First Field Dressing First Field Dressing - SBT | Page 5

This booklet is an important step in taking control of your life and your issues
Your booklet should be done a little at a time, take a few easy steps at the beginning and
always avoid making plans you may not find easy to achieve. You should constantly
explore and develop the programme as your wellbeing improves to encourage recovery.
This booklet can be used over the long term. It may take weeks or months to develop
fully, and it may take weeks or months to change. Always plan for what you think you
can achieve easily – don‟t take risks with failure. One hundred easy steps are
infinitely better than ten impossible leaps
Once you have begun to move through the booklet you will find yourself able to make
positive and forward thinking decisions about your life and care which may assist in
further treatment of your illness.
The “First Field Dressing” is divided into the following sections:
1.
The Braking Strategy
This will be our safety plan for when things are running a little too quickly, our stress
starts to climb a little too high or we just need to relax for a short time to re-gather our
thoughts. We have included some relaxation techniques to help you.
It is important that we have this in place right at the start so we know we have a means
of escape when things get a little too much.
2.
Understanding our Triggers
With our Braking Strategy in place we can look at the things that cause our triggers to
kick in. Identifying these is key to understanding the root problem and how to move
forward. We will also look at the early warning signs that show that the triggers are
affecting our well being and also when these triggers have caused problems to take
control of our lives.
3.
Controlling the Effects
By understanding how the triggers and memories are affecting us we can formulise
plans to help control the way our minds deal with these events.
4.
Future Plans
In this section we will look ahead at different ways to cope, people whom we can turn to
for support, and agencies who may be able to help.
Someone once said “Take small bites out of Elephant sandwiches”. Apart from the
crazy idea of eating an elephant between two slices of bread, I sort of see where he was
going. Take your illness as a very big sandwich. The only effective way to finish it
properly is to take small bites and take our time. Happy munching!!!