Dealing With Totally Out Of The Blue Flashbacks

[Cool Cat]

I'm sure this has been asked before, will be asked again, but hey, anyhow.

I, usually am triggered by obvious things. Scenes of bullying remind me of bullying. Scenes of self-harm remind me of self-harm. And this would be the case 90% of the time, and they are easy things to deal with. Self harm problem? don't go somewhere where you know you'll see SH images etc etc.

Now, a few months ago I remember getting one of my worst flashbacks ever by just opening a window, another (earlier that day) from looking at my new shoes.

Yesterday, I was reading an article. I read the word 'babysitter', and I was gone. I managed to pull back then I read a short story about starting elementary school. Again, totally transported back. And doubled with the memories from earlier.

I was at odds of what to do. I was almost in my internal monologue recounting it against my will as if it was a therapy session, without a therapist. I was also in another way, just experiencing the memories which trigger other memories which trigger other memories whether I liked it or not. Grounding did very little.

These kinda triggers, that really cannot be avoided because they are so random, the 10%. How....

 

[Tinyflame]

Hi @Cool Cat , this is what I find for myself, not sure if it's helpful. (Bear with me if I clarify with some discrimination of the definitions). :)

If it's a flashback proper it usually occurs without warning & I usually don't know what triggered it, though I may figure it out eventually (once it took months). One time I reached into a cooler for milk & had one, can only guess to this day perhaps it was body posture & temperature, who knows? :( Strange thing was, it was a FB of a much later trauma, not the ptsd-precipitating one. The one commonality I find is that there is a certain type of 'tiredness' I feel before it. The great news is if you figure out the trigger it feels great! :tup: :) Stuff makes more sense. I try to deal with them proactively, talk myself down & be prepared to tell the trigger to "F Off" the next time!

Triggers are different to me, & inevitable, I don't lose my hearing or 'watch' (see) anything in my head. They are a bit like 'flashes' though, & my body reacts also. But they can't be avoided, only dealt with, & hopefully desensitized or viewed differently. But they are more trauma specific, sometimes even kind of ridiculous but nonetheless precipitate a reaction. I think on some occasions they can become eradicated by experiencing a different (the opposite) connotation to them over & over & over. (And repeating different thought processes about them, that challenge them, & that highlight the different 'being in the present vs the past' reality.)

Emotional Flashbacks are the most challenging for me to identify, make sense of & try to stop & dismantle them to understand them & not react as strongly again.

Stressors increase my stress but aren't triggers to the trauma, but may make me more susceptible to being reactive.

'Reminders' (to me) are just that, & if I focus on them it increases intrusive thoughts. Other than understanding what I can, I am practicing trying to counter such thoughts with positive ones (wholly unrelated). Because beyond the fact that I don't want to accelerate neural pathways to just the horrible stuff, I also have 'just today' in terms of thoughts & quality of life & I think it's my responsibility to at least choose what I think when I can (despite the plethora of times I can't). However, sometimes even choosing that brings up other fears, so it's a work in progress.. I am trying. I am also trying to trust what other (good) people say, & to take hope in their hope (if that makes sense? :confused: :( )

Best wishes to you.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

I'm not sure how much of out of random triggers, but there are some that can hardly be avoided in general for me :(

I get stressed when I hear someone sniffing, and there are other similar.

Thought a bit of random ones... Well, sometimes I once or twice reacted strongly to a car passing by, also lately been realizing that certain things I experience are flashbacks, couldn't indentify visual ones well before.

Sometimes randomly when going somewhere, or hen faced with a certain scene, I get a flashback that lasts 2-3 seconds and leaves me feeling wierd.