PTSD: Thoughts on the aftermath of the Boston Marathon attack
  PTSD makes us especially sensitive to trauma. You may feel an unreasonable amount of empathy, despair, hopelessness and pain when a traumatic event happens. Your personal trauma may be entirely unrelated to a tragic event in the news. And yet, you may feel weak, especially tired, anxious and uneasy. Friends and family may not understand why you are taking an event so hard. Most people feel shock and grief, but the extent to your reaction may lead some people to call you oversensitive.
  I have experienced these kinds of feelings after many traumatic events are reported in the news: the India rape case, the Boston Marathon, the shooting in Conneticut. I have sobbed. I have felt a total fear of the world. I have experienced negative feelings about the world: the belief that no place at safe, that the world is cruel, that it will be impossible to get over a certain tragedy.
  These feelings are deeply rooted in our personal experiences with trauma and post traumatic stress. We suffer from PTSD reactions even when the events don't resemble what happened to us. It's just the nature of the beast. Suddenly we feel more anxious, more distracted, fearful and alone.
1. Give yourself permission to feel your emotions. Know that your reaction is valid. It seems so simple, but the truth is that many of us struggle to accept our feelings. We criticize ourselves for overreacting, for being 'too sensitive'. Quiet that inner critic and just let yourself feel. Painful emotions pass by much more smoothly if we aren't battling them out in our heads.
2. Give yourself permission to TAKE A BREAK! It can be the case that when tragedy strikes, we are glued to the news, anxious for updates. Even when we know it is too much for us, we find ourselves compulsively checking the headlines on TV or on our phones. We can sometimes feel a personal responsibility to bear witness to the tragedy. Allow that sensation to pass, and then take time away from the news. Turn off the tv for a while. Allow yourself to feel the guilt and anxiety, and let it pass.
3. Talk with loved ones. About anything, everything! Open up about how tragedy effects you. Be honest. Don't feel weak for needing emotional support and comfort. Every person needs this, in one way or another. Don't talk about the events if you don't want to. Ask your loved ones how they are doing. Talk about the weather. Do something that puts you in touch with others. It is very easy to feel alienated and alone under these circumstances.
4. If the weather is nice, go outside. It sounds silly, but going outside can help ease fear and worry. Take your shoes off, listen to the birds in a park. Do deep breathing excersises. Our homes can become a place of intense worry-- you can lay in bed feeling trapped, worried and alone. We can watch too much news, or become glued to the computer, reading gruesome details. Sit on a park bench and practice self-soothing techniques instead. Realize that these feelings will pass.
5. Look for the positives and get involved. If you feel as worried as I do after a traumatic event in the news, you often want to find some way to help. Read positive stories about the traumatic event. Read about EMT workers, or people who ran into the blast to look for friends and family. Consider donating time, money or blood to relief efforts. Attend a vigil in your area, or a prayer circle with your faith community. Our intense empathy doesn't always have to be a crippling factor in our lives. We can overcome the initial negative emotions, and then use that empathy to help others.
I hope this helped anyone out there going through what many survivors experience after tragedy strikes. Many people with PTSD don't even admit to these emotions out of shame-- either from the feeling that they are overreacting or that the tragedy 'isn't about them'. I just want to remind you again that these feelings are valid, these responses are to be expected, and that you are not alone. <3
