topic Intense flashbacks in PTSD and trauma

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 06:50:34 GMT

Does anyone else experience intense flashbacks .

Dissosociation or both having a really hard time mentally and emotionally drained from all this 😞

Intense flashbacks

Croix — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 10:13:12 GMT

Dear Apricit@@123~

I've read your other threads in which you mention both flashbacks and intense anxiety taking a new brand of medication.

In my own case flashbacks occurred as a result of various episodes related to my work, and have faded over time with therapy and meds. On looking back they may well have been more frequent or intense when I was stressed, as you are now. I had at that time dissociative episodes too, feeling quite separated from myself.

Although I realise that becsue you take medication you are under some type of treatment do you think it is worthwhile talking to your medical personnel about these symptoms and see what they say? I did not start to improve until i got competent treatment.

As for hte reaction when taking those new tablets, I'm not sure that giving you the logical answer about the composition being hte same will be htat much help.

Perhaps instead there are other ways of approaching this. For a start is there someone who can keep you company while you take the meds and be with you for a bit afterwards? Not only can their presence be reassuring but also talk may be distracting and help take your mind away from your fears.

If this is not practical then perhaps you can use a free app such as I use, called Smiling Mind. This takes practice but is worth it as it allows you to break the chain of unwanted thoughts and concentrate on something else entirely. It leaves me in a clam state even if I was highly anxious before I started

https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app

It has a great many different exercises and caters for just about everyone -including me, and I've a very poor attention span at times.

Please let us know how you get on

Croix

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 10:33:16 GMT

Thanks for your reply

I spoken to medical professionals about this and they say it's all anxiety symtoms and normal and I'm slowly overcoming the fear just takes time

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 10:38:15 GMT

It's like my brain doesnt want to think logical and it really sucks

Intense flashbacks

Croix — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 11:24:16 GMT

Dear Apricit@@123~

I'm glad you have spoken to your doctors, at least logically you have been told it's OK and your symptoms will diminish over time.

I'd agree that logic is not that effective at times, the brain does not respond to it. That's exactly how I was and is why I suggested a couple of things to try that might ease things for you until you get used to the idea of the new meds.

As I found things do get better, and in the meantime anything that helps you cope can be a blessing

Croix

Intense flashbacks

geoff — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 13:46:51 GMT

Hello Apricit@@, when we are struggling so much, our brain is just like a maze, scrambled and not knowing which direction we should take, and sometimes we take the wrong path to understanding why we choose that particular one and may hit another brick wall.

Our brain is confused and we can only learn how to rectify this in small portions.

Take it slowly and bit by bit.

Geoff.

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 10:29:45 GMT

I been having flashbacks but I get a couple of days break now which is good

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 09:52:26 GMT

My flashbacks still havent subsided and I'm living my life in fear I hate this

Intense flashbacks

Sophie_M — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 10:15:39 GMT

Hi Apricit@@123

Thank you for posting and sharing your experience again. We are really sorry to hear that you are having these ongoing flashbacks and for the way in which this leaves you feeling right now.

We encourae you to reach out to your GP or health professional to let them know that your flashbacks are not subsiding; it can be exhausting to have to manage these only to feel there is little improvement. In addition to posting in the forums, we also invite you to call or chat to one of our trained mental health professionals who will also be able to listen and offer care; it’s completely confidential and available 24/7:

To call us, contact 1300 22 4636
To use webchat, Click Here

Thank you again for joining this community, we hope that you can join other conversations that resonate with you and read about other users and their journey to better mental health.

Kind regards,

Sophie M

Intense flashbacks

Leisa68 — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 04:16:15 GMT

Hi Aprcit@@123

I am just writing this to let you know that I have just come through an intense period of flashbacks and am now mostly well. I am writing this to let you know there is an end. The advice on here is sound and helped me come through it all. I also did everything the Psychologist and Psychiatrist told me to do, I was desperate for them to finish.

There is a way out. I hope you find it too.

Leisa68

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 06:54:08 GMT

I sure hope so hard to live with these sensations daily 😞 how long did you have yours for did they last all day sometimes?

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 08:26:38 GMT

I have spoke to mentla health and lifeline and they only give me strategies to cope, I see a therpist.

I just try to get through the day the best way I know how and I dont have a gp so I have to brave it out.

Intense flashbacks

Leisa68 — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 07:20:47 GMT

Hi Apricit@@123,

Yes, sometimes they did last all day. I was a mess. However, I have got out and things are much smoother. I hope you can find that promptly too.

Leisa68

Intense flashbacks

Bob_22 — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 11:19:15 GMT

Hi Apricit@@122

Sorry to read about your continued struggle with anxiety and flashbacks over the last few months. Fortunately I've not experiences any flashbacks or trauma based anxiety but I have experienced panic attacks in response to certain situations. Generally I found, with anxiety based symptoms (I struggled with shallow breathing and intrusive thoughts) that having ready access to a health professional is quite helpful. I know you mentioned that you don't have a GP but I might recommend that you find one which you can connect with and discuss some of the symptoms you're having. There is a directory here under Get support > Find a professional, but I found my GP luckily through word of mouth.

I found having a GP has been helpful in terms of having someone I can access quite readily in case symptoms get out of hand (as opposed to waiting for your therapist appointments). Of course this doesn't mean you shouldn't access the lines you mentioned in a crisis situation, but for me, having someone like a GP I can talk to when physical symptoms get out of hand is reassuring and helped me view things (such as intrusive thoughts) objectively. Hope this can h elp.

Bob 🙂

Intense flashbacks

Eagle Ray — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 02:34:13 GMT

Hi Apricit@@123,

I have experienced flashbacks, mostly in terms of physiological response but not as much visually (as I know some people get them). My body keeps re-enacting a mixture of fight-or-flight and freeze responses. I’ve realised that this is how my body is actually trying to protect me even when the original trauma is no longer there.

Understanding that my body is trying to protect me has actually in turn helped my body know that it can let go a bit. In late 2020 and early 2021 I was in a flashback state 24/7. But that has diminished over time. I’m now down to no more than 1-2 hours a day where trauma revisits me in this way.

I’ve found interactions with kind people are one thing that helps to break up the flashback cycle. Those people don’t usually know anything about me experiencing flashbacks, but it is something to do with positive social engagement that helps my body know it is safe. I also find spending time in nature and with animals helps me.

You may have similar or different things that help you, but I think it comes down to the part of the body/brain/nervous system that still thinks it’s perceiving danger knowing that it isn’t. I understand this is hard though, as getting flashbacks too I know they are involuntary and just come upon you.

But you can definitely improve a lot. I feel I’m almost rid of flashbacks now but will possibly still get them from time to time going forwards. But I want you to know it can get better and that it’s possible to feel safe.

One practical thing that can help that I learned about is chanting a low “vooo” sound from your gut and resonating through your whole body. It might sound a bit weird, but it’s like a massage to the body internally that lets it know it’s safe. I’ve found this can be calming and grounding when I’m getting caught in a flashback.

Another thing can be just allowing myself to come back to being present in the space I’m in through my senses. Like right now if I pay attention I can hear the fridge humming and the wind in the trees outside. I can hear a few different bird calls. Through the glass sliding door I am noticing different shades of green on the plants outside and some orange, yellow, lilac and pink flowers. Sometimes just coming back to your senses and naming what you can see, feel, hear, smell and touch can bring you back to the present moment and out of a flashback.

I hope that helps. Take care.

Intense flashbacks

Apricit123 — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:02:18 GMT

Thankyou that is very helpful how long did you have yours if you dont mind me asking ?

Intense flashbacks

Eagle Ray — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 13:16:10 GMT

I’m glad that was helpful. The last period of flashbacks were linked to a specific traumatic event. They were very bad for about 2 and a half months, basically the physiology of the trauma repeating continuously in my body. I then found someone who practises a modality called TRE (Trauma Releasing Exercises) which is used for people with PTSD and he combined this with another modality called BWRT (Brain Working Recursive Therapy). Basically this work got my body out of the repeated trauma response. I think it’s taken about a year since then for my body to really ease the flashbacks, but the worst of it went with those therapy approaches back in March last year.

But in mentioning those therapies I’m not necessarily advocating them as I know different things work for different people. I was lucky the guy I worked with was very compassionate and intuitive. I still have some complex trauma that began from early childhood that is a bit harder to treat because it’s so embedded. Also, the above therapies can be quite effective for single incident PTSD but may not always be as successful for complex PTSD where there are multiple incidents of trauma occurring over a period of time, so I’m still working on that stuff.

The strategies I mentioned for coming out of a flashback come from the work of a guy named Peter Levine who developed a method call Somatic Experiencing. I’ve read a couple of his books. It’s about approaching the trauma through the body but in a gentle, gradual way so as not to overwhelm the whole nervous system.

I’ve found that by working in this gentle way with the body it’s possible to learn to self-soothe when experiencing flashbacks. Firstly realising that your body is just trying to protect you, and then observing with curiosity what it is actually doing. Apparently when the curiosity part of the brain engages it disengages the trauma part, that the two can’t operate at the same time.

I think the release of trauma is a gradual process but it can happen. Today I had a Bowen therapy appointment (something else that really helps me). The therapist is very kind so just being with a good person like that is healing. Then I drove to the ocean to watch the sunset. Then I made up my own wordless songs on the way home in the car which was therapeutic. So all those small things were self-care that further helped trauma stuff release from my body. I think it’s just one step at a time and we all have the innate potential to heal. I’m sure you can too 🤗