Constant flashbacks
It's my first time posting here so I am a bit anxious about what to expect, but anyways, I am having a lot of trouble with flashbacks now.
I'm so easily triggered by my surroundings, by what people say to me, by what I see or smell or hear and I am on the verge of breaking down. I can't stop the images of that incident from repeating over and over in my head and I don't know what to do about them. Sometimes, I am so distressed that I can't really focus on the present and I feel haunted by my past.
I feel like I'll never recover from this and 6 years have passed but I can't seem to get rid of it. And the thing is, the same trauma happened a few times within these few years... I really don't know what to do anymore. Can someone tell me how you deal with your flashbacks? I don't know how much longer I can withstand these overwhelming images and the re-experiencing of that event.😢
@Irene726
I am suffering with flashbacks from multiple events spanning a lifetime…over 40 years of different events. I have had sporadic ones over the years and they have been terrible to go through but live-able. But recently I’ve been getting numerous ones daily and I am drowning myself. I don’t have an answer for you, hopefully someone else will. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone!!!!!
@Iamwhoiamwhoami Thanks! At least I know I'm not alone, and I hope things will go better for you soon:)
@Irene726
EDMR helped me with flashbacks. I still get them but I don’t suffer as much as I did before having this therapy.
Here are some links from 7cups on managing flashbacks.
https://www.7cups.com/forum/TraumaSupport_60/EventsDiscussionsResources_2334/13StepsforManagingFlashbacks_230868
https://www.7cups.com/forum/TraumaSupport_60/EventsDiscussionsResources_2334/SomeTechniquesToCopeWithFlashbacks_233618/
@adventurousBranch3786 Thanks a lot! I'll try to use some of those techniques and I hope they work for me:)
I constantly replay conversations that felt traumatic and then will often rehearse a response on repeat in my head. It is distressing and automatic, not something I feel I can control. If I distract myself it helps for a while but I also have to work to guide myself towards distractions that are not destructive. I'm so exhausted and stressed.
@Irene726
I'm so sorry you have flashbacks. They can be so disabling.
You came to the right place, 7 cups has been a wonderful safe place to find like minded people for me.
My trauma is complex and terrible and my flashbacks were absolutely intolerable. I wasn't functioning, or sleeping, I had to leave my job, pretty much stopped leaving the house. I started therapy 4 years ago and I've been going steady weekly. It's been a huge help I still have some flashbacks they are just not as Intense or as often. . We use journaling along with CBT and Orpheus technology. I have to admit I'm a chronic CPTSD sufferer. I am medicated much to my dismay....I'm not a med person but I had to for my own safety.
I have good and bad days but I am better because in the beginning all my days were awful, painful.
Journaling really helped alot because I could write anything and everything without judgement.
Know you are not alone and I wish you peace .
Best always ABB 💜