That’s interesting. I was definitely very surprised, no expectation that something like this could happen. Though, when I went into shock, I said “good thing I have another good eye” on the way to the hospital, so I was never in denial of how bad the damage was.
I was not prepared for the panic attacks, nor did I even think of a plan of action to work through them until a couple months afterwards (as mentioned in the post), which was Elo’s idea. It wasn’t obvious to me that I would have panic attacks or that there was a way to get past them sooner.
You said you knew it might happen, but had you heard about the “reliving the trauma” method from others? Was that something you just figured out at the hospital in Germany?
I said “good thing I have another good eye” on the way to the hospital
HA! After I crawled away from the truck, I was laying between the engine block and the cab, and my gunner was kneeling a little ways away pulling security. After a little time I said to him, “After due and careful consideration, I have decided explosions are even more exciting from the inside.”
He was unamused. Too bad—not a lot of opportunities to deliver that joke.
The two things I knew beforehand were that episodes of spontaneously reliving the event are the classic example of consequences I did not want, and that there is a technique called exposure therapy, which usually entails deliberately exposing yourself to some trigger until you normalize to it again. Doing it on purpose was like exposing myself to no trigger, I figure. I’m confident this isn’t how it actually works, but I kind of felt like every one I went through deliberately was one less I would have to go through while driving in the car or something.
If I someone else I know gets in an accident too, I’ll tell them they might experience panic attacks and how to work through them safely. That might be the most helpful thing.
That’s interesting. I was definitely very surprised, no expectation that something like this could happen. Though, when I went into shock, I said “good thing I have another good eye” on the way to the hospital, so I was never in denial of how bad the damage was.
I was not prepared for the panic attacks, nor did I even think of a plan of action to work through them until a couple months afterwards (as mentioned in the post), which was Elo’s idea. It wasn’t obvious to me that I would have panic attacks or that there was a way to get past them sooner.
You said you knew it might happen, but had you heard about the “reliving the trauma” method from others? Was that something you just figured out at the hospital in Germany?
HA! After I crawled away from the truck, I was laying between the engine block and the cab, and my gunner was kneeling a little ways away pulling security. After a little time I said to him, “After due and careful consideration, I have decided explosions are even more exciting from the inside.”
He was unamused. Too bad—not a lot of opportunities to deliver that joke.
The two things I knew beforehand were that episodes of spontaneously reliving the event are the classic example of consequences I did not want, and that there is a technique called exposure therapy, which usually entails deliberately exposing yourself to some trigger until you normalize to it again. Doing it on purpose was like exposing myself to no trigger, I figure. I’m confident this isn’t how it actually works, but I kind of felt like every one I went through deliberately was one less I would have to go through while driving in the car or something.
Ah man, sorry your joke bombed.
If I someone else I know gets in an accident too, I’ll tell them they might experience panic attacks and how to work through them safely. That might be the most helpful thing.
On the basis of this line alone, I regret nothing!