Intrusive Memories Not Related To Trauma

[Sakab]

Having to spend time with my family over the Christmas and the holidays have made things a litte worse... I keep getting these intrusive memories that seem like flashbacks but they're not related to my trauma. I have PTSD from childhood trauma so I think it was quite a few experiences that led to it. The memories I'm getting though often pop into in my mind at random moments during the day and it has happened so often, I'm worried I won't be able to cope with it. I wouldn't say that the memories are of anything horrible, just maybe of hurtful things people have said or done to me or incidents where I interpret that people can't be trusted. Is this normal? What can I do to cope?

 

[Silev]

I get intrusive memories of all kinds of stuff... Good, bad, and everything in between. I say rather frequently that my brain has a time machine, and won't share! I would suspect most do? But since good memories aren't usually something that bother most people, one doesn't necessarily hear about them.

 

[Aledo]

Yeah, that's been happening to me recently. It's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago, but it sucks - to say the least. I had kind of forgotten how sensitive I was as a child, and I had all of these random triggers when I got older - which didn't make sense to me once I started dealing with my childhood abuse more thoroughly. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks - I was just sensitive, from about the age of 3/4. I could feel everyone's pain, and I was very, very aware of what caused pain. And I was also very aware of "bad" people - I could sense it very strongly. This caused a lot of really random triggers for me.

 

[Ege]

Ah, Aledo is me!

 

[Coni]

Ah, Aledo and Ege. And if it doesn't work this time then I'm just giving up. :rolleyes:

 

[Poridi]

It randomizes in order to keep things anonymous. If you want to have a common ID, just tag the bottom of the post. Like OP (original poster, if it's your question), or Aledo/Ege, or your forum nickname.

 

[Lubu]

Me, too. I had positive emotion flashbacks last night of something kind/nice someone said, a compliment. But like other flashbacks of memory, it bowled me over and made me feel like crying.

I think it is the traumatized inner child part that experienced the "awe" of the compliment, so that is the reason it flashbacks. Maybe the insignificant but "sensitive" details flashbacking are memories of the inner child, not integrated with your adult self. You don't have to have DID to have a need for integration. Almost everyone would benefit from some kind of integration and healing of things they haven't been able to cope with or look at for a long time, unresolved moments.