Eye Movement Before Flashback

[Ally2]

I've started to notice (and my T has also pointed out) that my eyes start to dart rapidly side to side over and over bef...

I didn't get that but I always got a kind of aura as they say prior to a vivid flashback. It composed of physical symptoms such as I felt like I was going to lose control of my bowels and my stomach would drop ( felt that way), things would feel unreal then the flashback would happen. A clinical psychologist confirmed that often people experience something similar - maybe not the exact physical manifestations of a pre-flashback but regular signs that take place just before one.

 

[Deleted member 40217]

I've started to notice (and my T has also pointed out) that my eyes start to dart rapidly side to side over and over bef...

Mine do too! My T said I start to blink rapidly then start scanning side to side like our brain is starting to short out

 

[Ashby]

Mine do too! My T said I start to blink rapidly then start scanning side to side like our brain...

Yes! I blink really rapidly as well -that is also have been told I do, often before my eyes start scanning. Wow good to know I'm not the only one.

 

[MrMoonlight]

I'd like to know more about this.

When I had my evaluation with my Psychiatrist there was a point where his face seemed to "vibrate" enough to blur his face.

Days later I was going over the appointment in my mind and thought my eyes must have been shaking very fast and uncontrollably to make an object, for a few moments, absolutely "blurred". It happened at a time of great stress during the evaluation.

It's frightening and I worry my first therapy appointment in the middle of next month will trigger similar events.

 

[shimmerz]

Eyes are a really important indicator imo when it comes to trauma, so this doesn't surprise me at all and was a good thing for your T to tell you about. My eyes used to lock in different positions when I froze up. Unfortunately they used to do all sorts of funky things which used to freak people out terribly. I do believe it can be part of the dissociative process.

EFT, EMDR, Brainspotting, (I believe), NLP all take very seriously the eyes when helping with trauma. I work with my eyes a ton at this point when I start to dissociate. It has helped me tremendously.

 

[MrMoonlight]

I just returned from my Psychiatrist with a possible answer to my eye blurring event. He said it was likely due to something called Somatization. Maybe this could be useful to the thread author and others.

Survivors of trauma are particularly susceptible to somatization

Somatoform disorders are differentiated from factitious disorders because people with somatoform disorders are not consciously faking their symptoms; rather, psychiatric states cause physical distress.

The DSM recognizes the following somatoform disorders: Conversion disorder: The loss of bodily functioning such as sight or hearing due to psychological distress

The above taken from : www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/somatization

 

[SpiritFree]

I've started to notice (and my T has also pointed out) that my eyes start to dart rapidly side to side over and over bef...

Same here but it happen at work during lunch time. My coworker asked me if I was ok. I told her yes & why. She stated that my eyes were moving rapidly side by side. I did not notice that but I did not realize I was disassociating. nor did I know what disassociating was until later when I was diagnosed.

It was on this new job I started showing symptoms of Disassociate. My previous jobs were stressful but I did not experience any of the symptoms until I got this new job only to be fired in 2 months later due to not being a fit for the job. I knew it was due to the symptoms like memory problems, feel like floating thru my tasks, unable to relay what was said to me, feeling loss returning to my cubicle & feeling as if I was experiencing an out of body as I try to return to my cubicle thru a maze of cubicles & floors.

So no your not alone when it comes to eye movement.