In the ICD-11, the description of CPTSD flashbacks are the same as for PTSD. It's the same diagnostic requirement, and we fully meet PTSD criteria. Just to have CPTSD we need to have the 3 extra symptoms that PTSD diagnosis doesn't have. The ICD will be adopted into the DSM so in time the US will use this too.
https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/585833559
I'm new to identifying as having C-PTSD. It's been a super useful lens to make sense of my experience. And I'm just curious about the emotional flashbacks piece. I definitely have moments where I can get really emotional and have repeating negative thoughts (ex: "everyone hates me." or "i'll be alone forever." Is that an emotional flashback? Or is it something I just don't experience?
It’s so embarrassing too like I’m completely aware I’m not in danger but my body doesn’t know.
I made a little mistake with misunderstanding a coupon at the store and when I brought up to the lady working there she wasn’t particularly mean or anything she just was a little snappy but that might have just been her tone.
I completely understand all of that but why did I still feel my heart racing and feeling on the verge of tears after that interaction?? 😭😭
And I experience this a lot with stuff that normal people would brush off or not even have a reaction too. I hate it here
I get them like.. I can’t even count how many times per day. Almost every 5 minutes. It’s exasperated by the change in weather mostly I’ve noticed. Or music. Or like scenery/ being places I went to as a kid. Or seeing nostalgic posts on social media. Just wondering how often everyone else experiences them.
Hey guys, question: so what do y’all’s flashbacks entail? I have them but I’m curious to see how others experience and react to them. Mine generally end with full on dissociation and sometimes dissociation blackout
so i have been beaten up in childhood. in the past i did not know why i feel these intense emotions, mostly sadness, and feel lonely and sensitive all the time, so i had constant emotional flashbacks. now it has changed from flashbacks happening when i am triggered by something. and the flashbacks come with vivid memories of my mother beating me up. and then i am likee oh that‘s why but it is really hard to deal with them. do you think this change in the nature of flashbacks happened because of therapy? (i have been in therapy for 6 years now…) the symptoms go away easily but now it is constantly being triggered and actually understanding why and it is really tiring, i keep crying when they happen today i even had a panic attack. i would be happy to hear more perspectives about this if you experience/experienced this in your healing journey. big hugs dears! 🫂
That feeling deep in your soul that you are broken, defective, bad. The slightest look of disapproval sends you into a spiral of self hate and disgust. The constant hypervigilance, scanning people’s faces, their mood, their body language, looking for any sign that they are mad at you, that you have been bad. You feel like an open wound visible for all to see and alls you want to do is hide, hide yourself, hide your shame, hide from the world.
Edit: I am reading a really great book that talks a lot about shame. It is called, conquering shame and codependency. It is probably one of the best books I have read on the subject and even if you are not codependent the chapters that focus on shame are invaluable.
What are flashbacks like? I don't know if I have flashbacks but I'll like space out while thinking about it and become really consumed by the event and sometimes anxious or angry/sad.
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?
Hi there, I’ve not posted before..so I hope this makes sense.
I’ve been seeing my therapist for a few months. We’ve done some sessions of EMDR most recently. I've been experiencing what I assume are flashbacks, sometimes with or without a visual narrative. It will appear suddenly, and all the emotions associated will flood back too, like fear, shame and confusion. At that time and for some time after, I believe it, it feels real. Then normal everyday things filter back in and after a few hours the whole thing feels fake, like I made it up. I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this too?
There seems to be a bit of a pattern… Without going into specifics, the flashbacks are of a similar nature, surrounding a specific event. I have very little memory of it as a whole, just bits of it. There's lots of self-doubt. I have spoken to my therapist about it, but more often than not, I just completely forget.... I know how that sounds, but there's so much going on in my head, it's so hard to remember everything and discuss it all in a one-hour session.
I've had this problem off an on but I'm noticing it happening a lot more frequently lately.
A thought will pop in my head and suddenly I'm lost in my thoughts, reliving moments related to that thought. My eyes open wide, my eyebrows raise, my expression is generally blank and my vision goes out of focus. After a couple minutes I come back and start wondering what the heck I'm doing? It happens while I'm driving and then I come back and panic a little wondering if I ran a stop sign or something.
I'm like reenacting the events in my head but they aren't visual it's more like my thoughts and memories are at the forefront while real life is playing on a tv in the background.
Just wondering if this sounds more like dissociation than flashbacks or if ya'll can relate?
I was assessed and they asked me if i have flashbacks and I asked if it is visual as if i see things like I am back in there. And they said yes. Well but nobody told me about emotional flashbacks and thoughts and scenarios playing out in my head… I always thought the flashbacks are like in TV series? Or like. Literally seeing things as in reality? I guess maybe I confused hallucination with flashbacks? 😅 I am confused, hope I make sense. I would really appreciate help with this.
I suffer severe somatic flashbacks. Pain, discomfort, panic. I feel like I'm right back there. Am I the only one? I literally act it out over and over. I don't remember but people tell me I was doing weird repetitive stuff and reactive to things that weren't there. (My trauma is CSA.)
My flashbacks up until this point have been predominantly emotional/reactional in nature. I had finally developed healthy strategies regarding the emotional/reactive flashbacks with the help of my partner and therapist.
Lately though I've found myself stuck in a cycle of visual/auditory flashbacks that leave me drained. I know they're not hallucinations. I can tell that the visuals are in my head, not external, but they still leave me feeling jumpy, drained and overly emotional.
I spent all last night trying to alleviate my night time flashbacks. Usually my CBD prescription puts me into a dreamless sleep for 6-8 hours, but for some reason, it just did not work.
I'm once again struggling with being in public without support (despite the fact I have a SD for my seizure disorder), I'm struggling with the lack of sleep, and inability to enjoy things again.
I really thought I was on my way out of the cptsd trap.
hi. i'm in the process of reading books on IFS and CPTSD and stopped taking venlafaxine a couple weeks ago since i no longer have depression. but venlafaxine was also suppressing flashbacks/bad memories and anger that they bring. i don't want to take antidepressants again because they make me feel as if i don't have any problems at all and it makes harder to work on them. however, sometimes i find it difficult to do tasks or relax when all the old feelings come back and i'd like to have something to take in these situations. local doctors usually don't know what to offer, so it might be better to go the clinic with a suggestion list. so, any suggestions?
i was also thinking about CBD oil, has anyone tried it with similar intentions?
Hi I have a lot of trauma from DV and also have an anxious attachment. I was talking to someone , a great person, and he asked for some space. In my past DV situations there was threats of abandonment followed by abuse.
Anyways I reacted pretty crazy , I'm really embarrassed by it.
In my mind he became a bad person but not completely bad and I kept catching myself calling him by my exes name in my head.
This all took place online, no irl contact and it was almost like I couldn't get my mind to give him his true identity if that makes sense ?
After going off on him I quickly realized I was wrong and that he was just calmly and maturely asking for some space.
Does this sound like an emotional flashback?
I have them every now and then but I normally don’t encounter triggers. My work just started using a new scent in the bathroom and I cant walk in. Idk when I smelled this and what it’s taking me back to, but wtf?😂
This may be a little long so please forgive me. My wife has CPTSD. She'll do fine for a while but something will trigger her and she'll have what I can only assume is an emotional flashback (I obviously don't know. I'm not in her head). When she does it becomes all about me. I am enemy number one. The problem is I honestly don't know to do and/or say. I've tried just remaining calm and saying that she might need sleep or food or to talk to someone but saying those things just makes her more angry. She will typically yell and say I'm gaslighting her. But if I actually engage in the conversation it becomes a game of "guess how shitty I am" and if I don't engage at all she says that I'm just ignoring her and "emotionally abusing her." What can I do? Does anyone else get this way during episodes. Like it doesn't matter what anyone says it's going to be the wrong thing? If so how do you get past it? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi,
I’m having problems with my cptsd.
I have a flashback a few weeks ago and it sent me into a spiral. I was raped as a child, the visual flashback was orally. But ever since the flashback I have this feeling of a penis inside me, it’s uncomfortable and I don’t like it at all. I don’t feel like “turned on” it actually makes me want to cry and feel sick to my stomach. I think it’s a somatic flashback, does this sound like one? I was under the age of 11 so idk if this could’ve happened. Idk I’m doubting myself but also it happened the day after that visual flashback so it makes sense.
I would love anyone’s input.
I was told I have cptsd but now I'm hearing the diagnosis requires flashbacks?? I get triggered but do not have flashbacks. Now wondering if I don't have cptsd and if emdr wing help me. My mom was borderline and I get very triggered by perceived rejection or by being watched while I do things— to the point that it is debilitating snd can put me in a spiral for a couple of days.
Yesterday when I was laying in bed and was about to fall asleep I heard a gunshot. Sat up in panic and felt like I was loosing control of my own body, I honestly don't know how to describe it other than feeling like everything in my body was flaming up and shaking inside of me. I hate it, it seems that flashbacks occur to me mostly when I am tired, and especially when I am about to fall asleep. When I was younger it was hearing voices of family member that were screaming at me. It feels like nothing is letting me sleep. Even non taumatic events that were just stressful become flashbacks. Like if I drove a few hours and then wanted to go to sleep, I wasn't able to close my eyes since I would be back on the road forced to concentrate. Even gaming for long hours, I will hear enemies or buttons click if I close my eyes. Like please brain, you're not so bad but please shut up and let me sleep.
I was diagnosed very recently with CPTSD and I don't know very much about it. I have lots of nightmares, they intensify a bit when I take antidepressants or anything for insomnia and they get really vivid and strong, to the point that I wake up really distraught and sobbing. I don't exactly relive the same moments that I lived in my childhood but I do dream about similar situations, changing people and places, a lot of times making me worried about the future. These dreams also exacerbate when I find/remember something about a situation in my childhood that comes to light. Are these emotional flashbacks? or some other thing.
Is not really that important for me to know if they fall or not in the same category but I'd like to know more about it. Also I would like to know more or less if you present something similar and how do you cope with it.
Hi all I was just wondering if those of you who have repressed memories, flashbacks and just knowing something happened could share how those flashbacks and remembering/reincorporating those memories feels/felt.
I really feel like I am going mad, I feel like I must be making it up, I have recovered some lesser repressed memories and a decade ago two big ones, one of my Mum threatening to have me taken away if I cried then pretending to make the phone call and other was a single image of an erect penis, both times as I remembered I was back in that time and place, physically and emotionally, with the image I thought I was having a heart attack and also was paralysed and felt out of my body and felt very young, I would describe the repressed memory as like it is in a bubble that is seperate from me for protection, when they have come back I can feel that bubble as a kind of pressure as the memories pushing back into my conscious awareness, has anybody else experience this?
After my Mum died last year I started having feelings like those memories when they came back, I woke up in terror for two weeks, sometimes I still do but don't know why, I am in therapy and keep getting periods of feeling like something repressed is pressing against my awareness but I can let it in, as it gets close it feels like, its really weird it like a feeling I am screaming and out of control and if I let that in I am sure I will start screaming and that scares the shit out of me but I want to move past this now.
I think these repressed memories are part of my physical illness and inability to live as I used to and are so draining on my mental health. I am sure there are many different memories as the flashbacks feel different, some I think are physical abuse that come with huge pain to my neck and shoulders and trigger huge migraines, I also have areas of my body I cannot feel like a section of my back. Some are SA and trigger different sensations and feelings in my body.