LazarusRy is a true warrior and inspiration. He gave great advice. Look up vagal exercises on Youtube to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. It is responsible for calming you down, basically the opposite of adrenaline. It can release trauma as well.
My 2 cents on what else helps me>
TL;DR > Define your values and stick by them No Matter What Happens. Rediscover your purpose. Find a friend to relate to.
Some of your symptoms might be due to physical or chemical changes in the brain and body so they may not be rational. So it’s important to develop a core set of values to live by that you follow regardless of your emotional state. This will be up to you to define or you can have religion guide you. One value that helps me is to accept there will be things I can’t control. I believe those of us who took hair loss medication did so out of an unhealthy urge to control what we should have accepted. Our pathological desire for control brought many of us here. Unfortunately this need for control makes PFS that much more unbearable because we have lost control of things we hold most dear and have no solution. PFS is teaching us a lesson on the importance of embracing change. And it does so in the most brutal way, by robbing us of who we were. People who lose limbs, get severely ill, experience death in the family all get taught this lesson. But it’s up to us to learn it and let go of our ego that mistakenly makes us believe we can play God. This is an ongoing process and the toughest to do. You probably know all this but it’s always good to hear it again.
Another value I follow is to alway help others because I could be in anyone else’s position someday and vice versa. We are all one and should strive to bring peace to each other. Doing volunteer work or even just lending a sympathetic ear can be a good start with this. We are in terrible shape but there’s always someone we can help. It is my purpose. Finding your purpose will help immensely because PFS makes us feel we have none but that’s not true. No matter what happens, if it’s your true purpose, you will stick to it and it will guide you through anything. My family is something else that gives me motivation to fight on and spare them further grief. Suicide is thus no longer an option for me and I have no choice but to figure out a way to live as best I can. Removing suicide as an option was freeing. It’s not a one time thing either. It must be reaffirmed every day.
Not being understood is tough. Humans need this. PFS is rare making it hard to find people we can relate to. And when those closest to us can’t understand what we go through, it’s just another dagger in the heart. It makes us feel isolated and alone. I imagine it’s how soldiers feel when they return from war. Finding a good friend to talk to has helped me. He doesn’t have PFS but is grieving the future he envisioned that no longer is attainable. Talking things out together has been really powerful. That connection and understanding is another key to my mental health apart from my values. So it doesn’t have to be someone with PFS who you connect with. Although I know finding good people you connect with is hard.
I could go on but this is already too long lol but hope it helps. We will have bad days like everyone else. Try to survive the downs and enjoy the good days, few as they may be.
