More specifically, how to respond calmly in high stress situations? (TLDR)
For context: I’m someone that when things go wrong, I respond quickly. Sometimes this is good, but I get hypervigilent. I do have PTSD but even in unrelated/non-trigger situations I tend to react TOO quickly and I get stressed way too quickly.
A time when it’s good:
This summer I saw someone that was near fatally injured in the head on the side of the street; while I was calling the cops I saw this homeless girl across the street who saw everything and led the police to their only witness (because me and my friends only saw the aftermath). We saved the guys life and gave them an idea of what might have happened to him.
I’m proud of the way I was able to respond and assess solutions at that time.
However, a time when it’s bad: when I was what my boyfriends house, his mother started noticing that their puppy was breathing loudly. Initially I was attempting to reassure her, but then she started breathing heavier and started snoring very loudly. Her stomach also seemed a bit swollen.
Because she seemed as though this was unusual, I became alerted and started trying to wake up the dog. No response. Breathing was still heavy.
Out of precaution I called the vet, and based on what they told me they said to come to emergency right away. She didn’t even want to open the case on the phone, she said to call on our way.
At the door, I had the dog in my arms and ready to go, I put her down to see if she’d walk and she fell right back to sleep. We were about to leave, but the father was a little hesitant and took the dog away outside.
I was so panicked that we had to act early that I was insistent something was wrong. My boyfriend got mad and me and told me I was over reacting. (Spoiler: I was)
Once outside, the dog started walking and acting normal again.
Although I think if there was something wrong, my reaction would have been very good. The problem is, I wasn’t able to calm myself down to see everything was okay and it could have been a waste of money, time and it was already a waste of mental energy.
I know this isn’t a mental health subreddit and I mention PTSD, but I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to hone in on the instinct of finding solutions, without jumping to extreme conclusions and reacting emotionally out of fear.
This is something that affects me in many situations, this was only one example.