49 around, and doing other activities are good ways of reducing negative reactions to
internal thoughts, feelings, or perceptions. From the analysis above we can see Gayle’s optimism and smartness in trying to find support and help from others.
4.4.2 Gayle’s negative coping actions
According to Ruzek in his article Coping with PTSD and Recommended Lifestyle Changes for PTSD Patients, negative coping actions help the sufferers to
reduce distress immediately and in a permanent way. These actions may be immediately effective but later these can cause sufferers to become addicted.
Gayle also uses two negative ways in coping with PTSD. Gayle uses drugs to solve her problems and reduces contact with the outside world; she avoids many
situations that cause her to feel afraid.
4.4.2.1 Using drugs to end her life
Gayle’s thought of dying has always been in her mind. She always blames herself for her mother’s death. She remembers that she could not help her mother
when her father attacks her mother brutally. She feels so worthless that she believes she should be dead. So she decides to save some pocket money to buy a
tub of paracetamol, plus two more packets each containing fifty pills Sanders 175. Then she returns to the psychiatric unit and plans to take them one night.
She hopes that she will fall asleep and die. Two days later I put my plan into action. I waited until everyone had gone
to bed and then began swallowing the paracetamol. It was hard getting so many pills down. They tasted disgusting and stuck in my throat. But I
managed to take over sixty of them before I felt satisfied that I’d had enough and climbed into bed Sanders 175.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
50 So Gayle tries to end her life by taking sixty pills. It makes her feel sick
physically, but by doing that she feels satisfied and thinks that she is able to forget her bad memories and her guilt about her mother. Gayle often attempts suicide.
She tries to end her life using drugs three times, but the suicide attempts always fail because when she does this action, she always remembers the persons for
whom she cares, for example Chris, the social worker who always helps her to find a foster family, and then Annie, a member of the administration in the
psychiatric unit who always gives Gayle hug. Gayle feels that she will hurt these persons if she does the suicide. According to Ruzek in his article Coping with
PTSD and Recommended Lifestyle Changes for PTSD Patients, the use of alcohol or drugs may help wash away bad memories, increase social confidence, or cause
sleep. However it causes more problems, for example, creating dependence on alcohol, causing problems in relationship with family and friends, and sometimes
placing a sufferer at risk of suicide, violence, or accidents.
4.4.2.2 Isolating from others
