Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Not too long ago, I was engaged by a client to ready her for a series of important interview sessions. She is a young executive, articulate, intelligent, skillful, and has many things she can bring to the table. The first few conversations revolved around the expectations of the sessions involve the work plan which includes the interview prep sessions itself. All agreed, we set to work through within a certain time frame.

Now, here is the thing.

Of all the agreed 5 items, she completed only 3. I discovered where the roadblock lies - from an unintentional trigger word - "prep".

To her, the word "prep" conjures memories of unhappy and painful childhood days. Prep means a series of painful days being punished with a belt, a broom, or her head being knocked against the wall. She grew up in a "high performance" household where if she brings an exam result of 95%, she will be punished for not able to achieve the other 5%. Exam times were days of this "prep sessions".

Hence, her mental block to prepare for her interview prep session.

In a series of safe, gentle conversations to reframe the sessions positively, we soon managed to get over this mental roadblock and she attended her interview sessions feeling better and did extremely well. With her, I introduce every step we will go through together, and at the same time, do a temperature check on what she is feeling or experiencing at every stage.

One area of my work is to help my clients shift from a certain fixed mindset to encourage a change of behavior so they can move on and plan their career journey in a more positive way. Through experience working with a myriad of clients, there are times when this is not achievable due to other roadblocks such as mental wellness and this includes PSTD (post-traumatic stress syndrome). Oftentimes, I have to refer them to one of our many partners such as a counselor, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist, depending on what I have observed. According to Mayo Clinic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Triggers

1. Scent – certain scents will bring back certain recall of incidences. ( I know of someone who gets angry at the scent of Dettol)
2. Feelings – pain, discomfort in certain parts of the body if touched in a certain way
3. Sounds – backfire of a car, a barking dog, scraping floor, fireworks, songs
4. Things – play cards, a knife, a certain attire
5. Sight – seeing a person with certain traits
6. Places – in a lift, in a parking lot, a body of water
7. Anniversaries – dates associated with certain trauma such as a death anniversary, divorce, downsizing
8. Words – certain names, phrases, specific words

Self-manage

Avoidance is not the best solution to address PSTD.

Even though the intensity of PSTD will be different for each person, it is best to reach out to the professionals the minute you experience some of these signs:

1. When you have suicidal thoughts
2. Self-destructive behavior such as fast driving, maxing the credit card, drinking
3. Uncontrolled emotions and angry outbursts
4. Trouble sleeping
5. Feeling numb and disinterested in yourself and the world around you
6. Anxiety attacks
7. Not willing to complete certain tasks but not quite sure why

Tips to manage this

Write down the situations, words you hear, the sensation you are feeling, the scenario you are going through as soon as you find yourself feeling going down the route of helplessness, or facing that mental blocks. What are the potential triggers? This list will help you to understand why you are feeling what you are feeling.

I hope this post can help you to understand why there are certain you want to do but got "stopped" by what we describe at a mental block.

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About me.

I co-founded and currently manage an HR and management consulting firm, Dragonfire Corporate Solutions Sdn Bhd and Dragonfire Academy, a lifelong learning center. We are passionate to help organizations to be effective in managing their employees' careers. In return, we support talents to be efficient by aligning their work-life values, skills, passion, and interests with the organizations they work for.

I coach, facilitate, train, speak, and bring my skills, experience, clarity & empathy to your needs in these areas:

1. ? Career and talent management
2. ? Career coaching (for better fulfillment, growth, and financial stability)
3. ? Transition and outplacement
4. ? Encore Career
5. ? Courageous Conversations for performance and conflict management
6. ? Talent development
7. ? Personal branding
8. ? Organizational effectiveness

Email: [email protected]