A crash can leave you with severe injuries. It can cripple your life, and make moving on challenging.
But things can get better.
Here are creative things that can help.
1. Therapy
You can speed up recovery through therapies like:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – focuses on changing extreme thinking patterns.
- Exposure Therapy – slowly helps you face driving or riding in cars again through practice.
- EMDR – uses eye movements to process memories of the event so they bother you less.
Even if these sound complex, a good therapist will guide you through them at your own speed so you never feel pushed. The goal is to help you feel safe, understood, and able to do more things independently.
2. Learning Relaxation Skills
When PTSD makes you feel anxious or panicked, it’s helpful to have tools to calm yourself quickly. Methods like meditation and focused breathing are great for this.
Meditation means sitting quietly and paying attention to your breathing instead of all your worried thoughts. This lets your mind and body relax. You can find free meditation videos online to follow.
Focused breathing is similar – it means taking nice slow, deep breaths to chill out. An easy technique is to breathe in quietly while counting to 4 in your head. Hold your breath while counting silently to 7. Then breathe out slowly to 8. Doing this a few times whenever you’re stressed helps a lot.
3. Keeping a Journal
Another way to handle big emotions is to write them out in a personal journal. Putting your deepest thoughts and feelings on paper can help you figure them out instead of just feeling confused.
You can write about memories of the accident, dreams you had about it, ways you’re trying to feel safer now, or just encouragements to yourself. No one else has to read it unless you want them to. Journaling can be very freeing.
4. Getting Support from People You Trust
Support from family and friends matters so much. Talking with someone can help ease the loneliness of struggling with PTSD.
You might feel embarrassed or worry about being judged. But letting trusted people into your world can lift a huge weight off your shoulders. Try opening up to your person about what would help – maybe you just need a listening ear when things get hard. Or for someone to go to counseling sessions with you.
People who genuinely care will want to help carry your burden with you, not away from you. Let them!
5. Trying Art Therapy
If you like drawing, painting, sculpting, or DIY crafts, using art to help your PTSD can jumpstart healing. Creating visual art provides a way to express messy emotions when words fail you.
The coloring, textures, designs and images you make reflect how you feel inside. It’s like you’re taking those intense emotions and giving them shape and form. Art therapy guides you through this in a safe, validating way.
And the best part is you don’t need any prior art experience! The goal isn’t a perfect painting suitable for a museum. It’s using creativity to better understand your inner world.
6. Moving Your Body
Getting active with exercise, sports, or even light stretching does wonders to boost your outlook and ease anxiety. When you make your body move, it releases endorphins which are chemicals that naturally improve your mood.
Any activity that raises your breathing and heart rate counts. A brisk walk outdoors, going for a jog, following along with a yoga video, playing basketball with friends – it all helps! The combination of moving and being in nature is extra powerful.
If you’re dealing with pain or limitations from the accident, just start small with easy movements. Even a short walk or doing arm circles can make a difference emotionally.
7. Using Music and Sound to Soothe Your Mind
Music, natural sounds like ocean wave or forest sounds, and sound therapies positively affect the way we feel. Listening to them promotes relaxation when PTSD has put you in overdrive.
Try creating playlists with songs that speak to your soul and touch your heart. Use it to set the tone for your day or unwind at night.
Many people find the vibrations almost wash anxiety away and leave them feeling balanced inside.
8. Reading Up on PTSD
Another useful tactic is learning everything you can about PTSD – how common it is, why symptoms happen, stages of healing, success stories, etc.
Let’s say you are in Houston and wondering about what to do after a car accident in Texas. You may think that you are alone. Or may even assume that your trauma is an overreaction. But when you understand your experience is normal given what you went through, it makes what you’re going through less scary.
Knowledge breeds comfort and coping skills. It equips you for this journey. You can google articles, check out books from the library, or listen to podcasts. You’ll get through this – millions with PTSD have made it, and by learning from them, so can you!
9. Making Progress Step By Step
Because PTSD develops over time, healing from it does too. Getting better won’t happen overnight, as much as we wish it would! Instead, view recovery as a path you take one milestone at a time.
Setting small, reasonable goals helps so much with this. Goals like listening to soothing music for 10 minutes daily or driving 5 blocks away once a week are doable actions that move you forward. Give yourself major props for each goal down! It’s those small steps that build recovery.
10. Getting Legal Help
Managing PTSD is hard enough mentally and emotionally. And so, adding financial stress to it can feel completely overwhelming. But car accidents come with so many expenses – medical bills, therapy costs, time off work, etc.
Getting help from an attorney levels the playing field. They understand the law and insurance policies and use that knowledge to get you the maximum settlement possible. This money can not only cover your accident-related costs, but also compensate for the ongoing trauma of PTSD.
Having a legal advocate lets you focus on healing, not fighting for what you deserve. Though asking for help feels vulnerable, you and your family are worth it!
11. Living in the Present
One hallmark symptom of PTSD is constantly dwelling on the past – replaying the accident over and over in a loop. Or worrying excessively about what could happen in the future if you get in another crash.
Mindfulness exercises can train your brain to stay grounded. For example:
- Look around and spot 5 things you can see right now.
- Feel your hands, clothes, feet – 4 things you can feel right now.
- Listen closely for 3 sounds happening around you presently.
- Inhale deeply and notice 2 smells you can detect in this minute.
- Hold something in your mouth and taste 1 flavor present now.
Staying connected to the current moment through your senses keeps you feeling centered versus spiraling.
12. Joining a Support Group
Connecting with other people who’ve gone through similar traumatic accidents can be so helpful. In support groups, members come together to listen, offer insight and encouragement, share coping tips, etc.
Hearing from people who genuinely understand your struggles makes you feel less weird or alone. And giving support to others also builds your confidence and purpose.
See if there is a local support group near you that meets up in person. If not, search online – there are forums and private Facebook groups to join.
Be patient with yourself and celebrate all progress as you find what works best for you. You deserve to feel safe, stable, and hopeful again.
