Walked away physically fine but mentally I'm falling apart — anyone else?
So about two weeks ago I was driving home on the interstate, totally normal evening, when a ladder fell off a work van a few cars ahead of me. By some miracle I missed it, but trying to avoid it I ended up spinning out across two lanes and into the shoulder barrier. Airbags didn't even deploy. A guy pulled over and helped me, cops came, I drove home.
Here's the thing — I am fine. Physically. A sore neck for a few days, a bruise on my forearm from the steering wheel. Doctors cleared me. My car had some damage but nothing totaled.
But I cannot get my head right.
I replay that moment — the ladder tumbling toward me, the sound of the barrier — on a loop. Every time I get in my car now I white-knuckle the wheel the second I hit the highway. I've been rerouting through surface streets just to avoid getting on the interstate at all. At night I can't wind down. I'll sit on the couch doom-scrolling until like 2am just because the moment I try to actually be still and quiet, my brain goes right back there.
I feel almost embarrassed talking about it because I wasn't even hurt. Like, who am I to be struggling when some people go through way worse? But it's affecting my sleep, my concentration at work, my mood with the people I love.
Has anyone else gone through something like this after an accident where you technically came out okay? How did you start to climb out of it? Did it just fade on its own, or did you have to actively do something about it?