Has anyone else experienced emotional flashbacks? I have nightmares most nights. Some I can remember some I don't, but it's the feeling of disgust and fear that I feel so intensely , so much that I often need to shower in the middle of the night. Does anyone know if you can experience emotional flashbacks during the night?
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Yep!
I get these aswell. In fact had one about a month ago and im still not right tho i don't cognatively remember it.
I'm sorry you get these aswell.
I'm sorry to hear you get these as well. They feel debilitating when they happen.
This is true! It eventually lead to a panic attack/ptsd episode at work. I was just completely done with life right there. I hope you have some support x
I've been in therapy off and on sine 2007. But like most relationships I tend to leave them, so it's been a challenge. However I've been married 7 years now and have two beautiful children ( which has really motivated me to begin the process). I didn't realize how disconnected I was from myself, my family...and how harmful that's becoming. I've been with my new therapist since July 2023 so - baby steps-.
i smoke weed before bed so that i don't get the nightmares from my trauma that make me wake up scared, sweaty, and feeling like i'm going to scream. the dreams are vivid as heck, but what stays with me is the fear they induce.
i think that would count as night-time emotional flashback, kind of?
The fear ... it's like I wear it. I also feel disgust, so much so that I need to shower in the middle of the night :/
i send you hugs (if you'll accept) for what sounds like may be very deeply rooted shame that someone wrongly instilled in you that should never have been put there in the first place. and i wish i could take that away for you.
Thank you. I'm not really a hugger, but being this is virtual I feel more open to the idea of hugs. I never really thought shame was at the roots, I also haven't really explored that word and it's meaning for me yet in therapy. I'm sure there's a lot of it there. Right now I'm learning to identify what I feel and then acknowledge.... in hopes it'll get me more in tune with my body. Anyway it's really nice to be able to come onto these forums to chat. Thanks
i've never done therapy, and have had to navigate a ton of trauma related damage all by myself. so i learned a LOT about psychology and such. and in turn it helped me see my scars for what they were, and that lessened the impact of them, while also understanding what inflamed my scars.
virtual hugs it is! sending lots :)
I'm so sorry to write this, but smoking weed every time before you go to sleep wont help longterm. I also smoked weed every evening for years so that I could get some sleep and cope with my everyday life. After a few months the nightmares came, even though I smoked weed. There were two options: accept the nightmares or smoke more weed, in which case I was no longer of any use by lunchtime. I would advise you if the dreams are too bad: Write a dream diary: Write down the dream and then everything that comes to mind. Then you realize that you are now in an adult body and how would you act in this dream to protect yourself? Let out any emotions that arise. In the medium term, all of this means that you process the individual traumas and relieve yourself to such an extent that the dreams become fewer.
If they are too painful, get additional therapy or ask for medication that will help. Unfortunately, I have to promise you one thing: As nice as cannabis is, it's really not a solution and the withdrawal symptoms alone are really hard when you stop at some point. You will stop and with every day you smoke weed, the symptoms will become more severe and longer, such as difficulty sleeping through the night, frequent and weird dreams in the beginning, depressive moods, increased irritability. This will also go away, usually after a few weeks, but it can also last for months and with every day you smoke weed, the withdrawal will last longer.
In Europe at least there are many anonymous and free advice centers on the topic if you feel unsure.
considering i've been doing it every night for decades now....... it does work very well for me. and i work an office finance job that requires a high level of detail and smarts....... yeah, i think what i'm doing long term is working.
i have stopped smoking periodically here and there in life at times. no withdrawals, no issues other than having the nightmares. and i have not had to increase the amount i smoke in many years. i'm 43. been smoking weed since i was 15.
i found what works perfectly, and has worked perfectly for a very long time. but thanks for the advice anyway.
ps - i'm in Canada. and i know there is free mental health help available. i choose not to use it. because i've found what works for me.
I don’t have nightmares but I’ve been dealing with an abnormally high amount of disgust lately.
Trying to make sense of it but I think it’s a repressed emotion and it needs time and space to come out.
The disgust is physically nauseating. I can feel the disgust at my core. Maybe I'm being over dramatic? but disgust is a strong word and translate into a feeling/sensation it just doesn't sit right. I really hope you're able to find a good support system
Yes I’ve been having these the past few weeks 😣
Emotional Flashbacks are one of the most common symptoms of a cptsd. The mean thing is that we first have to learn to recognize these in our everyday lives. Mindfulness is very important, but it is unfortunately also painful, because especially at the beginning of the healing path, you have normaly several emotional flashbacks every day. No matter when and where they occur, the best thing you can do is go through these flashbacks at an moment, where you'll habe time and reflect on them. It can help to talk to yourself about it, talk to a therapist, or write down all the associations you have with the flashback. What does this dream, this feeling, remind you of? What do you remember from your childhood, from your trauma?It's important that you really allow yourself everything, every image, every feeling, every thought, every emotion that goes through your head at the moment, even if it hurts, even if it's sounds weird, even if you don't actually want to admit it. The mean thing about the cptsd is the inner critic who wants to make you believe that you're overreacting, that you're imagining it, or worse. Most often it comes with a feeling of toxic shame, which inhibits your ability to mentally unburden yourself. But in the end, that’s what’s so important. It doesn't matter what you feel as you go through the flashback, let it out. If it hurts, try to endure it, if you get angry, let it out, very important: if you want to cry, never suppress it, let it out. It is easier, if you are in a sort of save place, where you are alone or in a environment, where you can just be yourself. At the end you feel exhausted but also lighter and have the feeling that you have dealt with a small part of the trauma. You have taken a small step forward on your healing path
I hope i could help.
Thanks for your words. Sometimes listening and feeling heard makes a world of difference.
Yes, the ICD lists the symptoms of CPTSD for diagnosis and mentions nightmares as a way we re-experience past traumatic events. It's just one of the ways.
CPTSD includes the same exact core symptoms as PTSD (plus 3 more), so we can re-experience through flashbacks when we're awake and/or nightmares around the theme of the events when sleeping. It's a very horrible thing to go through, and it happens over and over.
https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http%3a%2f%2fid.who.int%2ficd%2fentity%2f585833559