Flashbacks: A natural process of healing.

Terrifying, unbearable, scary, uncontrollable, confusing....these
and many more words are what a survivor uses to describe how a flashback
feels.
Flashbacks are one of the most frightening and confusing ordeals a
survivor faces after a sexual assault. And though they are
frightening and feel out of control they are a healthy sign that we
are ready to heal.

Our minds are wonderful devices, they protect us from extreme pain
and suffering, sometimes by blocking out traumatic events in our
lives, but when and only when our minds know that we are ready to cope
with the memories and feelings does it bring them to our attention.
Many times this happens in the form of a flashback, or in a more
gentle and manageable term, an involuntary reflection.

Not knowing why a flashback happens makes dealing with them
confusing for survivors.

Emotionally loaded, flashbacks bring back feelings from the original
attack. Thoughts, actions and emotions that a survivor kept repressed
during their attack may be to blame for some of these vivid memories.

The very fact that flashbacks seem to be uncontrollable and
unpredictable, makes stopping flashback memories seemingly just
another pain to bear.

When we begin to understand why we have flashbacks and are not
paralyzed by them, we can move further along the path to healing.
Flashbacks are a natural process of healing and they are safe.
Your mind is now telling you that it is no longer necessary to block
such memories.

More information on flashbacks


Flashbacks

Flashbacks are recollections from the past. They may be pictures, sounds, smells, feelings, or the lack of them (numbness). Sometimes there is no actual visual or auditory memory. You may feel panicky, or trapped, you may feel powerless without knowing why. These experiences can also happen in dreams.

As a child you had to protect yourself from the emotional and physical horrors of abuse. In order to survive, that child remained locked inside, unable to express the feelings and thoughts of that time. It is as though we put that part of us into a time warp until it comes out in the present.

When that part comes out, the child in you is experiencing the past as if it were happening today. As the flashback happens, it is as if you forget that you have an ‘adult’ self available for comfort, protection and grounding. The extreme feelings and body sensations occurring are so frightening because they are not related to the reality of the present and many times seem to come from out of the blue.

We begin to think we are crazy and are afraid of telling anyone about what is happening. We feel out of control and at the mercy of our experiences.

We begin to avoid certain areas and situations, that we think triggered it. Sometimes flashbacks occur during any form of sexual contact, or it may be a person who looks or behaves and reminds you of the person who abused you, or it may be a situation today that stirs up similar trapped feelings (confrontation, angry people).

If you are feeling little... you may be experiencing a flashback. If you are having stronger feelings than you expect to have in the present situation ... you are probably having a flashback



Flashbacks Are Normal

Flashbacks are sometimes called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The diagnostic category book for psychiatry defines Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as the normal experience of all people experiencing an event that is outside the range of normal human experience.

Flashbacks sometimes make you feel insane because the child in you doesn't know that there is an adult survivor available to help.



What Does Help?

Tell yourself that you are having a flashback.

Remind yourself that the worst is over. The feelings and sensations you are experiencing are memories of the past

Get Grounded. This means stamping your feet on the ground so that the child knows you have feet and can get away now if you need to. (As a child, you couldn't get away........ now you can).

Breathe. When we get frightened we stop normal breathing. As a result our body begins to panic because we haven’t got enough oxygen. Lack of oxygen causes a great deal of panic feelings; pounding in the head, tightness, sweating, feeling faint, shakiness, dizziness. When we breathe deeply enough, a lot of the panic feeling can decrease.

Re-establish to the present. Begin to use your five senses in the present. Look around and see the colours in the room, the shapes of things, the people near, etc. Listen to the sounds in the room; your breathing, traffic, birds, people, cars etc. Feel your body and what is touching it; your clothes, your own arms and hands, the chair or floor supporting you.

Talk to the child in you and tell her she is OK. It is very important that the child knows that the adult is around to take care for her. The child needs to know that it is safe to experience the feelings and let go of the past.

Find your boundaries. Sometimes when we are having a flashback things get out of proportion we lose the sense of where we end and the world begins; as if we do not have skin. Wrap yourself in a blanket, hold a pillow or soft toy, go to bed, sit in a cupboard... anything that you can do to make yourself feel safe.

Get help. You may need to be alone or you may want someone near you. In either case it is important that your friends and relations know about flashbacks so they can help with the process, whether that means letting you be by yourself or being there, whatever is right for you is right.

Take time to regain control. Sometimes flashbacks are very powerful. Don't expect yourself to be able to do adult things immediately. Be kind and look after yourself do something that you enjoy. Don’t punish yourself, you and your child don’t deserve it.

Be patient. It takes time to heal the past. It takes time to learn ways of taking care of yourself, of being an adult who has feelings and developing effective ways of coping in the here and now.

Find a competent therapist. Look for a therapist who understands the process of healing from incest. A therapist can be a guide, a support, a coach in this healing process. You do not have to do it alone every again.

Join a self-help group. Survivors are wonderful allies in this process of healing. It is a healing thing to share your process with others who understand so deeply what you are going through.

Know you are not going mad ....... you are healing!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Flashback as: "A recurring, intensely vivid mental image of a past traumatic experience." Abreaction is defined as: "To release (repressed emotions) by acting out, as in words, behavior, or the imagination, the situation causing the conflict." While these are both accurate technically, they are missing some detail.

A Flashback is the mind's way of dealing with a traumatic event that it was unable to make sense of when the event happened. The trauma can be anything, a car accident, war, rape, torture, childhood abuse, or even embarrassment. The event can be experienced directly or witnessed. Generally the traumatic event carries a threat of harm, sometimes real, sometimes imagined.

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I'm going to pin this.

I have flashbacks. I don't like them.

I don't think anyone likes them man. I think its just like a pain response. Its your body's way of letting you know that there's something wrong.

I used to suffer a lot from flashbacks. I have severe PTSD and Schizoaffective disorder. For my schizoaffective disorder I was prescribed anti psychotics. I found these tablets repressed alot of my memory and stopped most of my flashbacks. I have been on many anti psychotics and the best ones I have found that suppress memory are Risperidone and Olanzapine.

seanetal wrote:The American Heritage Dictionary defines Flashback as: "A recurring, intensely vivid mental image of a past traumatic experience." Abreaction is defined as: "To release (repressed emotions) by acting out, as in words, behavior, or the imagination, the situation causing the conflict." While these are both accurate technically, they are missing some detail.

A Flashback is the mind's way of dealing with a traumatic event that it was unable to make sense of when the event happened. The trauma can be anything, a car accident, war, rape, torture, childhood abuse, or even embarrassment. The event can be experienced directly or witnessed. Generally the traumatic event carries a threat of harm, sometimes real, sometimes imagined.

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The way that I explain flashbacks is to put it in a nutshell by explaining: "When the mind is brought back to the traumatic events by a subconscious memory trigger... It's like going back in time and reliving the events emotionally."

ghost5of7 wrote:The way that I explain flashbacks is to put it in a nutshell by explaining: "When the mind is brought back to the traumatic events by a subconscious memory trigger... It's like going back in time and reliving the events emotionally."

I think that is a really good and succinct explanation that will help people also. Thank you for sharing...

for me i noticed the trigger was often watching the news and coverage of the wars would be a trigger that illicit a physical response like heart racing and anxiety and sometimes vivid flashbacks that are more like a collage than one event.. However ive also had the same sort of symptoms at the thought of natural disaster like tornado warnings or severe weather...its hard to explain, perhaps it has something to do with adrenaline or a fight or flight response in the later.

Ive never had any suicidal thoughts, just severe and intense survival responses or heart racing and anxiety when i see familiar war related images...troops in the prone, vehicles wrecked by IED, etc.

Very strange thing, our mind.