Flashbacks

 I think I will create a page with ideas and links just for flashbacks.  Why, you ask?  I had them.  One of the first ones occurred the day I was fitted for hearing aides.  It wasn't until I was on the floor whimpering I would be good that I knew that I was in the grips of one.  Flashbacks are nothing like how they are depicted in movies...the are scary and in some cases debilitating.  The past becomes more real than the present.  I learned that day to be prepared to apologize.  The audiologist that put warm wax in my ears to form a mold for my hearing aides was in no way prepared for or the cause of my temporary break with reality.  I apologized and reassured my hearing specialist that she was not the cause of my strange behavior.  She was shook up.  I felt bad for scaring her.  I learned that day to practice in advance when my past takes over my present. Keep my counselor's number in a place someone else can find it, a business card in my wallet is helpful for me.  I also gave my counselor's number to my family, employer, and friends if needed. 

If you are not the one having the flashback but with someone that is having one, there are a few things I would like to share.  If the person is behaving dangerously, call 9-1-1 immediately and ask for a psychiatric team.  Be prepared that the the person having the flashback will not believe you when you try to reassure them they are safe.  Holding on to the person having the flashback is not always reassuring.  Sometimes it will actually make the flashback worse.  Ask the person having the flashback if there is something you can do for them. Keep talking to them.  Start describing things that are in the immediate area.  Your voice and different information about the present may help disrupt the memory playing in their mind.  If the person starts swearing at you or accusing you wildly, please, don't take it personally, the person that they may actually be screaming at is in their nightmare flashback.  Be patient with the person having the flashback.  If you are a way from the person's home try to get them back to a place they consider safe.  Stay with them or call someone that can stay with them.  Flashbacks areone of the reasons people with PTSD are afraid to go out.  Hard enough dealing with them on your own.  Other people involved can add to their feelings of embarrassment, frustration and fear.  Reassure them once they are back in present time. There is nothing about a flashback that could be termed easy.  The intensity may vary but everyone takes a toll on the person having them.  If they have a counselor, contact them or better yet have the person contact their counselor when they can feel more present.  Reassurance and respect will go along ways to reassuring a traumatized person that you care.  Here are some of the other suggestions. 


This is something that I review and look out for other ideas.  Judy's blog has some great suggestions:
http://theprojectbyjudy.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/follow-up-on-yesterdays-post/
She linked hers to more at Life after Trauma:
http://sittingwithsorrow.typepad.com/sitting-with-sorrow/2012/07/coping-with-ptsd-triggers-and-flashbacks.html


 Battle Buddy's also shares information on flashbacks:

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/battlebuddy?hc_location=timeline
Note: If you follow this link you will go to your own facebook account. 

13 Steps for Managing Flashbacks

Say to yourself: "I am having a flashback". Flashbacks take us into a timeless part of the psyche that feels as helpless, hopeless and surrounded by danger as we were in childhood. The feelings and sensations you are experiencing are past memories that cannot hurt you now.

Remind yourself: "I feel afraid but I am not in danger! I am safe now, here in the present." Remember you are now in the safety of the present, far from the danger of the past.

Own your right/need to have boundaries. Remind yourself that you do not have to allow anyone to mistreat you; you are free to leave dangerous situations and protest unfair behavior.

Speak reassuringly to the Inner Child. The child needs to know that you love her unconditionally- that she can come to you for comfort and protection when she feels lost and scared.

Deconstruct eternity thinking: in childhood, fear and abandonment felt endless - a safer future was unimaginable. Remember the flashback will pass as it has many times before.

Remind yourself that you are in an adult body with allies, skills and resources to protect you that you never had as a child. [Feeling small and little is a sure sign of a flashback]

Ease back into your body. Fear launches us into 'heady' worrying, or numbing and spacing out.
[a] Gently ask your body to Relax: feel each of your major muscle groups and softly encourage them to relax. (Tightened musculature sends unnecessary danger signals to the brain)
[b] Breathe deeply and slowly. (Holding the breath also signals danger).
[c] Slow down: rushing presses the psyche's panic button.
[d] Find a safe place to unwind and soothe yourself: wrap yourself in a blanket, hold a stuffed animal, lie down in a closet or a bath, take a nap.
[e] Feel the fear in your body without reacting to it. Fear is just an energy in your body that cannot hurt you if you do not run from it or react self-destructively to it.

Resist the Inner Critic's Drasticizing and Catastrophizing: 
[a] Use thought-stopping to halt its endless exaggeration of danger and constant planning to control the uncontrollable. Refuse to shame, hate or abandon yourself. Channel the anger of self-attack into saying NO to unfair self-criticism. 
[b] Use thought-substitution to replace negative thinking with a memorized list of your qualities and accomplishments
 
Allow yourself to grieve. Flashbacks are opportunities to release old, unexpressed feelings of fear, hurt, and abandonment, and to validate - and then soothe - the child's past experience of helplessness and hopelessness. Healthy grieving can turn our tears into self-compassion and our anger into self-protection.

Cultivate safe relationships and seek support. Take time alone when you need it, but don't let shame isolate you. Feeling shame doesn't mean you are shameful. Educate your intimates about flashbacks and ask them to help you talk and feel your way through them.

Learn to identify the types of triggers that lead to flashbacks. Avoid unsafe people, places, activities and triggering mental processes. Practice preventive maintenance with these steps when triggering situations are unavoidable.

Figure out what you are flashing back to. Flashbacks are opportunities to discover, validate and heal our wounds from past abuse and abandonment. They also point to our still unmet developmental needs and can provide motivation to get them met.

Be patient with a slow recovery process: it takes time in the present to become un-adrenalized, and considerable time in the future to gradually decrease the intensity, duration and frequency of flashbacks. Real recovery is a gradually progressive process [often two steps forward, one step back], not an attained salvation fantasy. Don't beat yourself up for having a flashback.Pete Walker, M.A.

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