Girlfriend having random flashbacks

Hello,

My 15 years old girlfriend has random flashbacks, they can happen at any time, even when sleeping or playing a video game.
She said she can't remember seeing anything in her flashbacks, sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't remember, but 90% of time she can't remember. They are approximatively 6-7 seconds long, but after that, for about a minute she has serious breathing problems, telling me she feels like her chest is burning or pressured, and can barely breathe. It happened many times when i was next to her, and for that period of time she became unresponsive.
Nonetheless, I suspect her of having bipolar disorder, because of her suicidal and depressive episodes, they're very intense and she seems to be lost in her own thoughts.
About the flashbacks, she never experienced any trauma, she said her flashbacks started when she was around 5-7 years old. She has hyperthiroidism and she is taking Selenium and Euthyrox medication.
She is curious, why is she experiencing those kind of flashbacks, even waking her up from sleep. Also a thing I should mention, sometimes her flashbacks are rare in a period of time, like no flashbacks at all, but sometimes they happen like 4-5 times a day in a week.

So, anybody can tell me what is it happening with her having those flashbacks ?

We can't really give you an answer; she needs a doctor to do that. But I really think she does need to see a doctor and talk about this. If she is too uncomfortable to do that perhaps she (and maybe you can go with her) could talk to a guidance counselor at school.

It is hard but you need to let someone know that she is having the suicidal thoughts. That's the first concern I think and the rest follows. Those thoughts are dangerous and she needs help to cope with them and stay safe.

I agree were not drs but your girlfriend does need to see a dr. Possibly two drs as those flashbacks don't sound like bipolar disorder to me. I don't really know because I am not a dr but that sounds more like seizures or something like that. You can have severe depression without it being bipolar disorder. If she's suicidal then she needs to see a psych dr asap.

I am so glad you are reaching out!
What a good friend!

I do hope our responses will help your girlfriend and you.

The most responsible advice we can offer is to stress the importance of proper professional evaluations/interventions. As soon as possible.

Please encourage your girlfriend to seek professional help from her Primary Care and others. I am hoping her PCP will set up the pertinent consults, asap.
I am guessing she may benefit from both neurological and psych consults.

As for her suicidal feelings, as mentioned above: maybe reach out to guidance counselor if/while waiting on a referral to a mental health professional. She can also check on crisis services in your area. There are also hotlines available.

You may also benefit from support.

This sounds like a physical problem to me. She needs to go to the doctor.

Thank you very much for your answers, I'm totally agree of her seeing a specialist and I'm encouraging her.

Also, I'd like to know what your personal opinions are on this thing, even if you're not doctors, what do you think it would be ?