What exactly is a C-PTSD flashback, and how do I know if I'm having one?

[Jlol]

Hi all, recently diagnosed with C-PTSD here.

I've been reading a lot about it recently and one thing that keeps coming up is the term "flashbacks".

In terms of C-PTSD I'm not really sure what this means. There wasn't really an event to kick-off my C-PTSD, but really long exposure to stressful environments.

Sometimes - but not too often - I feel intense stress and fear for unknown reasons. The best I can describe it is the feeling of something evil lurking outside the house - like an angry mob out for blood, or a monster. I feel compelled to turn off all the lights and hide as if hoping this presence will pass me by unnoticed.

More frequently, I just feel a dread of sorts. EG dread of going home to my spouse or dread of going to work (in other words dread of returning to the environments that triggered the C-PTSD). This tends to bubble to the surface maybe once a day, and I feel deeply anxious and depressed though I am not thinking of any particular facet or past interaction.

Are these the flashbacks the literature I'm reading is referring to or are they something different?

 

[Friday]

Reliving. Instead of remembering.

Remembering can be worse, than reliving.

It’s not a pain scale thing, but a worlds colliding thing

 

[Sideways]

Cptsd and ptsd flashbacks are the same. They’re re-experiencing episodes, with at least one or more of your senses (visual, auditory, etc).

I feel intense stress and fear for unknown reasons.

This could be what is often referred to as an ‘emotional flashback’. So, re-experiencing the emotional state you had during a traumatic event. The literature on ‘emotional flashbacks’ is probably where I’d start.

 

[arfie]

good question, jlol. i first learned of the literary/hollywood "flashback," and still am not clear on the psycho flashback. the definition of "flashback" has gotten even muddier since ptsd became a household acronym. i like @Friday 's definition of reliving instead of remembering.

setting academic confusions aside, in my psychotherapy, i don't believe the names for the various symptoms matters much. when i guess wrong and/or the name changes due to linguistic evolutions, name changes are easy enough without compromising progress on the nuts and bolts of symptom management.

 

[JCD]

Hi all, recently diagnosed with C-PTSD here.

I've been reading a lot about it recently and one thing that keeps coming up is the term "flashbacks".

In terms of C-PTSD I'm not really sure what this means. There wasn't really an event to kick-off my C-PTSD, but really long exposure to stressful environments.

Sometimes - but not too often - I feel intense stress and fear for unknown reasons. The best I can describe it is the feeling of something evil lurking outside the house - like an angry mob out for blood, or a monster. I feel compelled to turn off all the lights and hide as if hoping this presence will pass me by unnoticed.

More frequently, I just feel a dread of sorts. EG dread of going home to my spouse or dread of going to work (in other words dread of returning to the environments that triggered the C-PTSD). This tends to bubble to the surface maybe once a day, and I feel deeply anxious and depressed though I am not thinking of any particular facet or past interaction.

Are these the flashbacks the literature I'm reading is referring to or are they something different?

I can’t recommend this highly enough… the one book that everyone in this forum should read… is the Pete Walker book on CPTSD. It explains literally everything and also how to heal.

 

[flappergirl35]

I wasn't sure about the meaning of "flashbacks" either until my therapist told me I was having one in his office. He was helping me with guided body scan meditation to help me with relaxation and as he was moving from my calves to my knees, I got extremely anxious and asked him to stop. I was unknowingly reliving my previous experience of being attacked.
I also get these feelings of sudden panic when I see someone resembling my attacker or if I hear a voice that reminds me of their voice. It's like all of a sudden, I'm that terrified little girl again. I know logically that this person has nothing to do with it and has no idea what I'm going through, but I have no control over it.

 

[Friday]

@flappergirl35 … for even more/better info?

Check this out >>> Stressor vs. Trigger - What Is A Trigger?

It begins explains the difference between triggers & stressors, but is chock full of valuable info.

 

[flappergirl35]

Thank you for sharing this. It clarifies a lot for me.