Do you find yourself overreacting?

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 08:45:12 -0400

Something that I personally had to deal and continue to work on is overreacting to something. I find myself sometimes jumping off the deep end over the little thing either at work or at home. My overreaction has cost me personally and professionally. Sure, we can say it's part of the PTSD I go through because sometimes my overreactions are to different sights or smells. The way I pick my table when out eating may be considered overreacting by some.

The way some of us react to news seen on TV or online maybe classified as overreacting. Sometimes we get so laser-focused on something that to us our reaction may seem okay but to everyone else with a wider view of the topic, maybe view as an overreaction.

The question behind all this is how do you try to maintain yourself, to keep your reaction(s) to things as close to "normal" as possible? What is something that you learned helps you maintain yourself in the eyes of something that to you may be earth shattering while to others it is just "spilled milk"?

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 17 at 2015 12:05 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:05:47 -0400

SGT Ben Keen This was me last night when I got home. My 4 & 3 year old thought that I would like a container of Gatorade powder mix dumped on my bed. I don't deal well with messes. I don't deal well at all with sticky messes. Even if the solution is as easy as taking it off the bed and putting it in the washer. I walk away- that is how I deal with it... especially if it has to deal with something like that. That will be a Daddy Day Care cleanup.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Jul 17 at 2015 12:35 PM

SSG Warren Swan — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:35:31 -0400

You see this on Facebook daily. You see this in lamestream media to get clicks or a desired response. I do it on my own. To fight this I try to detach myself from the situation and leave. Now this isn’t always going to be feasible, and in those cases, I try to take myself mentally to other places (like Afghanistan lol) to calm myself down, and allow clarity to do its job. I look on FB and see the “herd” mentality on many vet threads when someone says something counter to the poster, and then the whole mob jumps in or on that person(s). It’s almost as if we (the vet community) want to be the final say on what’s patriotic or not, who is and who isn’t and if you’re questionable we’ll make you “famous”. I’ve actually had to leave a few pages over that. Now lamestream media wants you to get fired up and tailor the stories and dialogue to you just for that reason. It doesn’t matter if you’re liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican. There’s something out there on one of the main sites to stir you up. And when that happens to me, I go straight to the comments just to see what others are saying and to laugh at the opinions of the massively uninformed, the iNet lawyers, doctors, cops, and vets, whatever. To sum it up it’s everywhere, but the best medicine I’ve found is laughter, distance from issue, or both to set me right.

Response by SFC Stephen King made Jul 17 at 2015 12:48 PM

SFC Stephen King — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:48:10 -0400

This used to be me. What works for me is understanding what I can control. If I can't directly control it I let it go. To help with things I am a firm believer of exercise in the morning to help deal with the rest of the day.