be underlying anxiety because, as they have learned over time, they just don’t do very well interacting with others, especially if they have never received treatment or social skills coaching.
Humor and Adult Autism
One way that we communicate with each other is through humor. Jokes, riddles, and especially sarcasm. Humor is an effective way for people to find connection with one another.
Laughing has many benefits, including the release of endorphins in the brain. However, people with adult autism will struggle with humor, especially sarcasm. That’s because their brains interpret things literally.
Sarcasm is the exact opposite. This makes it even more difficult for people with autism to interact socially with neurotypical people who don’t understand the condition.
Very Focused Interests
Interestingly, one common trait for adults with autism is having very focused and narrow interests. Neurotypical people might have a wide range of interests, including professional, academic, and recreational interests (hobbies, sports, etc.). But those with autism will have a much narrower focus in their interests.
It isn’t uncommon for those interests to include computers, math, the sciences, etc. In fact, technology will have a particular draw for them. Problem-solving can also be a strength as well. So, it makes sense that technology, programming, and computer science would be a natural attraction.
Sticking to a Routine
Structure is important for those with autism. It creates familiarity, is comforting, and calming. For instance, everything in their living space is exactly as it should be. Nothing is out of place.
Also, tasks and activities are done in a particular order. When a daily routine is disrupted, it can be distressing. Whether it’s a minor disruption or a major one, those moments can cause anxiety and stress.
Functioning as an Adult with Autism
It’s important to note that just because someone has autism, it doesn’t mean they can’t be successful as adults. Far from it! When you think about it, many of the common traits described above can be quite useful. For example;
The ability to have a deep interest in a particular subject
Having a set routine each day
The ability to problem-solve
For those areas where they might struggle, it’s still possible to get help. For instance, using technology to learn how to navigate social situations. Counseling can also play an important role here as well. Therapy can help adults with autism to develop social skills and to better manage stress and anxiety.
Although this is not an exhaustive list of attributes for those with adult autism disorder, these are some common traits. People with autism may struggle in certain areas, but they also flourish in others. Caring support, coaching, and also autism counseling can help these adults to live fulfilling and lives. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help, 256-686-9195.
Your memories due to post-traumatic stress disorder haunt you.
Even though you do your best to push them aside or bury them deep within, they come back when you least expect them. And when they come back, they usually manifest themselves in symptoms that, to others, seem irrational.
For instance, always being alert to any perceived danger, or avoiding certain places for fear of what you might think or feel. Then there are the nightmares from the sleepless nights that keep you up until morning.
You wonder, “What can I do?”
Here’s how EMDR can help.
The Basics of EMDR
EMDR, which is short for eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a treatment method that uses eye movements in combination with suggestions and promptings from your therapist. Here’s how it works in a nutshell:
Your therapist first meets with you to understand the history of your complex PTSD and how you are affected by its symptoms.
Before the EMDR treatments begin, you first learn mindfulness coping skills to manage anxiety and stress.
When you have an EMDR session, you and your therapist agree on a specific topic or memory to focus on.
During the session, your therapist passes a finger or a pen back and forth. You follow the object with your eyes (hence the eye-movements).
While this happens, you focus on the particular memory.
The idea is that, over time, the emotional impact of that memory fades. The combination of the physical aspect of the eye movements and the memory recall effectively neutralizes the emotional toxicity of the memory. Eventually, it will no longer be a source of stress.
The Importance of Experiencing the Memory
One of the reasons PTSD is such a problem is that the thoughts and memories associate with the trauma are very painful. This can certainly be true if you went through a singular, traumatic experience, such as an accident or illness.
But what if that trauma kept happening all the time, day-after-day, year-after-year? This the legacy of complex trauma. Single events blur over years or even decades of trauma. So those memories become very painful to experience.
With EMDR, you don’t even recall the whole memory. It might be just a piece of that memory. Over time, you recall more of those pieces until the whole memory is resolved.
Handling the Stress of Memory Recall
There are some important points to understand with how this process works.
Your therapist provides some promptings, but they are not processing with you during the experience.
When focusing on the memory, you don’t even have to speak. Rather, you are feeling the memory and its impact without having to describe it.
The role of coping skills cannot be understated here. You are taught tools to help you stay regulated so that these memories do not cause you to panic or shut down. This helps you to hold on to that memory longer and work towards resolving it.
It’s also important to note that you are in control during these sessions. If the memory becomes too much to handle, you can stop. This might be discouraging in the moment. But be patient. With time and support from your therapist, you can finally close the chapter on your complex PTSD.
The Effect on PTSD Symptoms
As the emotional impact of these memories fades away, so does your corresponding symptoms. You feel less anxious and can relax. It’s possible to sleep now and not have to wake up from a nightmare.
All this means is that you now can refocus your attention away from those painful memories and back onto you. With fewer symptoms, you have a better chance of leading a happier life.
Treating complex PTSD does not involve quick fixes or gimmicks. Rather, it’s about using the power of your mind to work through difficult memories and experiences. However, it’s possible to find relief from complex PTSD symptoms through EMDR. Reach out today, 256-686-9195, to learn more about how EMDR and trauma counseling can help.