What are Flashbacks? (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] - Intrusion Symptom)

[@mholwerda93]

My partner has PTSD flashbacks from being in active combat in the military that he calls "episodes" and also has night terrors. This was very informative!

[@particleconfig.8935]

You may want to read about HRV-training (brand: EmWave2) which in my experience is very powerful (acts on the parasympathetic nervous system). ''HRV biofeedback is a non-invasive intervention that utilizes operant conditioning principles to help individuals actively regulate their autonomic arousal. ... Research shows that HRV training can be helpful in reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression, among other conditions.'' 10 minutes a day, some meditation right after it and your day (and night: more coherent, warm dreams) will shifts.

[@anglo-saxon9182]

I was stabbed twice and I see his evil eyes everytime I close mine

[@tsbcmhc2083]

Flashbacks make a person re experience a traumatic event which makes it extremely difficult for someone with PTSD to cope. I feel the importance lies in trying recognize the triggers and then working with the client to either get ahead of them or reframe the event.

[@adambrowne332]

Flashbacks are incredibly interesting to me. The fact that our clients can be aroused physiologically in terms of visual, olfactory, auditory, and tactile senses to the point where the client truly feels like they are reinstated in that moment of trauma is mind-boggling. It is necessary for us as counselors to understand how flashbacks can affect our clients in order for us to best help them to reduce the impact of flashbacks on their well-being.

[@angelinastanton7996]

I also agree, I can't imagine being able to re-experience a flashback as if you are actually in the moment. For example, not being able to see anything except for the flashback. It is very interesting.

[@lizatanzawa7910]

@@angelinastanton7996 I was at a stoplight. Then I was back there, even the smells, the real world WAS gone, I rolled into the car in front of me, and the bump, just like The picture changing on a tv screen when you click the remote, I was back in my car.

[@sandycares2995]

Helpful. Thank you. I moved to another city to get away from constant flashbacks. It helped as so many of them were visual. I distanced them Have more peace now In CPTSD they pile up so high. I don’t dare go out on a date because I know I will go into an immediate state of anxiety and if it goes well ( at least I think it did) and the person does not call me it is like there are layers and layers of suffering waiting to take me over. I go into a pit that grasps me for months. Way way overreaction. It’s so strong that I fight to stay alive. I just can’t go there. To dangerous. That’s been 15 years now. It’s lonely though. After all I’m am human.

[@satansamba]

I'm writing a book about a boy that had ptsd this is really helpful

[@JoeDirt-el2fr]

Flashbacks being intrusive thoughts also occur with OCD.

[@johnharrisjr2808]

This was a good video I found it interesting that the intensity of flashbacks don't diminish over time. When flashbacks occur they can be equally intense or more intense.

[@monkeybone6843]

Gotta watch this every now and again to know I’m not losing it XD

[@jackiesorrells5571]

The sigma experienced for those who struggle with flashbacks can be debilitating and adversely impacts quality of life.

[@virginiamurrey9139]

I thought it was an interesting thing to hear that some flash backs are only emotional, and visual. Overall this entire video was very interesting to listen to, I am interested in learning more on this subject.

[@angelinastanton7996]

I did not know that the triggers to a flashback can be variable, such as the individual losing awareness of reality in a severe flashback or still maintaining connected to reality. Again, the media and popular movies often portray the most extreme forms of flashbacks for characters with PTSD. It is also interesting to learn that exposure therapy may not be best for all clients with PTSD, and it can even make the symptoms worse!

[@gloria-verasiess8295]

I was in therapy for years dealing with flashbacks; comforting to know I'm not alone.

[@alpinesgenesis]

I am writing a book on where main character suffers from PTSD, and doesn't know it. For that purpose, and my own curiosity, I have been deeply researching PTSD for a little while, interviewing folks with PTSD and c-ptsd online, listening to therapists and people who's friends suffer from PTSD, etcetera. This helps a great deal, thank you.

[@rationalremedies29]

Sitting here shaking when I started watching and taking notes. I figured some stuff out and am even calmer. Good stuff

[@solstice3190]

Found this video very interesting in order to dive deeper into understanding myself better and how my mind works. Thank you

[@DrGrande]

You’re welcome!

[@0Shanna]

"I hope you find it interesting"?! No. It was ffing HELPFUL! THANK YOU.

[@kelly4321]

I really liked this video, very informative. For only thinking of flashbacks in terms of how it is portrayed on tv, this is very interesting in learning the depth of flashbacks. I would like to look into this more.

[@michelleb3282]

I go through this. From trauma years ago. It gets bad at times. I just started therapy a few months ago. This video helps. Thank you.

[@rhyshamilton7406]

I get these moments where I remember things from my past, things I’ve done, regrets I’ve made. It comes uncontrollably. It’s embarassing as people witness me doing this. I even talk to myself while this happens. It comes into my brain and I can’t control it. When my brains not doing this I’m detached and dissociated. I feel like I’m not really living. I had a traumatic childhood. I’m not too sure if these are flashbacks or not.

[@778strength4]

this video really helped me understand my ptsd more

[@veronicabetz9452]

Very informative. The controversy between flashbacks and dissociation being separate constructs is very interesting and opens the door for many questions. I also didn't know that triggers were inconsistent in a persons life.

[@gilgameshtheimmortal369]

Sometimes I get these dejavu like memory flashbacks to when I was a kid, and it's always like I'm running around playing being a happy kid. Nothing traumatic. And it's not like I'm thinking of it in my head. It's like I'm literally there. I don't have control over anything in these visions either, it's like they just happen, which 100% tells me it's a memory. Like I have one memory that's so vivid it's obvious what was going on, I'm 5 years old I'm at the Jacksonville zoo in Florida it's my cousins birthday I'm eating pizza for the first time, like I remembered this shit as soon as I saw it. But not before. Before these flashbacks happen it's like I have no memory of the memories. Which scared it me at first cause that told me they were hallucinations lol. Idek. I honestly think I just forgot most of this shit and it's still in my vault like brain and forces me to become aware of it. Just because I'm not thinking of it constantly. I know a few people in my life who's say there memories and thoughts fun rampant all day everyday and there forced to remember everything all the time. I don't have that, the opposite in fact I forget shit and block out things I don't wanna deal with. Like fuck that's probably all that's going on here. Or it's my hppd lol.

[@juliedefee598]

My flashbacks occur when I am on the brink of sleep. Therefore, I have suffered with insomnia for a lifetime.

[@elsh332]

Thank you for explaining about emotional flashbacks, and also the inconsistency of triggers. I've experienced both these things and it can definitely be frustrating and confusing.

[@elsh332]

Just today I was having a very bad day with anxiety and emotional flashbacks. I dissociated while driving and nearly ran off the road, right next to a steep drop! There were many things that happened today, words and small gestures (as simple as holding a bottle on a certain angle) that normally mean nothing, but today triggered memories, thoughts, feelings, all beyond my control. My head was a hot messy soup of traumatic gump. And it could have killed me and my child if I'd been lost for any longer than I had been 😢 very scared!!

[@rhondabaileyyy]

I found it interesting how different areas of the brain are used flashbacks and disassociation. I also find it interesting that senses and emotions are evident in flashbacks as well.

[@francisdunn5261]

So incredibly embarrassing. My last bad one I was receiving a massage in class with a group. I came to with several classmates standing around me crying. I don’t remember but they told me I kept repeating no bad. God says this is bad. I was so embarrassed

[@Scorpio.Iamher.]

At the age of 14, I was diagnosed with having taken PCP. I did smoke a joint of pot but I had no clue it was laced with PCP. As you can probably imagine the state I was in during my experience if you know anything about PCP. Paranoia Inability to focus or concentrate poor judgment Hallucinations Delusions Numbness in arms and legs. I was out of control that my father and my older brother 25 years old at the time couldn't hold me down on the ER bed the nurses had to strap me down to the bed. After this traumatic experience, I never touched drugs again and I am 56 years old now. However, after my horrible experience, I continued to have flashbacks for years. My first flashback episode was just as bad or worse than my initial experience, one month to the day later, I was sitting in class in middle school when suddenly I began to feel my hands and feet get cold and I began to heavily sweat at my desk. I asked my teacher if I could be excused to go to the bathroom where I washed my face and tried to get control of myself. because I was beginning to feel myself having an out-of-body experience. I felt numb and felt that I wasn't breathing. I immediately began to feel more and more paranoid and crying I was taken to the hospital. There at the hospital, is where I was told I was having a flashback. These flashbacks continued throughout my teenage years into my adult years. Not as severe as the first two episodes but still as scary. As I became older I learned to deal with my flashbacks by ignoring the feelings associated with them. To the point, that they eventually went away in my late twenties. Every once in a while if I think about it I can feel a little of it but not to the point of being scared. I just ignore it and it passes. Flashbacks are real and very scary.

[@andreanichols7950]

After watching this video I am going to look more into traumatic experiences and brain activity.

[@MDM-fg1tz]

Thank you!!! Yes absolutely, thank you so much.

[@Iretsm]

Dr. Grande, I was hoping you would post a video on flashbacks! You mind reader, you 😂 Thank you so much! I find this video validating personally (with respect to my own PTSD). I also find this video useful professionally (as a soon-to-graduate-BSW student 👩‍🎓 Thank you so much!

[@bobbyg7400]

I have ptsd . Been stabbed in the chest when i was 19 , lost two places i called home , 2 dogs i had for 15 years, 5 close friends, both my parents , my dad when i was a kid then my mom to cancer a few years back, she passed in my old house that i lost to the bank 1 year after . 5 car accidents, nightmares for years , waking up cold sweats showering at 2 a.m 3, 4 . then my life came crashing down even more with me losing my shit during a bad situation which sent me off to jail looking at up to 5 years . i was tossed in the courtroom cell for a bit before prison. Where i fought n inmate who crossed the line at the wrong time. then again once we got to the house of corrections when we crossed paths again . then i was thrown into a cell for two str8 days . naked with a small piece of cloth . bible in my hand only thing i had to seperate my mind from the hell i was in. thinking about my life and 2 kids . Came out with nothing left. ive had nightmares n flashbacks for years. Certain smells songs words or places send me back like a time machine , right back to the smell where i was at that time ,down to the weather , to a candy rapper on the floor i saw 10 years ago. legit like traveling back in time. Then when i snap out of it , its like my life got fast fowarded . feels like i went to sleep and woke up 10 years later. Can be very hard at times. Very very hard . im 27 now been a struggle ever since tried councelors and dont like medication. I hold my faith in god do it for my kids and for my mom like i promised her the night she passed away. But Flashbacks are not always bad either some of em was when i was happy and had my family and house dogs. My life. B4 it was all ripped away from me. Others are tough times in my life

[@kikixiong6156]

Some thoughts came up for me when I was watching this video. Sometimes we intentionally retrieve memories that cause similar effect (emotional, sensory, physical...) as flashbacks. Just thinking of how it is different and how to measure compare to the intensional triggers.

[@kittyshell8506]

Definitely very informative, helpful, and interesting... Even some of these comments are interesting... A LOT of my traumas were actually repressed , but i would still find myself experiencing emotional "flashbacks" when my brain clearly thought there was a threat (similar to the attack from the past)... I had to ask myself "WHY am i feeling this way, WHY does it trouble me so much, yet nobody else appears to have such a severe or adverse reaction!?" Eventually, when my mind, body, brain and spirit felt safer under the same conditions, a few weeks later, i received the answer... Because i was assaulted by someone under similar circumstances while at school when I was 7 years old...😱🙀😱 And so, i breathed a huge sigh of relief, because i had suffered for decades each time someone tried getting into the bathroom stall in the ladies restroom...i had a very pink ring around my neck...🥺 Aaaaaand that was merely one of a great many more

[@francisdunn5261]

This is so accurate. Therapy is still worth it. You just need new tools for different phases and if something shows up again it’s ok you didn’t cause it

[@Jacobsyoutubehandle]

Thank you always for making content

[@vickilynn9514]

Fantastic and comprehensive description. Thanks for shring

[@janicedixon2051]

I found this video interesting and informative. Definitely gave me a in-depth look into flashbacks.

[@thehasidicjew5017]

They usually hit me when I’m driving alone. I’ve been driving and balling my ass off. The screaming I hear is like it’s fucking happing again. It’s also hit me with a general conversation. During that I can get it together so I’m not being embarrassed.

[@silvermoonluna5844]

That...that right there is the answer i was looking for i was "getting intimate' with my partner and fot some odd reason felt stiff and cringy i felt like i could almost see a faniliar face and like i was seeing the world from out of my body oddly i was trying to focus in my husband but i then started hearing skme negative words male voice and i wasnt sure if i may have been having a flashback of some sort but i hardly saw anything but black my husband wasnt saying anything but it sounded like a male voice in echo of my mind saying things there is a slight possibility i might have been sexually abused as a child and repressed the memories i honslestly barely remember a thing from my childhood before age 18 when i decided to move put i remember i slammed the door andtold myself i never wanted to remember snything and i hibestly cant really remember much but now its come up in the family and caused a lot of confusion and my memory loss doesnt helpcuz now i canf remember wether it happened or not but then i wondered can flashbacks be auditory? And as soon as you mentioned it i went cold what if something DID happen and i forced myself to forget i have 1 faint memory but its all i have but not enough proof to suggest anything happeed my memories are in pieces and fragmented and o often wonder why because i used to have such a sharp memory and now i often forget things in seconds i disociate a lot especially in drs offices i dont know why how can i know for sure. I honestly wasnt sure if a flashback could be auditory i thought they were only visual helpful to know thank you forsharing this

[@FrancesShear]

I found your description of how professionals are studying the experience of flashbacks interestng. Isn't it true that if a person with PTSD has a relative or close friends they know is still in the danger zone whom they cannot have any meaningful communication with that they suffered in too then the risk they will continue to have flashbacks just before falling asleep during extreme bordome on a long car or bus trip or while waking fully is higher? Then when they become convinced that their friends and relatives are no longer still in danger the flash backs end. Would be very difficult for a person in a nursing home that is no longer getting any visitors who has gone through trauma for a lot of their lives then not having much meaningful outside contact with the outside world. When that is happening encouraging the person to participate with others in a comforting environment like a communal kitchen more not less in all kinds of activities helps far more than offering drugs unless there is insomnia present.

[@hrobin5852]

Thank you. I found your comment insightful. H

[@darklybright]

My friend was in a car accident and got a flashback in an elevator. She had been injured and trapped inside the car for an hour.

[@alicehatzoglou5683]

It would be great to learn more about what to do when you have these flashbacks and do not benefit from exposure therapy, and drugs have too many side effects...

[@TyrRavensohn]

Has anyone explored the idea of "positive triggers"?

[@Lpsviolet227]

Is it just me when someone or something does something specifically I get flashbacks but not sure

[@samanthawh8272]

If let's say randomly you remember the things a abusive partner did to you and you feel overwhelming angry to the point you couldnt function would that be a emotional flashback

[@hrobin5852]

Thanks

[@samcoates2519]

This explains thing better thx

[@pelinseyhun6951]

what If I see things that ı dont remember living

[@moonlightangel4400]

what about going on a thing at the fair called star ship and feeling like you were on it again

[@annalieff-saxby568]

That's deja vu.

[@wastbs]

That helps.

[@Ayme1285]

I fear my mom 5 yrs ago she had me flat line for 10 mins i might have to let go of her all together fear panic cuz she basically killed me at one point

[@internalinjectiontrulyhere770]

They might come back once or more if someone did a lot

[@zazo6620]

If a very random insignificant old memory pops up without any trigger.... is that a flashback? ?????? Like for example remembering random teeth brushing when I was 5 years old .... a memory that Hase no meaning or importance, that I didn’t even think my brain would keep it ..... this happen a llllllot , several times a day 🤔 dose anyone have that ?

[@Ayme1285]

Every time i see her i think shes gonna hurt me or i see the same hospital same place bed everything when before i died then came back

[@francisdunn5261]

They are a sick joke that the abuser should keep. So awful.