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Old 07-12-2012, 09:14 PM
xanadu00 xanadu00 is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 239
10 yr Member
xanadu00 xanadu00 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 239
10 yr Member
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There is already a lot of excellent advice here. While this may sound counterintuitive, one of the things that helped me a lot during the worst of my PCS was listening to audiobooks of stories of people who have endured extreme suffering and hardship, such as stories of Holocaust survivors. (I find Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning especially therapeutic.) I also benefited a great deal from reading stoicisim--especially Epictetus's Enchiridion.

I realize that this sort of thing isn't for everybody, and that different people will find different sources of inspiration. However, both of these practices really helped me to counter my tendency to compare my life with what it would have been like had I not been injured, as well as the tendency to compare myself to others. They also helped me to deal with the sheer suffering and total isolation I was dealing with at the time (I had no support network other than this forum). The more stoicism I read, the better I was able to accept my current situation. That is still true today.

In the hopes that others might benefit from something similar, and could share some of their sources of inspiration, I started a thread awhile back that can be found here:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread164040.html

Enduring and overcoming suffering and PCS ultimately requires much more than an inspiring life philosophy or religious worldview, but it is one important piece to have in one's toolkit. At times, the most difficult part of our injuries is trying to make sense of and find meaning in them; the inability to do this can cause us to suffer enormously.

The more quickly we are able to accept what has happened to us, the less we will suffer. That doesn't mean it will be easy; it just means that acceptance can make our situation more endurable.
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Male, 39 years old, suffering from PCS as a result of being rear-ended on 1/23/11. Part-time philosophy professor.
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MommaBear (07-12-2012)