BAM! Right back there...

So I was at a very crowded training today at work and the presenter said something that really hit home. Really blindsided by it- I got there late so I was in the front, had to disrupt a bunch of people to leave. Went to the bathroom and just sobbed for about 10 minutes, then went outside and walked a bit before returning to the rest of the training.
I was "checked in" only about 50% of the rest of the training. I'm doing a bit better now, calming down and back in the moment. So I think that was a trigger, huh?

Don'cha hate that when you think everything is just fine then...BAM! What's your favorite way to cope and deal when that happens, especially when it's NOT the time/ place to deal with it?

Well it sounds like you did the right thing for you at this time!

I am still very cautious about putting myself into situations I'm unsure of... and go out of my way to make accommodations (like refuse to have to sit up front, even if I make a small commotion obtaining a chair for the back.)

I'm still pretty sheltered in my activities, unfortunately. I admire you for pressing forward in this area.

Breathing helps me immensely. Also, giving myself those positive -rational- statements that I learned with CBT. (This isn't the end of the world, it isn't happening now, this is here and now not then, PTSD is an anxiety disorder and this is to be expected from time to time.) Those all help me not to catastrophize the situation, making it feel even worse. Allowing myself to be caught off guard if it happens, and not beating myself up for "knowing better" etc are more coping skills I have now.

Yes, that's a trigger.
When I was first injured I couldn't even recognize when I was triggered. Then I could, then I began to identify the triggers, and then I began learning how to avoid or prevent triggers ... what a process. But as I said, I am not back out there socially like I was before the injury. It's time; been too many years.

TC

I'm still working on learning coping skills so I don't have much advice, but I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone and I know how hard it can be to be in a situation like that. Take care, and I agree that it sounds like you handled it well!!

Um, it feels like I was just a mess- that I totally made a spectacle of myself. But when I think about it, I really didn't just felt that way. But it FEELS so overwhelming, so out of control, you know?

I know what you mean about feeling like you are making a spectacle of yourself...I had to get out of a crowded movie once (I was late so I didn't get my usual seat in the back on an aisle so I was in the middle of a row) and I got to my car as fast as I could so I could be upset in private...and it felt like everyone knew why I left, even though I knew *logically* that they didn't know and probably didn't care. Sometimes it's hard to believe that logical side!!

S'okay Reeg-You triggered, you handled it- you are probably the only one who noticed it. I do What JD does, I alway sit near a door, towards the back at any function, church, movies, lectures, back in my schooldays, even when assigned a seat, I'd get a letter from my doctor stating that I had to be near an open door .

Now you know, you'll handle it better next time. You're fine--I'm sorry this happened--I send you out big hugs of empathy------------theo