Coping with PTSD: Seeking Advice

good question, I would like to know too!

I'm also personally a big believer in distraction skills. Anything that makes you happy and distracts you can be a coping skill. If you like music, I personally really recommend that. Especially if you like learning the lyrics to songs. When I'm really triggered, sometimes I'll put on a song I like and just focus on learning all of the lyrics. Something about just focusing on a pattern like that really helps.

Honestly it really depends on the symptom and severity. When I'm dissasociating or having flashbacks I lean pretty strongly on grounding skills. One I use a lot is the 54321 method. You go through your different senses, naming 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel or can touch, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste. You can change up the order if you thinkthat would work better for you, like if you'd have an easier time identifying smells rather than touch you could do 3 smells and 2 touches. The key is to focus on things that ground you in the present moment.