the further i heal, the more convinced that a memory is just a memory, however we choose to categorize it. how i react is the difference between a flashback and a normal memory. i can easily set a normal memory aside and get back to my present day. a ptsd flashback rips me from the here and now and traps me in the traumatic memory i've worked so hard to forget and/or normalize.

what do flashbacks feel like? memories come in as much variety as the life which creates them. given the extent to which i feel like i am reliving the original trauma, i might say, "they feel like life." anything from a taste i can't get out of my mouth to yet another ticket to crazy town.

nobody knows where that line between normal PTS and aberrant PTSD is. there seems to be increasing argument on whether there is a line there, or not. disorder is disorder, whether it lasts a day or 100 years. for sure, the tools i've learned in PTSD therapy have proven routinely useful in processing more recent trauma. the sooner i begin plying those tools after the trauma, the more quickly and thoroughly i seem to be able to heal.

Yes, angelsheva, for me a memory is something for reflecting upon, therefore more of an intellectual experience even if I have strong feelings around it. A flashback for me is a bodily re-experiencing of the trauma in the now the way it happened then. Very different.

Welcome angelsheva. Every morning I wake up in a flashback, I can feel adrenaline surging through the back of my thighs telling me to run. This kind of flashback is trapped in my body.. During the day, a number of things can trigger an emotional flashback. For me it's a flood of mixed emotions, some common ones: fear, anxiety, shame, emptiness, worthlessness, the list goes on. Basically, I become that five year old trapped in the garage while my dad beats my mother behind me, blood everywhere. I feel hopeless, alone, and sure no one cares. If you can relate to these types of flashbacks and think you have Complex (aka Childhood) PTSD and you like to read, a great place to start is a book by Pete Walker, Complex PTSD From Surviving to Thriving. Hope this gives you some hope!

Hi
A flashback for me is painful uncomfortable and I relive past painful memories which is I can't help at all. Everyone copy different

Hello, I’m someone that experiences emotional flashbacks and dissociation. I don’t necessarily have visual flashbacks. But this usually happens during an argument with someone or afterwards. Someone else looking at me go through it calls it a “tantrum” or an “episode”. Understanding how I look to other people now makes me feel a little crazy. But I lose sense of where I’m at and who’s around me and I become fully believing of certain thoughts, I usually say the same phrases over and over. When it’s severe, I punch myself. I’ve gone through enough therapy to usually manage it before it gets that bad now.
It effects me for days after. My heart rate is higher, I’m on edge, my therapist said it’s called “hyper vigilant”. Basically my brain is still in fight/flight mode. So for days after it can be easier to slip into the same mental state again.
I’m not a therapist or expert by any means so I’m not sure what truly makes it a disorder. But I can tell you I’ve had a hard time holding down jobs, keeping relationships, and my overall quality of life is bad because of the anxiety/depression that comes with ptsd. During an episode I become extremely suicidal within minutes. Even with 3 years of therapy, I’ve learned to better manage it but it still persists in my day to day life.