Need help recovering from flashbacks

[Smile]

Hi, have a trigger that is very well known to me and causes flashbacks a lot.

I needed to drive 1.5 hours away from home for something today and while there the trigger happened immediately followed a flashback

I am over the flashback… Obviously. The trigger is pretty much gone. But from past experience, I know that it can take me a few hours up to around 5 days to recover from a flashback.

How do you/I/we recover faster?

Hope you’re doing well… Or at least better than me :-)

 

[arfie]

personally, i go for taking the time to process my trigger events thoroughly. rushing the process tends to leave too many gaps in the healing and hurry the recurrences. taking extra time and care with the recovery leaves me stronger with far more clues on how to handle future reminders.

which brings me to a question i have wondered on my entire life.
why is it that nobody has the time to do it right the first time, but everybody has the time to do it over?

 

[Smile]

personally, i go for taking the time to process my trigger events thoroughly. rushing the process tends to leave too many gaps in the healing and hurry the recurrences. taking extra time and care with the recovery leaves me stronger with far more clues on how to handle future reminders.

which brings me to a question i have wondered on my entire life.
why is it that nobody has the time to do it right the first time, but everybody has the time to do it over?

How exactly would you process it?

why is it that nobody has the time to do it right the first time, but everybody has the time to do it over?

… hindsight is 20/20?

 

[arfie]

How exactly would you go about doing that?

i save the precision and mass-production packets for my engineering designs.
every single one of my healing breakthroughs has been unique. healing is not an exact science. i trust the healing mysteries to guide me.

 

[Smile]

Well, then, I guess my question is, does anybody have any step-by-step instructions from me on how to go about processing a flashback?

In this case, I am a very clear on what the trigger is and why. But that doesn’t help me recover quicker from the flashback fallout

 

[Charbella]

I don’t but the AI probably does, they’re good at step by step.

 

[Smile]

I don’t but the AI probably does, they’re good at step by step.

Thanks! I actually just saw the AI for the first time yesterday! It’s not a real person, right?

 

[Charbella]

Thanks! I actually just saw the AI for the first time yesterday! It’s not a real person, right?

No, just an amped up version of chat got but it does give good lists.

 

[Sideways]

does anybody have any step-by-step instructions from me on how to go about processing a flashback?

That’s Prolonged Exposure Therapy or EMDR. As in, the thing that a lot of us have to do with a trained therapist:)

 

[shimmerz]

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping) worked very well for me.

 

[Friday]

How do you/I/we recover faster?

Practice.

I know!!! Terrible answer. I hate it, too.

But in the 20 something years I’ve been doing this? It’s the best real/honest answer I can give. Because when I’m OUT of practice? It takes a whooooooole helluva lot longer to recover.

So it’s something of a good news / bad news thing.

Because, clearly, mo’betta’da’kine to not be having flashbacks for months & years. But? The one silver lining to be actively working on my triggers & stressors, flashbacks & panic attacks… is that they only take seconds to minutes to sort. Rather than hours and days.

Working with triggers

Triggers are part and parcel of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). If you have PTSD, you have triggers of some kind that cause a symptomatic reaction. The positive to triggers is that with time and effort you can remove them or lessen the symptomatic impact to non-distressing levels. Many...

www.myptsd.com

How to use triggers as a means to recovery?

To answer this question, lets first define a psychological trigger. A trigger is an activated traumatic memory due to your present environment via one or more of your five senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. A trigger will result in a symptomatic or behavioral response. To fully...

www.myptsd.com

Guidance for using a trauma diary for exposure therapy (cbt)

The following few posts are all about writing a diary, what will happen, how to decrease issues from exposure therapy work (writing about your trauma) and how to construct and maintain a self-help style where you benefit and not just chase your tail in circles...

www.myptsd.com

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My 2nd & 3rd best answers I’ll add on in a bit.

 

[Smile]

That’s Prolonged Exposure Therapy or EMDR. As in, the thing that a lot of us have to do with a trained therapist:)

Aka, what i’ve been trying to do for years but can’t find a therapist that takes my insurance and does it, etc. :-)