Mental Health Any tips for handling flashbacks...?

[TheUltimateFixx]

.... which DON'T involve filling yourself full of lovely recreational chemicals, I mean.

(I realize I may be asking the wrong crowd XD)

 

[n3ophy7e]

No you're in the right place The Dark Side would also be a good forum for this but here is fine too.

Are you referring to PTSD flashbacks??

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

Yeah I deal with PTSD.

 

[n3ophy7e]

Yeah I deal with PTSD.

Me too
A very good start to managing it is knowing what your triggers are. Do you know what triggers your flashbacks?
I've found that you can't really stop flashbacks from occurring, but its more about managing how you react to it e.g. anxiety, panic attack etc. What happens when you have flashbacks?

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

There don't seem to be any specify 'triggers' for me. Like it's not I hear a certain sound or smell a certain smell and that will set me off. Instead they just jump on me out of the blue, like my panic attacks. Bott happen more often when I'm generally stressed and I'm continuously stressed out to all fuck at the minute.
And when I get them it's like a 3-D hallucination - like I forget I'm in the present and I think I'm in the past with the thing happening over again. Is pretty emotionally exhausting.

I wanna know if there's ways you can pull yourself back from it and ground yourself in the present? Or at least ways to calm yourself down quicker after?

 

[dragonix]

Hahhaa I needed this and appreciate it.

honestly I was looking for therapy in them but see another allure that is dangerous for someone like me

Joke aside I hope you find peace despite any

 

[TheUltimateFixx]

honestly I was looking for therapy in them

Yep that is usually what leads to disaster. Pretty much everyone I've ever come across with a REAL bad habit (myself included) got that way because they were using to cope with something / compensate for something. The worst motivation you can generally have for using anything, because then you come to rely on it. Hence why I worded my question like I did. I didn't work my way round to where I'm not taking drugs as a crutch to survive, only to start that shit over again.

 

[thefrozen]

I force myself to look at something very small or specific near me and describe it in great detail, talking out loud to myself. especially good if it involves something like counting or calculating and I can make it as complicated as possible to distract myself

like: the floor is white. it is made of shiny ceramic tiles. there are 10 tiles across and 15 down (count them) … you get the idea … that sort of shit …

really tough coz it is much more easy and comfortable somehow to be pulled back into the flashback LOL, you have to fight it

 

[n3ophy7e]

There don't seem to be any specify 'triggers' for me. Like it's not I hear a certain sound or smell a certain smell and that will set me off. Instead they just jump on me out of the blue, like my panic attacks. Bott happen more often when I'm generally stressed and I'm continuously stressed out to all fuck at the minute.
And when I get them it's like a 3-D hallucination - like I forget I'm in the present and I think I'm in the past with the thing happening over again. Is pretty emotionally exhausting.

I wanna know if there's ways you can pull yourself back from it and ground yourself in the present? Or at least ways to calm yourself down quicker after?

Yep, I know from experience that emotional exhaustion you referred to. And it takes away from your present life as well. It completely sucks.
Something that has always helped me (well, ever since I learned about it, and was taught by my psychologist how to do it) is mindfulness meditation. Look it up and have a read up on it. There are tonnes of resources online, and there are even apps for it. A really good one is called Smiling Mind.
Even something as simple as deep breathing, and focusing all your attention on your breath, can help pull you back to the present moment.

I force myself to look at something very small or specific near me and describe it in great detail, talking out loud to myself. especially good if it involves something like counting or calculating and I can make it as complicated as possible to distract myself

like: the floor is white. it is made of shiny ceramic tiles. there are 10 tiles across and 15 down (count them) … you get the idea … that sort of shit …

really tough coz it is much more easy and comfortable somehow to be pulled back into the flashback LOL, you have to fight it

That is excellent. That's actually a mindfulness exercise. Mindfulness is perfect for overcoming anxiety and panic attacks.

 

[Hippy Flower Fairy]

Do you also suffer from PTSD nightmares? if so look up Prazosin, it's actually for PTSD nightmares and seems to calm you down even into the next day, but it's not a sleep aid

 

[n3ophy7e]

Do you also suffer from PTSD nightmares? if so look up Prazosin, it's actually for PTSD nightmares and seems to calm you down even into the next day, but it's not a sleep aid

Excellent suggestion. Although to clarify, prazosin is a medication traditionally used for high blood pressure (antihypertensive), and it was discovered anecdotally that it helped with nightmares. Now it's prescribed off-label for nightmares.
Interestingly enough, I find that clonidine (another antihypertensive medication) gets rid of my nightmares too.

P.S. welcome to Bluelight!