Flashbacks Of Things Which Never Happened

[Binkie]

Just wondered if anyone here has ever experienced flashbacks of things which HAVEN'T happened - like hitting you out of the blue as a full-on flashback but taking you to an event which never took place? They are not repressed memories. One which springs to mind is seeing a member of my family be hit and killed by a train - but they are alive and well.

I get flashbacks of events which HAVE happened (a lot, especially recently) and this (the ones which have never happened) isn't a phenomenon I've experienced recently but I remember telling my psychiatrist about it at least twice in the past.

Sorry if I didn't describe that very well. I don't know how to word it.

 

[illusionist]

I've had this....but more a case of wishful thinking.

 

[joeylittle]

@Binkie - I think clinically, what you describe would be classed as intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts can be quite overwhelming, even fully visual, enormously distressing, and don't need to be connected to anything that has actually happened.

They are common to anxiety and trauma disorders, mood disorders, and are a hallmark of OCD, when they are constant enough.

Intrusive thoughts can seem like a misnomer - but the 'thoughts' can be vivid enough to feel like experiences.

I suppose the thing to try and notice would be - do you have any idea what triggers them?

 

[EmmaOwl]

Just wondered if anyone here has ever experienced flashbacks of things which HAVEN'T happened - like hit...

Is it possible these are scenarios that you dreamt? Nightmares? Maybe you don't consciously remember your dreams, but they are coming out in this other way?

Just putting an idea out there, from a layperson as I am not a medical professional. I really don't know. I don't think I've ever experienced such a thing. I am all too familiar with recovered memory issues, but I see that's not helpful to you here. :(

Were you aware that they are "fictional" while they are happening, or do you think they are true? i.e. Do you truly do believe these things have happened, and you have to figure it out? Or do you realize they are not "real" while they are happening? Like a nightmare but awake.

That makes me think of one more question - were you very sleep-deprived? If you don't get enough restful sleep, this phenomenon may be a waking nightmare - your brain trying to work things out, things that normally would be experienced during different stages of sleep. The brain can be sneaky that way.

Whatever it is, it sounds like an absolutely dreadful experience. I wish you luck in working this out!

 

[Deleted member 35429]

I think these are intrusive thoughts and not flashbacks. But yes, I've certainly have vivid disturbing recollections. I always assumed I am just overly disturbed from my history of trauma.

When I'm not living in trauma mode intrusive thoughts never happen to me, but when I'm activated with PTSD I find myself having flashbacks and horrible intrusive thoughts, as well as negative sexual fanatasies. Very strange.

 

[artpop]

I have them to some degree- and due to my other problems, I always become worried if a flashback is a flashback or just this kind of deal-to me the difference is how vivid it is, and if it feels "solid". Intrusive thoughts always feel like a smoke screen to me-easy to pick apart and disperse. Actual flashbacks hit me full force, and seem like a brick wall. That could just be me though.
Regardless they can be scary as hell-I hope you're doing okay, OP.

 

[Binkie]

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies.

As I say, I haven't experienced this since last year. I know they are false 'memories' and I know they have never happened, but whilst I am 'seeing' it happening, it looks, sounds and feels real. It's only when I come out of the 'flashback' that I think 'shit, no, that didn't happen and the person(s) involved are fine).

I've experienced four separate traumas and I get genuine flashbacks of those which hit me out of absolutely nowhere as if I'm reliving the events again and am 'there in the moment'. The flashbacks which I used to experience are not 'intrusive thoughts' - I get a lot of intrusive thoughts and I am able to differentiate between that and flashbacks.

I don't know. I probably haven't explained it very well. It hasn't happened for a while and I just hope it never happens again.

 

[Suzetig]

I've recently had a flashback to a dream I had of something that I know didn't happen but felt very real. I actually didn't remember the dream until I had the flashback, if you know what I mean. It's hired bike but my T thinks it's my mind trying to put the pieces together and coming up with odd bits of memories.

 

[EmmaOwl]

I've recently had a flashback to a dream I had of something that I know didn't happen but felt very real. I actually didn't remember the dream until I had the flashback, if you know what I mean.

I know what you mean. It sounds incredibly unsettling and I'm sorry :( It sounds like it is something new to you, Suze? Nightmares, and flashbacks, both are bad enough, without them combining! Poor @Suzetig, wish I could help.

Despite that, after reading other responses to @Binkie the idea of intrusive thoughts might be more likely than a waking dream as I was thinking, or a situation such as @Suzetig speaks of. It does sound like an OCD-like symptom. (Especially if you are NOT severely sleep-deprived. I tend to assume those with PTSD are generally not the most well-rested of individuals, but I realize that is not always the case.)

It hasn't happened for a while and I just hope it never happens again.

I hope so too!

 

[Friday]

If it didn't happen, there's no "back" to flash to. So it's not a flashback. It's not a memory. A fear can be vivid. Imagination can be vivid. Nightmares can be vivid. But there is no reliving something that hasn't happened. An intrusive thought doesn't have to be dialogue. It can be a fully formed scene, complete with the emotions that would be true if that scene took place. Most new parents get them. Most people in grief get them. Some disorders come along with them. Poets, writers, and inventors tend to live them; the ability to see with the minds eye that which hasn't happened. The mind is an infinitely powerful place. Full of wonders and terrors.

 

[joeylittle]

I get a lot of intrusive thoughts and I am able to differentiate between that and flashbacks.

I had much the same sense of what an intrusive thought was, til I went and did some more reading.

Usually, I would think of intrusive thoughts as happening while I was still basically present - so, not being overtaken by something.

But, turns out intrusive thoughts can be just as hugely all-consuming and disorienting as what any one of us might call a flashback.

And since yours are related to future, not past - that's pretty much what they'd be.

"Intrusive thoughts" is (also)!the terminology for what certain kinds of OCD sufferers face when projecting the disasters that can befall if they don't do their rituals properly. Knowing that helped me understand that there's a broader spectrum of what one might call 'intrusive thoughts'.

 

[EmmaOwl]

If it didn't happen, there's no "back" to flash to. So it's not a flashback. It's not a memory. A fear c...

Friday, I often find myself on the same page as you, but in this, I respectfully disagree. It is possible to flash back to the memory of having a nightmare. Memories of nightmares can be absolutely terrifying!

It is semantics but I think this is a valid and somewhat useful way to describe such an experience. - perhaps it does not apply in this particular case, but that's another matter.

As always.... In My Humble Opinion!