Coping Tips • Take things one day at a time
• Set simple goals • Develop a routine • Learn to accept responsibility for your physical, emotional, and mental healing • Allow others to help you as you learn • Follow the instructions of your doctors and therapists • Attend regularly scheduled appointments for therapies and follow-up • Keep the lines of communication open between friends and family • Acknowledge your feelings by sharing them with people you trust • Consider writing your thoughts and feelings in a journal • Pursue the professional help of a mental health provider if your feelings of sadness, anxiety, and/or anger persist What does it mean to heal from the mental, emotional, and physical pain caused by a substance impaired driving crash? It means continuing to seek medical treatment until you are as pain-free and mobile as possible. It means coming to grips with new limitations. And finally, it means doing the perfectly
ordinary things you did before the crash such as: • Feeling good when something positive happens • Feeling hopeful about your future • Giving attention and energy to everyday life • Laughing and being cheerful • Feeling at peace with yourself • Finding ways to socialize with others These things may not be achieved completely, depending on the seriousness of your injuries, but they can be achieved to a large extent. None of it will be easy or quick. Healing takes patience and hard work. But you owe it to yourself, and to those who need
You owe it to yourself to recover as much as possible.
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