Car Accident: What To Do?

[Hermes]

What to do to alleviate the stress after a car accident? Maybe somone with personal experiences?

Today, I was involved in a car accident: An elderly driver crossed over to the other lane in a tight turn and hit my car from the side. I was totally surprised. The air-bags went off and the car is smashed. I wasn‘t hurt badly: bruises on the side of the upper body, a scratch on the forehead and felt some kind of shock/stupor. It was diffucult to articulate to the police officer how it all happened. Later in the afteroon I was overly emotional and worried about long-term consequences.

Maybe also some useful advice regarding a healthy attitude towards the whole incident? To reduce rumination? Excessive worry?

Stuff like this scarces me.

 

[gaze]

What to do to alleviate the stress after a car accident? Maybe somone with personal experiences?

Today, I was involved in a car accident: An elderly driver crossed over to the other lane in a tight turn and hit my car from the side. I was totally surprised. The air-bags went off and the car is smashed. I wasn‘t hurt badly: bruises on the side of the upper body, a scratch on the forehead and felt some kind of shock/stupor. It was diffucult to articulate to the police officer how it all happened. Later in the afteroon I was overly emotional and worried about long-term consequences.

Maybe also some useful advice regarding a healthy attitude towards the whole incident? To reduce rumination? Excessive worry?

Stuff like this scarces me.

I don’t have personal experience, but I think in an interview with Danny Roddy, Ray Peat joked that the first thing he’d do in a car accident would be to take progesterone, because it helps the body heal remarkably fast.

 

[Vinny]

What to do to alleviate the stress after a car accident? Maybe somone with personal experiences?

Today, I was involved in a car accident: An elderly driver crossed over to the other lane in a tight turn and hit my car from the side. I was totally surprised. The air-bags went off and the car is smashed. I wasn‘t hurt badly: bruises on the side of the upper body, a scratch on the forehead and felt some kind of shock/stupor. It was diffucult to articulate to the police officer how it all happened. Later in the afteroon I was overly emotional and worried about long-term consequences.

Maybe also some useful advice regarding a healthy attitude towards the whole incident? To reduce rumination? Excessive worry?

Stuff like this scarces me.

Just take some drugs for several days till u get over it. Phenibut, for ex, if u have.... or anything that calms down

 

[peatmás]

...involved in a car accident...The air-bags went off and the car is smashed.... felt some kind of shock/stupor. It was difficult to articulate to the police officer how it all happened.

The event is a shock, including the physical impact that triggered the airbags. The many supports that Dr. Peat outlines all tend to boost metabolism and reduce shock. If some have previously clearly worked, emphasize them.

Salt, sugar, rest, red spectrum light, interesting gentle activity, adequate protein, gelatin. Depending on context, give thought to pregnenolone, progesterone, aspirin especially in the short term.

Progesterone Pregnenolone & DHEA - Three Youth-Associated Hormones

Ray Peat related sites directory (MarshmalloW)

 

[ANDREW CHIN]

What to do to alleviate the stress after a car accident? Maybe somone with personal experiences?

Today, I was involved in a car accident: An elderly driver crossed over to the other lane in a tight turn and hit my car from the side. I was totally surprised. The air-bags went off and the car is smashed. I wasn‘t hurt badly: bruises on the side of the upper body, a scratch on the forehead and felt some kind of shock/stupor. It was diffucult to articulate to the police officer how it all happened. Later in the afteroon I was overly emotional and worried about long-term consequences.

Maybe also some useful advice regarding a healthy attitude towards the whole incident? To reduce rumination? Excessive worry?

Stuff like this scarces me.

Yoga is good for any kind of trauma. If you are drawn to meditation or prayer, that could be a good choice, too. Good luck!

 

[mrchibbs]

I would take progesterone is has a ''numbing'' effect in larger doses.
Niacinamide in larger amounts helps to bring a sense of calm. Eat comforting foods.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

Theanine may help too. Being around positive people can also help. Doing fun activities that don't require too much effort( chatting, watching a relaxing movie, etc.)

 

[rei]

large dose progesterone to achieve an adequate level of sedation so the stress fades and body starts repair.

 

[Owen B]

Try any kind of muscle relaxation techniques for the areas where you feel the most tension from the accident.

The muscles there are over-contracted. They need to get length and resilience.

Don't ruminate. Your body is already doing that on its own largely independent of your mind.

Or try heart rate variability biofeedback. HeartMath.org.

Get at these techniques as soon as possible. The sooner you get completion of the tension there the greater the chance you'll avoid future complications.

Progesterone is also good.

 

[baccheion]

Fasting.

 

[Hermes]

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I took 15 mg Cyproheptadine and 50 mg Progesterone. I slept long hours and went for a walk later. Feel somewhat in better place now.

@Owen B
How does muscle relaxation work? Like focusing your attention during meditation on the insured body parts/muscles? I know progressive muscle relaxation where one is advised to tense muscles for several seconds and then relax them. You go through different body parts like this e. g. hand, arms, legs, feet etc. Not sure if you mean something similar and how you would apply to your neck and shoulders where there is the pain.

 

[Owen B]

You're right. I think muscle relaxation is OK too, because you will allow the body to complete. Slow muscle relaxation will allow you to feel your tension rather than try to overcome it through conceptualizing. You'll see what you're really experiencing there.

But I was also thinking of yoga, Somatic Experiencing, stretching. If the impact was not so bad, just focus on the areas where you feel the most tension related to the accident, isolate the muscles and slowly stretch them until you get a completion. You'll feel the tension drain from the area and breathe deeper as a result.

Cranio-sacral osteopathic manipulations are good. They get at the enormous tension held in the neck and shoulders, especially for injuries around the head.

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I took 15 mg Cyproheptadine and 50 mg Progesterone. I slept long hours and went for a walk later. Feel somewhat in better place now.

@Owen B
How does muscle relaxation work? Like focusing your attention during meditation on the insured body parts/muscles? I know progressive muscle relaxation where one is advised to tense muscles for several seconds and then relax them. You go through different body parts like this e. g. hand, arms, legs, feet etc. Not sure if you mean something similar and how you would apply to your neck and shoulders where there is the pain.

 

[Dave Clark]

Car accidents often result in whiplash or some kind of head trauma. I would, if you have access, get an atlas orthogonal practitioner adjust your atlas and axis, since this misalignment can be the cause of a lot of post accident issues. Search it for more info. This is the guy I use: The Goodman Method of Chiropractic

 

[Hermes]

Not sure if I understand: What's a muscle completion? Strech the muscle for as long as possible?

 

[yerrag]

I was in an accident long ago, ended up 1 month in a hospital only because I have a slight stress fracture in my lumbar and needed time there. I had no recollection of it because of the trauma except for the moment before impact when my car was rear-ended by a bus and thrust into the opposing lane. Had sold my car and was using a car with no seat belts and lucky I came off whole.

3 months after discharge I was in a cast to continue healing my back. The first day cast was removed, I went back driving just to see if I can overcome the trauma. Then everything returned to. normal for me.

I think that in anything, overcoming your weaknesses or fears, is part of the process of integrating oneself. To become whole. Trauma is an external stimulus, but no different than internal fears that we are born or conditioned into.

 

[methylenewhite]

You gonna get used to it. I had 10+ some of them pretty serious, like finding yourself under a slowly moving truck and realizing that the girl from the backseat of the motobike is going to get her head squeezed by the rear axis of the truck. I managed to get her and myself out just because the truck was crossing that speed breaker really slowly. And another one involved exploded tire on my motobike, I was damn close to stop my biological activity forever. The last one case was the only that really got me stressed, managed to cope with a pretty dangerous mix of pregabaline and booze.

 

[Owen B]

A completion is a release of stored energy. Looking just at the muscles, they are overcontracted in any kind of stress. Repeated voluntary movements, repeated involuntary reactions and too much weight training all shorten muscles.

They need length as much as strength.

 

[Hermes]

I was in an accident long ago, ended up 1 month in a hospital only because I have a slight stress fracture in my lumbar and needed time there. I had no recollection of it because of the trauma except for the moment before impact when my car was rear-ended by a bus and thrust into the opposing lane. Had sold my car and was using a car with no seat belts and lucky I came off whole.

3 months after discharge I was in a cast to continue healing my back. The first day cast was removed, I went back driving just to see if I can overcome the trauma. Then everything returned to. normal for me.

I think that in anything, overcoming your weaknesses or fears, is part of the process of integrating oneself. To become whole. Trauma is an external stimulus, but no different than internal fears that we are born or conditioned into.

Your story sounds intense. Hit by a bus and pushed to the opposite lane?! Now, you write in the end this beautiful paragraph saying part of becoming whole is integrating your fears. But, how do you do it? I imagine that you were immobile for the time at the hospital. How do you keep your spirits high, tend to your thoughts like a gardener to his plants, that somehow you will get better. It's so easy to fall on the other side, wallow in self pity. But how do you nurture those other thoughts that you will heal, that the body is way more capable.

 

[Hermes]

A completion is a release of stored energy. Looking just at the muscles, they are overcontracted in any kind of stress. Repeated voluntary movements, repeated involuntary reactions and too much weight training all shorten muscles.

They need length as much as strength.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[yerrag]

Your story sounds intense. Hit by a bus and pushed to the opposite lane?! Now, you write in the end this beautiful paragraph saying part of becoming whole is integrating your fears. But, how do you do it? I imagine that you were immobile for the time at the hospital. How do you keep your spirits high, tend to your thoughts like a gardener to his plants, that somehow you will get better. It's so easy to fall on the other side, wallow in self pity. But how do you nurture those other thoughts that you will heal, that the body is way more capable.

That's a good and tough question. We're all different in how we react and take in to stress situations. From how we're born into and what we have been conditioned to in our early development. We are born into different fears, and we are defined primarily by them. Our life journey is a constant process of overcoming our fears, or attempting to and failing to as well. But having an awareness of it them makes us know ourselves better, and to know where we can make ourselves better. If we succumb to our fears, we disintegrate. If we face our fears and overcome them, we become more whole in ourselves and we integrate. If you believe in God, that is perfection in integration.

I guess you have to begin to know your fears to know yourself. And you yourself will understand what makes you you. When I had that accident, I didn't really know myself either. But I was a fighter, I was determined. I spent my childhood overcoming my dad's constant lecturing that I'm stupid. I had no opinion on anything, fearing I could be wrong. I was very quiet. I kept to myself. I questioned many things about myself. But I hated being that way. But I learned to fight back. I fought with my neighbors hand to fist and kept losing. But I was still standing I guess and that taught me that it can't get any worse. I began to get more exposed to things than running away from conflict. And to stand for myself more.

There has to be a start. If you have time, I recommend reading on the enneagram. It is for me far better than going to shrinks for a start. It is a nice process of getting to know yourself and your fears. Then you will understand more about yourself and where you need to expose yourself to develop. People can stay all their life in one place and still be a little petulant child after the years because they still don't know themselves. Will yourself to be better.