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1. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a practice of retraining your mind, which is scientifically proven to help with anxiety and depression. The point of mindfulness is to learn to focus on the present moment as much as you possibly can.
An everyday example of mindfulness is to focus intently when you are having a conversation with someone. Being fully present in a conversation and being able to listen to hear instead of just listening to respond is the way to achieve mindfulness in this way.
Mindfulness trains you to be present in your mind, without being distracted by things going on around you or intrusive thoughts. The wonderful thing about mindfulness is that every human can use it.
You are already born with the ability to practice mindfulness – you just have to find it. If you are new to mindfulness you can try listening to guided meditations or watching a virtual yoga class.
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2. Journaling
Journaling is a form of writing that can help you work through any mental health issues or just document your daily life. If you are journaling to express yourself, this can be extremely therapeutic in nature.
There are different ways that you can journal. You can research prompts that will get you thinking about your feelings. Or, if you would rather, you can just do a “mind dump” and just write down everything you are feeling.
You might also consider creating a gratitude list. Every morning when you wake up and every evening before you go to bed, write down 10 things you are grateful for.
It may seem strange at first but it has actually helped a lot of people manage their anxiety, depression, fears, or anything else that needs to be worked through.
3. Distraction
Using distracting as a form of coping can be necessary when your emotions get too strong. In this sense, distraction is defined as an activity you can focus your attention on without choosing a negative coping skill to cope.
This activity should be something that you are able to focus on without being easily distracted by intrusive thoughts that you may have. It’s important to remember that distraction should not be used for too long.
If you rely on distracting yourself for too long of a time period, you may become used to avoiding your feelings, which will not help your PTSD improve.
A good example of a healthy distraction is doing a puzzle. A puzzle is an activity that is engaging but not too complicated.
This is the perfect balance of keeping you distracted without having to use too much energy to focus on this new task.
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PTSD - A Way Out.com 