Flashbacks?

[ak]

I am not sure I know what these are. I remember things that happen, and sometimes have bad dreams. And when I have had to be near or talk to someone who has hurt me in past, I have felt scared of them. But what are the flashbacks? Is that just to remember what was done? Or it is more? Andrei

 

[Mike Church]

I havent had all that many as I remember quite vividly most of what happened to me and what I did after.

A few times I have felt like all of a sudden I am right back in time and experiencing the evil. Almost as if I am no longer in the present. Scared the hell out of me and really shook me up. At the time it was happening it was also terrifying. It was like the present had never happened

 

[RICK57]

Andrei ...the only way I can describe a flashback is when you piece some of the information together that didn't previously make sense. That's not necessarily what other people experience.

In my case, I remembered that I used to take my dog for a walk and met my abuser during one of those walks. I could not work out how the dog was not there when I was first abused. When I started therapy, it flashed into my mind that through the grooming process, I was persuaded to take the dog for it's walk, take it home & then meet the perp, thus allowing the abuse to commence.

Other flashbacks are remembering details that are buried very deeply, but that come back to the surface of their own accord - you cannot leave them there forever.

HOpe tis helps...Rik

 

[Nathan LaChine]

Andrei,

My own flashbacks come to me in two ways. First my body starts to act differnt. I start to feel fear and I start to loss my body. Kind of like I am not in control of my body any more. I then start to feel sick and then I start to hear things or see things. I start to feel and hear and see. It comes to me in this way most of the time. It is more that my body wants to tell me what happen and that my mind really does not want me to know it. I guess that is the best way to put it.


lots of love, Nathan

 

[ScottyTodd]

Hey Andrei - From what I understand of flashbacks (and I've had them too), is when we were abused, our brains (amydyla nucleus) recorded the memories. This recording was basically done by images, objects and senses. When we encounter a current image that connects to our abuse (whether we consciously are aware of the memory or not) we may encounter a flashback and/or body memory. When we encounter an object that evokes an abuse memory (i.e. see an object that was used in the abuse) the same thing happens. If we suddenly experience the feelings or other sensory memories (i.e. feeling unsafe, feeling out-of-control, someone touches our shoulder like the perp did, someone talks, walks, has mannerisms like our perp, the room smells like when we were abused, food was involved in the abuse...any sensory recording in our brains) like the abuse can stimulate a sudden memory which we call flashbacks because they feel, recall, simulate as if the abuse is really happening to us now, again. These memories are real and can be scary. Often when these memories/flashbacks appear, we are not aware of enough information to stop them nor prevent them. With a good therapist, these can be put into perspective.

Flashbacks are scary and may leave us feeling like we are "going crazy" but, in reality, they are a part of recovery as are nightmares and night terrors.

I hope this clarifies this for you and not too clinically gobbly-gook. My fingers are getting winded. If you need more, try PMing me and I'll give you more examples and equivalents.

"Flashbacks are normal for the abnormal situations through which we have come" !!!!

Howard

 

[FlyWM]

Andrei,

Flashbacks are memories that seem so real like we are experiencing the abuse again. Flashbacks are nothing more than our brains trying to make sense of what was done to us, I know they are very scary and seem so real, but they are only memories. THey can be triggered by seeing or smelling or feeling something you experienced during the abuse, for example, if one time you were abused you smelled a certain kind of soap, if you smell that soap again it can cause a flashback, but from my experience nothing is more of a trigger than being near someone who has abused us. They are frightening, they seem real, but they are only memories that can't really hurt us now.

Nightmares are like flashbacks, but just thinking of something of the abuse before you g to bed can trigger it, whatever is in your mind, conciously or unconciously, is what we dream about, so if the abuse is on your mind it can cause the nightmares. Nightares are another way our brains try to make sense of the terrible things that were done to us that no person should experience.

You are strong Andrei, I have seen it in you, and you can make it through, I know it may not feel like it, but you can make it through. Just remember the abuse is not happening anymore it is over. I am sorry you must still see the people who abused you, and I wish I had some advice to give yoyu about it, but the only thing I can think to say is the abuse is over, they have hurt you, and won't hurt you again if you don't let yourself be alone near them. I know it can all be scary, but you can make it through and feel real again.

scott

 

[Leosha]

Andrei,

flashbacks can occur in different ways. For me, it comes on to me as panic feelings, I start becoming scared, because it appears like what happened is happening again. I hear things in my head, and will sometime feel things in my body, like what had happened before. Mostly it is increased anxiety and fear, but it feels almost like it all happens again. I am not sure that it makes sense as I describe it, but it is like to have memories that are more then that.

Leosha