friends with ptsd- how's it going? does anything help?

[defacto7]

8. The absolute most positive thing

that I have done for my PTSD is practicing simple meditation. For me, the PTSD consists of the never ending scripts going around in my mind that always lead to painful memories or even painful outcomes of non-existent problems. It's like my inner voice just can't stop talking. Once is started the simple meditation of dismissing all words in my mind and listening to all sounds around me during that single moment in time then letting it pass by to the next moment, I saw a great difference. Advancing to just listening to my own breathing and making the hearing moments smaller improved the experience. I started with 30 seconds (it's hard to get started. you always have to kindly tell yourself to stop thinking) then a minute, then after a while it was 5, 10 15 minutes. That's really all I have ever needed to feel like my mind was slowed and calm. My memory increased, my cognitive ability increased and the incessant noise in my head has lowered to a distant din.

It really has helped me. It's not a religious thing it's just a way of calming the mind and making it flow in a calm and consistent manner.

Hope it helps.