The other “trick” I have used to get through the waiting game of my friend’s rollercoaster recovery has been distract. This is a great tool to use when there is nothing to do but wait. There are some parameters to it though for it to be effective. 1) You should still take breaks from distracting yourself to feel what you really feel. This does NOT mean going down the negative “What if” road. It just means that acknowledging your feelings about the situation are important but I might caution you to not dwell TOO long. 2) Find something that takes enough brain power to effectively distract yourself but not enough to really tax yourself (you’ve got enough stress at that point – don’t want to add more). For instance, my mind wanders a lot when I do a jigsaw puzzle so that would not serve me well to distract myself. A Suduko puzzle however – that works for me. It is important for you to find something that works for YOU (Suduko is not everyone’s bag). 3) When those pesky negative thoughts creep in despite my best efforts, I use mindfulness to be aware of my thoughts and will think (or even say out loud) in authoritative voice “STOP!” and it usually does.
To be continued.