what do I do about the hernia?
That I got lifting this thread off DEET's chest....sorry about that DEET, I'll try to lighten up a bit:)
Resuscitating this thread
I know this thread's old, but I think it'll live with a bit of CPR... Let's look at it from a slightly different point of view: as going into a crisis.
Anatomy of a crisis
When we are faced with a crisis, we usually go through a few phases. If we understand the phases we may be able to function better and get through it relatively unscathed.
Phase 1: the triggering event
Before the triggering event, we’re in control of ourselves and behave the way we do in everyday life. When the triggering event impacts us, we recognise it as a crisis. The best strategy for handling this stage is to avoid the trigger entirely. This calls for planning, trying to anticipate stressors and what could go wrong, and doing your best to develop strategies that will negate or minimise those possibilities.
Phase 2: escalation
If, despite our careful planning and gazing into our crystal ball, something goes wrong and we’re precipitated into a crisis, we enter the escalation phase. This is when we recognise that we’re in a stressful situation and we react with some or all of the following:
• Shock
• Disbelief
• Confusion
• Difficulty in deciding
• Forgetfulness
• Worry
• Fear
• Anger
• Time slowing down
• Numbness
• Helplessness
• Feeling that we should be doing more
These feelings often escalate in intensity until we enter the crisis phase. To increase your chances of survival, it would be ideal to recognise that you’ve entered the escalation phase and that it could lead to you entering crisis phase. How? Knowing this sequence, i.e., that escalation will follow a triggering event, should help you recognise that your reactions will escalate to a crisis point. So once a triggering event occurs, keep a lookout for escalating reactions and focus on calming yourself. The best way to do this is to engage one or more of your senses.
Do your best to stop the cycle here. If you enter the crisis phase, you won’t be of much use to yourself or anyone else. It will most likely worsen the situation. Working out your most viable options will happen when you are in control of yourself and don’t enter the crisis phase.
Phase 3: crisis
In this phase our stress increases. Our hearts beat faster. Our motor skills and our perceptual abilities diminish. We can’t respond until the threat is identified, but because we lose the ability to process information, we begin to lose control of ourselves, reacting irrationally. Each of our selves is affected: the extent to which each is affected depends on the severity and duration of the event.
Emotional: we may experience fear, grief, anger, despair, sadness, numbness, and generalised anxiety disorder.
Mental: we may experience impaired concentration & decision-making, impaired memory, disbelief, worry, denial, flashbacks, and tunnel vision.
Physical: we may experience fatigue, insomnia, cardiovascular strain, hyper-arousal, general health problems, headaches, decreased appetite, nonspecific distress, and Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS).
Spiritual: we may experience aggression, isolation, hopelessness, disassociation, panic, and a lack of confidence.
Familial and social: we may experience increased relational conflict, social withdrawal, impaired performance, over-protectiveness, abandonment, and rejection.
If you couldn’t stop yourself from entering this phase, do your best to recognise that you're in the crisis phase. Do whatever it takes to calm down, making sure that you're in a safe place. Don’t decide on a course of action at this stage; unless of course you don’t have the luxury of time.
Phase 4: recovery
Once the stressor is gone (or its immediacy lessens, or we manage to regain self-control), if we survive the crisis, we begin to calm down, regain control of ourselves and a semblance of our usual behaviour returns, but remain fragile. We become more rational and may experience forms of relief or anger, possibly even exhilaration.
This is another phase where we could try to work out our options. Be aware that your emotions may still be dominating your decisions in this phase.
Phase 5: crash
Once recovery is complete, we may move into a “crash” phase. We tend to display below-normal activity levels, requiring time to physically recover and mentally process the event. Long term effects could include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), grief and anger.
