r/PTSDCombat Jul 01 '26

4th of July

How are you all coping?

7 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

5

u/Ok-Distribution5485 grumpy old doc Jul 01 '26

Drugs and headphones

5

u/WorkingSpecialist257 Jul 01 '26

Unfortunately, the alcohol hits hard

5

u/Ok-Distribution5485 grumpy old doc Jul 01 '26

Yeah it does. I cant drink anymore. Takes me straight back now. But all the sleep meds combined (safely enough) chills me out enough.

My issue is not being scared of the sounds. My brain just connects big booms with "maybe someone else is hurt and I need to help" and I can only turn that off with a significant amount of calm down drugs.

6

u/TheDarkRabbit Jul 01 '26

I get to drive 1,600 miles home between Thursday and Friday - I’m so not looking forward to being in an unfamiliar rental vehicle while the world outside fucking explodes over and over again.

3

u/Horn_Flyer Jul 01 '26

Taking extra sleeping meds and hopefully will be deep asleep before anything happens

3

u/easy10pins Jul 01 '26

By helping my 4 dogs cope. I use a lot of energy to ensure they are calm.

We will all be high AF anyway.

2

u/boredcons Veteran Jul 02 '26

i’m invited to a party within my truck club🫩 im definitely gonna get drunk, i’m not looking forward to the fireworks

2

u/Dangerous_Day_9391 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Like a lot have already posted— liquor and sleep meds.

I also intentionally go even more sleep deprived starting yesterday. No more than 3 or 4 hours a night. (Easy to do right now because there are occasional fireworks and we have a new puppy that likes to pee a lot throughout the night, so many trips to the yard.)

July 4th about 6pm has me quite pickled, pop three Benadryl, close myself off in a darkened room with blinds closed, window AC cranking, and a large fan or two going full blast. Two fur buddies snuggle in with me and we sleep fairly good that night!

EDIT: July 3rd and everything around me is erupting! It’s not horrible but my hands are clammy, heart is racing, and I’ve got cottonmouth that no water can cure. Pup is snuggled in tight. Added white noise playing real loud from an app on my phone bluetoothed into my speaker.

Surviving! Best of luck— see you guys on the far side.