{"id":1157,"date":"2025-11-20T06:16:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/?p=1157"},"modified":"2025-11-20T06:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:16:29","slug":"how-do-you-calm-down-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/how-do-you-calm-down-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you calm down PTSD?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When PTSD symptoms spike racing heart, intense fear, flashbacks, or dissociation your nervous system is in \u201cfight-flight-freeze\u201d mode. The goal is to remind your brain you\u2019re safe in the present moment. These techniques are recommended by trauma experts (NICE guidelines, VA\/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline, and therapists trained in EMDR and somatic approaches):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Grounding (5-4-3-2-1)<\/strong> Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. This pulls attention back to the present.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Controlled breathing<\/strong> Try \u201cbox breathing\u201d: Inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 6\u20138, hold 4. Or simply exhale twice as long as you inhale (e.g., 4 in, 8 out). This activates the parasympathetic \u201crest-and-digest\u201d system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Physical grounding<\/strong> Hold something cold (ice cube, cold drink), press your feet hard into the floor, or tightly squeeze and release your hands\/arms. Strong sensory input tells the amygdala \u201cdanger is over.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Orienting<\/strong> Slowly turn your head side to side, scanning the room while reminding yourself: \u201cThis is 2025, I\u2019m [age], I\u2019m in [location], the event is in the past.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Safe place imagery<\/strong> (if it works for you) Briefly picture a calm place (real or imagined) and notice its colors, sounds, and smells.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Self-talk<\/strong> Repeat gently: \u201cI\u2019m having a flashback. It feels real but it\u2019s a memory. I\u2019m safe now.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If hyperventilating or dissociating heavily, splash cold water on your face or use the \u201cdiver\u2019s reflex\u201d (hold breath and put face in cold water for 15\u201330 seconds if possible).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice these skills when you\u2019re calm so they become<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ptsd.va.gov\/gethelp\/coping_stress_reactions.asp\"> automatic<\/a> during distress. Long-term reduction of PTSD symptoms usually requires trauma-focused therapy (CPT, PE, EMDR) and sometimes medication, but these tools can help you regain control in the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When PTSD symptoms spike racing heart, intense fear, flashbacks, or dissociation your nervous system is in \u201cfight-flight-freeze\u201d mode. The goal is to remind your brain you\u2019re safe in the present moment. These techniques are recommended by trauma experts (NICE guidelines, VA\/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline, and therapists trained in EMDR and somatic approaches): If hyperventilating or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1158,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}