Flashback without panic?

[Coffeegirl83]

Am I the only one who has flashbacks without panic attacks? Actually I think it is hard for my therapist to tell whether I have flashbacks because sometimes I just have trouble concentrating. The only thing is that I stop talking, but my flashbacks only last seconds anyway....

Who knows what I am talking about?

 

[grit]

I am very curious about this and thank you for posting.

I also do not have panic of any type and weirdly enough my biggest fear before therapy was I will disintegrate and panic and yet no panic even at my worst dissociation. For me my muscles softened so bad that I felt I could not get up and walk away-trapped, loss of concentration, procrastination but yet high on attachment and seeking support.

I am starting to think having panic is either different type of abuse like maybe one did not dissociate during a horrific and actually remembers every details consciously (but a confused way) or it is genetically based.

 

[Tinyflame]

I have panic but I would not relate it specifically to (visual) flashbacks, which are pretty rare for me. I don't think they last long, and I always am familiar with what I'm seeing, but with details I'd never think to remember (colors of things, clothing, etc). But most of all it's like being an observer, and most of all identifying what I was feeling at the time (which I would say is often horror, but I wouldn't say panic, though panic is something that could follow, if one felt there was anything they could do about it). Also grief, etc, 'negative' emotions, probably always fear, a sense or reality of helplessness. But the strangest thing is, I can easily name what I felt during the repeat, (the FB), and sometimes it's news to me (I didn't recall feeling that, even if I recalled the memory, without the same detail), and I swear I'll never forget, now that I know or have learned it. But like not writing down a dream, usually shortly after for the life of me I can't remember what I felt, or learned, and sometimes the details. I sometimes wonder if I feel like that in the moment and don't realize it, and then something triggers it, and I recall a memory wherein I felt the same ( that is, (emotional) state-dependent-recall)? Idk. I just know what I am feeling during it is based on what I guess I felt then, and panic isn't the first one I'd choose. Horror, shock, gruesomeness, sorrow, abandonment, more like that.

I'm not even sure what I felt, unless I'm having it? I remember seeing a person dying who didn't die's face, and I can recall the horror and the 'look', but I can't say what else I felt now.

I don't think I normally have the exact same visual FB twice, other than snapshots.

But, even today (irl), I thought in a flash second someone had died (fortunately they hadn't but it was a fair assessment), and it came to me OMG , also a sense of gruesomeness, what would follow, and mobilization to act, but not panic.

Not sure if that's helpful. :confused:

Welcome to you @Coffeegirl83 . Hope they abate. :hug:

ETA @grit , I'm sure dissociation likely could play a role, but in everyday life I think panic may be related to expectation of one's self to solve whatever problem is occurring, but knowing no way to do so. Amongst other things.

 

[Friday]

Most of my flashbacks don’t involve panic, which makes sense, since I wasn’t panicked at the time. A few do. But it’s rare. In point of fact, I’ve gone the opposite way far more often. Anxiety/Panic > kick into a flashback > come out cool as a cucumber. :cool: ...it’s AFTERWARDS, once everything is long over, that I fall into a shaking mess of hit by a truck delayed reactions. :eek: :mad: :arghh; :bag: Never relived those moments. Remember them just fine. But don’t relive ‘em.

Or are you saying you don’t experience panic attacks or anxiety attacks, at all? (As opposed to just not tied to when you’re reliving events).

 

[Skywatcher]

My recent f.b. Involved me being frozen, all of my muscles tense and clinched together in a defensive way. Heart racing. Could see and feel what was happening to my younger self. Once I got out of it via husband I calmed some. Then throughout my work day I would space out. People had to say my name 3 or 4 times in my haze. The visual and emotions came through me like waves the following couple of days. My anxiety was also at a constant suds of 8 for about 7 days. Therapy helped.

 

[HannaD]

Panic attacks make me feel kinda sick, then light headed, chest pressure, then racing heart. The first several times I was nearly convinced it was a heart attack.
Flashbacks are a bit different. While anxiety and fear may have been a factor it didn't lead to a panic attack. I panicked but, not the same as an attack. If that makes any sense.
Intrusive memories are like tiny flashbacks that can cause dissociation as our minds stop receiving input from the environment. So, I think, yes. There can be flashbacks without panic attacks and intrusive memories without flashbacks. Sorta like there can be anxiety and fear without a panic attack. They can go hand in hand but, not always.

 

[Coffeegirl83]

I am very curious about this and thank you for posting.

I also do not have panic of any type and weirdly enough my biggest fear before therapy was I will disintegrate and panic and yet no panic even at my worst dissociation. For me my muscles softened so bad that I felt I could not get up and walk away-trapped, loss of concentration, procrastination but yet high on attachment and seeking support.

I am starting to think having panic is either different type of abuse like maybe one did not dissociate during a horrific and actually remembers every details consciously (but a confused way) or it is genetically based.

Thank you everyone for your comments and for sharing your experiences! I wish you the best!