Hi, yes I mean distractions rather than mindfulness because when you're experiencing overwhelming intrusive thoughts etc, mindfulness can become extremely difficult.

In such a scenario, distractions focused on my surroundings (such as grounding exercises) work better for me. You can google grounding exercises for flashbacks.

One exercise which helps me if I'm feeling spacey is to push hard with my feet onto the ground, and/or stretch out my arms facing a wall and lean my weight against it.

Then you can also try to focus your attention on your surroundings...name what you see, hear, touch.

While doing so, I'll remind myself in a soothing mental voice that I'm safe now, no one is hurting me, these are images and emotions from the past. I'll talk gently to myself like comforting a scared child. If my mind is too overwhelmed, I'll chant the alphabet in my head or count numbers...visualising the letters or numbers.