Can You Stop Flashbacks By Not Allowing Yourself To Think ABout Them?

[Tiger Kitten]

Sometimes I can pull myself out of a flashback. When one starts happening if I can pull myself back into the present with grounding techniques or whatever coping method I am trying or something to distract my brain enough to turn the channel I can put it off for a little while until I can get somewhere safe. Sometimes talking with someone I trust is enough to pull me out of one. It's not always a good thing to allow flashbacks to run their course for instance: While driving or when I am alone in a crowd sometimes it is necessary to put them off for a bit.

The key for me is to interrupt the flashback somehow. Sometimes I try to think of lyrics to a song or do some type of math. Other times I pinch myself. One time when I was in a particularly bad situation and could not afford to lose reality I dislocated my shoulder so the pain interrupted the flashback (my shoulder dislocates pretty easily although putting it back into place is very painful and I really really really do not suggest it, but it was an extreme situation where I would have been very negatively effected if I would have lost reality for any length of time). I have read that taking a chunk of ice and holding it tightly in one hand helps with flashbacks as well. I have not tried that yet though, because I tend to feel really cold in the one that happens most often and I'm afraid it will intensify that flashback if I have a real cold sensation.

It takes a lot of work and will power to be able to control flashbacks even a little bit. It is a lot less tiring for me to just let them run their course. Sometimes all the coping techniques I can come up with only buy me a few minutes to get somewhere safe/private before they overwhelm me.

I have severe flashbacks fairly often. I usually do let them run their course, but sometimes I do need to buy time to get away or a break from the intensity of them to process them in a safe (for me) manner.

Tiger

 

[Jade-]

Thanks Tiger Kitten. I think it's hard to interrupt them once they start. I wish I could prevent them in the first place.

You purposely dislocated your shoulder to stop a flashback? That seems pretty extreme. Sorry yours are so bad that you needed to do that.

 

[Tiger Kitten]

It wasn't the flashback that was so bad that I had to dislocate my shoulder to stop it. It was the situation I was in that once again sprang up from my poor decision making skills that necessitated the extreme measure to keep myself in reality. Usually the best I can manage is to hold on to what is real and let the flashback play in the background like some demonic television set that I lost the remote to.

Preventing flashbacks for me is much harder then controlling them to an extent. I can only speak from my own experience, but figuring out all my triggers and exposing myself to them repeatedly is quite exhausting. To find the connections and deal with each particular trauma has been my main focus for years. I sort of imagine that process as being like a file clerk where I have to match up the emotional file with the event file with the fact file. Each matched up file has to be put in it's correct place for it to be dealt with. After repeatedly exposing myself to the trigger in a controlled environment I can generally match the stuff up enough to let my brain consider it a non issue for a while. When I am doing fairly well I can then re-examine it and match it up further and actually deal with it. There are a few triggers that I cannot repeatedly expose myself to in a controlled manner that throw me into a flashback so I had to learn what I needed to do to stop them when they are inconvenient or dangerous.

Sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm having a little trouble today organizing my thoughts into words.

Tiger

 

[Jade-]

That made sense. Thanks for sharing it . I haven't yet learned how to prevent or control flashbacks. I haven't even figured out many triggers yet.

It sounds like you're doing a good job and getting a good handle on what messes with your head.

 

[blackpearl]

Hi Jadebear,

I think it depends on what kind of memory it is. I mean, if it's just a memory you carry daily and get reminded of it in smaller doses or if it's a instant reaction to something.

For example, for me it's difference between sad moments i remember from my childhood and the fire accident. I can distract my self more easily when I come to think about bullying and other unjust things, actually it doesn't bother me much at all anymore nowadays. But when I for example hear the firefighters drive by I get different and have to work on it. Those times I've learned to do something that needs more physic effort.

So it varies a lot depending to what kind of memory it is, who you are as person and maybe even your daily mood. Just keep trying and I'm sure you will find Your way to deal with it.

 

[blackpearl]

"Going with it" is the opposite of fighting it...

I agree also. This is called exposing and some things are necessary to experience until it doesn't put you in constant stress for coming 5-10 years. By welcoming this kind of demons is kind of a must to be able to go on. It's hard, it's terrifying but it will benefit one in the long term. I have done the same thing all by my self because I think ones body knows that it's needed to be done once and for all.

As I wrote Jadebear, it depends much on what kind of memory and experience it is and so on.

 

[Frog]

I find not thinking about the flashback when I `don't want to go there, just leads to disassociation three times worse!
Not facing it by not thinking about it, is why I cannot connect with my emotions.. It is so horrible to go relive and revisit those traumatic events but by saying my therapy is to not think about it, I've learned I am just avoiding it.. This is counter-productive I have found, because I have been doing it for over a year now. I have suppressed memories that started resurfacing three years ago - I had completely blocked this out from childhood + then had fresh memories come up which filled in the blanks in a way that really frightened me to know the truth..
I have recently started having an emotional realisation that only certain kind, caring persons to come in to my life can help with this because they can help dispell my disgust at them knowing what I term: "the ugly truth"..
I have and continue to be horrified by anybody knowing what happened to me & facing this involves risking letting someone in to accept me for me, not for what happened to me, that ocurred because of events that were beyond my control and therefore not my fault.
Even though intellectually I know it wasn't my fault, still feel it was my fault + feel disgusted with myself..
Feel I've got to use this as a starting point for a conversation with someone who loves me.