To need to talk through a traumatic event with you?

[StrumpersPlunkett]

Just need to talk. Family listening but I am just going over and over it to try to under stand.

It’s not surprising you’re having an acute stress reaction. The best thing you can do is give yourself time. Try to talk about it, as someone else said, see if you can talk to the people who were with you. Try and understand what happened so you can process it, share the experience here and in RL. All of this will help you to process such a horrible event so that you can learn to live alongside it. Trauma (which is normally diagnosed later after an event, 6-8 weeks down the line) is like stuffing all the awful memories into a cupboard and just about managing to close the doors, but sometimes the doors fly open and all the memories come tumbling out. Therapy is about taking each of those memories, examining them and the associated thoughts and emotions and packing them neatly back in the cupboard so the doors neatly close and can be opened again when you choose without everything tumbling out (if that makes sense). But therapy for trauma may not be needed if you can give yourself compassion and time to adjust to what happened. But if you find yourself struggling to the same degree, enduring flashbacks or very vivid nightmares then there is help. I hope you recover quickly though, but there’s no weakness if you need outside support later of course.

Goodness op, what a horrible experience. I hope you feel a little better in the morning. You've had a terrible shock. Give yourself time to come to terms with what happened. Look after yourself.

That does sound traumatic and it's absolutely normal to focus on it for a while. It is a BIG thing! Most big things in life have a process but a near miss doesn't. Everyone say "Oh but you're OK so that's the main thing" and it is, but you still need to work it through.
Could you get hold of the instructor to go through what actually happened? Construct a timeline to hang your memories in perspective. This really helped me.

oh OH that sounds utterly horrifying. You did almost die. Terrifying. Please take care of yourself now, be extra kind to you, and be ready for the shock to actually hit you and the tears to come. Sending you a hug and and a hot

Sounds like PTSC and totally understandable in your circumstances. Think you need to talk it through with someone.

PTSD

I grew up swimming in the Pacific Ocean and was a very strong swimmer. I moved away from the So Cal coast to Nor Cal so had a long period where I didn't swim in the ocean because it was just too cold. When we went back I thought I could just jump right back in, even though I was years older. I thought 'No problem, just like a bicycle!". I had a very similar experience to yours. All was fine until I headed in, when I was caught in a rough undertow near the shore. It tumbled me head over heels I don't know how many times, I honestly thought it was the end. But I finally got out of it and managed to get to the beach. I've never been so frightened.

I decided then and there that I would never go over waist deep in the sea again, at least not without a board or raft. I'm older now and just don't have the strength I once did. So my advice is just listen to your body and your mind as far as when it's right to go back in (if ever) and how deep you want to go.

Wow. You're very lucky and amazing to be up and walking around after all that

Please plan to talk this through with a professional when you’re able.

A close friend of mine who nearly drowned thought she’d just ‘tough out’ the feelings & flasbacks, and 10 years later it still stops her doing things near water and has lead to a general (and debilitating) hypervigilance.

Don’t let yesterday’s events become a part of your everyday. Process it (with help) so you can file it away as just a bad memory. Maybe even turn it around (in time) and use it to be more aware and grateful for being alive?

In the short term, you just spend your time as you need to. Don’t go along with family plans or outings if what you really need is rest. Try gentle walks, art or something creative, or just plain nothing. Hugs.

I am so sorry you have had such a traumatic experience OP.

I have a brother who after a horrific and traumatic event suffers from PTSD. He at first needed to talk everything through, several times with several different people. He was adamant that he wouldn’t need therapy. He is one of the strongest, most stubborn and determined men I know, so I tried not to push him too much.

I wish I had been more insistant on his seeking counselling and support for his trauma. Please do find a counsellor to help you process your traumatic experience! PTSD can have such a negative impact on your mental health, your relationships, your job and your family! Please do not feel embarrassed for needing support for your mental health! It is no different from seeing your g.p for migraines or heavy periods!

Poor thing. It only just happened so whatever you feel, I would just go with. This may take quite a while to process because it was so scary for you.
Give yourself time and talk about it.

It sounds terrifying, I'm so glad you're alive to tell the tale.

I too had a near death experience, 4 years ago. Afterwards I was, as you appear to be, in shock for about a week. I just kept thinking about what had happened and thinking "Yeah, I'm OK, but what IF...?" and thinking about what would have happened if I HAD died - how my husband would have had to tell our daughters, how my parents and sister would feel. I just couldn't seem to stop thinking of the worst case scenario, even though I'd come through it and survived.

I became very anxious, I was terrified of going to sleep in case I didn't wake up and started to have panic attacks. Eventually, after about a month my GP prescribed a week of Zopiclone to get me back into a normal sleeping pattern and Propranalol to deal with the panic and anxiety (it slows your heart rate down so you can't experience the physical effects of panic so strongly, which helps the mind to take control) and I was diagnosed with PTSD.

Once the anxiety, panic and sleeping were under control, I started to feel almost euphoric at times, simply at the thought of being alive! I really did 'count my blessings' and tried to enjoy every day. This feeling lasted on and off for about a year. I'm still more grateful for my life than I was before I nearly died, but I'm on a much more even keel about it all now. The anxiety is still there on occasion and I still have the odd night where I can't sleep and keep reliving what happened, but happily, they are few and far between.

Please give yourself time. This has only just happened and of course it's going to have a massive impact on how you think, feel and act for some time to come. It would be odd if it didn't! As PPs have suggested, be kind to yourself, talk about it, visit your GP once you're home if you're having trouble sleeping or are feeling anxious or panicky and remember that the strength of these feelings will diminish over time. You made it - you're alive, and if you're lucky, you may even get the same sense of euphoria that I experienced and you'll feel doubly grateful for everything!

I hope the rest of your holiday is peaceful and uneventful!

You will recover and the bad memories will fade. It will be a 'story' with none of the emotions in due course. That could be a long time. Give time time.

To people saying PTSD, no, the OP is having an understandable and normal reaction to a frightening event. PTSD is only diagnosed several months after a traumatic event, if the normal reaction to the event has not settled.
OP, you're doing the right things. Do rest and be kind to yourself, do speak about what happened, and let yourself be supported by family and friends. Don't try to suppress your thoughts and emotions about this frightening event, it will take time to process what happened. Don't pressure yourself to 'get over it ', too fast.

It would be odd for you have "got over" something so traumatic within 48 hours, if I'm honest.

It's good your family is supportive, but don't necessarily expect you'll forget or recover quickly and please don't pretend that you have just to have a nice holiday.

Physically your body went through a lot and you were flooded with adrenaline. As a start you'll have a "come down" from that.

It's normal to experience flashbacks and anxiety - especially the "what if's".

Be gentle to yourself and accept it's going to take some time to process you've survived a life threatening situation.

Don't hold your feelings in, for fear of making a fuss. Cry if you need to, talk about it when you need to - IRL ideally but here is a good place to vent if needed.

I got in trouble swimming in the sea in Spain once. The sea didn't look particularly rough when I got in but the weather suddenly worsened. However hard I swam I couldn't get closer to shore. In fact, the shore was getting further away, and the waves were getting rougher and bigger. It was fucking terrifying. I fought it so hard, harder than I have ever fought, caught a break in the swell and managed to find some rocks to cling too until I was rescued by a lifeguard.

I had nightmares about that for about a year. But I'm fine now.

Oh and Seal is right about PTSD.

It's very much overused (like OCD) by people who haven't experienced it and it's not the inevitable outcome of any significant trauma (though to to clear I'm not being disparaging of any posts on this thread - rather it's very real disorder the abbreviation of which has be co-opted by into the mainstream inappropriately).

Hey!This can happen to anyone. you did brilliantly and helped to save your own life. How is your back feeling?

Glad you got help. Sounds scary. The Lifeboat crew are volunteers. They are paid nothing for their time and putting themselves at risk to save others. Send them a box of biscuits or two and possibly a donation!

Goodness that sounds awful and terrifying! Just keep telling yourself 'I'm safe' because you are now.
Maybe you'll need some counselling to help your mind process it

Oh be kind to yourself. That sounds horrific. Sit back for a couple of days if you can. Youou need time out to come to terms with it. That experience cannot have been easy. Take care

I am so glad you made it through. Give yourself all the time you need.
I dissociated for days and days after a near death experience.

That sounds horrible and glad you made it.

I echo the be kind to yourself comments. Taking time to get some peace with a book sounds good, you're not going to get over this straight away. My own experience is choking, Ex was at least useful in helping there. I found I kept going over it for a couple of days, but I took time to myself to rest and not going into active stuff.

You're suffering a normal reaction, but getting some counselling when you get home may help in processing this and putting it firmly in the "past" section of your memories.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. No wonder you're feeling shell shocked. I'd recommend talking it over as much as you want and taking it very slowly. You are bound to need some time.

Oh OP, that sounds absolutely terrifying - no wonder you are feeling traumatised.

Of course it’s ok to still be thinking about it - while it all turned out fine it was still an awful thing to experience. Be kind to yourself.

You may find that you dwell on it for a while, or that certain events trigger anxiety about it in the future. Keep an open mind about counselling or even just having someone you trust to talk it over with as and when you need to. Trauma is complicated and doesn’t just heal in a linear way like a physical injury.

Feel better soon