After going through a traumatic event, such as abuse or sexual assault, an accident, or a catastrophic illness, some people start to worry about it and experience flashbacks that make it seem like the event is happening all over again.

1. How Can I Control My Flashback Reactions?
After going through a traumatic event, such as abuse or sexual assault, an
accident, or a catastrophic illness, some people start to worry about it and
experience flashbacks that make it seem like the event is happening all over
again.
Flashbacks can be upsetting, and you might feel powerless to stop them or
control them when they happen. Coping mechanisms are necessary because
flashbacks can cause a variety of unpleasant emotions in addition to distress
and worry. In this post, we'll go over intrusive memories and flashbacks in
more detail, as well as some coping mechanisms.
A flashback is what?
Let's first examine what a flashback is in detail. When you find yourself reliving
a horrific situation or upsetting event from your past, this is known as a
flashback. Even though you're not necessarily thinking about the event itself at
the moment, they can be brought on by a variety of various things and occur
randomly or when you least expect them.
Flashbacks typically manifest in one of two ways:

2. ● Having intense, unwanted memories of the incident as well as
unwanted thoughts about it
● being set off by sights, sounds, or odors that bring the experience back
A flashback might make you feel as though you are once again in the action of
the incident, with the emotions you experienced occasionally pouring back.
When you're experiencing a flashback, you can go with telehealth for
anxiety. It might be challenging to distinguish it from reality because it can be
quite strong and terrifying.
You might feel certain physical signs and symptoms of anxiety,
including:
● heart flutters
● trembling nausea
● Sweating
● slender chest
● breathing difficulty
Your brain experiences a terror response, which sends you into fight, flight, or
freeze mode. Flashbacks are the first indication that your mind is still
processing what happened.
What causes my flashbacks?
The human brain will react in a particular way to a stressful incident. The
amygdala, the seat of your instincts and emotions, takes over when the
prefrontal cortex, the brain's CEO, shuts down.
The reason for this is that, while our amygdala reacts instinctively and makes
sure we are safe before we start thinking about what happened, our prefrontal
brain would prolong our reaction and may so delay us getting to safety. When
we are secure, the prefrontal cortex activates again and the amygdala goes
into standby mode.
The region of the brain that observes experiences, converts them into
memories and stores those memories is called the prefrontal cortex. It makes
sense that we don't remember events clearly if this portion of the brain is shut

3. off following a traumatic experience. Instead, because the amygdala is
nonverbal, it interprets and remembers memories as instinct and emotion.
When those memories return to your mind because of the powerful encoding
of the negative emotions by the amygdala, you will react with frequently fearful
emotions as if they were really happening, with little to no control over your
reactions. This also explains why, since these are basic survival processes,
flashbacks can force someone to enter fight, flight, or freeze mode without
thinking about what is happening.
Flashbacks seem so real because your brain perceives them as such, which
is why. The amygdala may select particular details from the memory to
negatively respond to, which is why you may be triggered by anything you see
or smell, even if it is not in the context of the memory. Your brain is unable to
differentiate the event's context.
For instance, if you were the victim of a vicious attack and the attacker had a
lion tattoo on his or her body, your brain might recall this lion tattoo as a lone
traumatic experience and link lion tattoos to extreme dread and agony. You
can experience a flashback and be immediately transported back to the attack
when you see someone who has a lion tattoo.
Even if the tattoo is on a different person and the situation in which you are
viewing it is wholly different and unrelated to the actual occurrence, seeing the
lion tattoo could be enough to cause you to experience all the feelings you felt
at the time of the attack.
Controlling flashbacks
Flashbacks can occasionally be managed with time as your brain gradually
absorbs what happened. To comprehend the incident and make an effort to
move on, though, you might need expert assistance. It's crucial to keep in
mind that even while the traumatic experience may have a lasting impact on
you (even if you don't remember it), it doesn't have to rule your life indefinitely.
It is possible to regulate the flashbacks. Several strategies can be used to aid
with this.
Going over a traumatic experience might be the last thing you want to do after
it, but it's typically the first and most important step in dealing with the effects.
Traumatic experiences can, as previously noted, have an impact on your

4. memory, causing some details to be "forgotten" and divided into distinct
memories, making it challenging to recollect the entire event. You can begin to
put all your fragmented memories together, much like a puzzle, by writing
about the experience or recounting it to someone (a trauma-informed therapist
is recommended).
You can go through each section piece by piece, filling in any gaps, which will
eventually enable you to comprehend the entire thing as a single memory.
Discover your triggers
Knowing what causes a flashback is essential for better understanding your
flashbacks and possibly avoiding situations that could cause them, which can
aid in flashback prevention. Try to go back in time after having a flashback to
determine what precipitated it. It might be a taste, a scent, or both.
Make a list of your triggers and look for strategies to prevent them. For
instance, try to steer clear of TV shows about medicine if the sight of an
operating room sets off your trigger.
It's crucial to try to work through your triggers and confront them head-on
because this won't work for every type of trigger. Both exposure treatment and
cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which modifies how you see things,
including painful experiences, can help with this.
Grounding
A flashback might make it difficult to distinguish the present from the past, but
grounding can assist. To remind yourself that you are in the present and not
during the traumatic incident, you can try touching something, saying your
name and the date, or counting items (such as five objects you can see).
Some people find that caressing or smelling an anchoring or grounding object
they take with them in case they experience future flashbacks, it might help
them stay in the present.
Others have discovered that stopping the progression of flashbacks by
focusing on their five senses (something you can see, taste, hear, smell, and
touch) might be helpful. Sozo Centers is one of the best depression

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