[become_UNmasked]

how do you deal with flashbacks? i want to throw a fit and how do you feel about inner child therapy work????

[shezbut]

(((become UNmasked)))

I have recurrent nightmares, and have been given a medication to help me sleep deeper (and then avoids nightmares & I sleep all night). For me, flashbacks don't occur while awake. Sorry

My T once talked about the option of inner child therapy for me, but went against the idea as time passed. He decided that since the trauma occurred several times through childhood and adolescence, then focusing on my inner child wasn't quite the answer. Your T may decide the same. Since this diagnosis is new for you, as is the recommended therapy, is this a new therapist as well?

I do have a friend who had the inner child therapy and she really liked it. It was very helpful to her. Her diagnosis was not PTSD though.

Best wishes to you.

[become_UNmasked]

well i don't have a diagnoses YET.. but he's leaning towards ptsd instead of borderline. inner child work is what he is focusing on for now... i'm still not sure how i feel about it.. i think so far it's been triggering to some negative moods and feelings... are flashbacks the same as reliving it?

[shezbut]

Originally Posted by become_UNmasked

.. are flashbacks the same as reliving it?

I believe that flashbacks are our minds tricking us into believing that we are going through the same situation/s again...and again. Very scary and sad!

[Rosie23]

My flashbacks are from doing something I was doing when the overwhelming emotions took place and they were clearly too much for me to process. Or I was unable to express those emotions at that time because it would have been dangerous to do so.

Repressed memories come back just like any other memory. Something always triggers you to remember. Sometimes you have the whole event and sometimes just the emotion for a memory. Too bad that sometimes they cause terror instead of laughter.

my t says that when i have a flashback she can see me right there going thru the experience all over again...the pain, horror, stress etc. it is as tho i am back at work or a child ...

it is different from a memory...with them while it is hard, it's not the same intensity...a flashback & boom..i am there..

an example...if i am in the middle of a work related one (severely intense law enforcement work) & you were to touch me..you would end up on the floor & i would be trying to handcuff you..or depending on it i would be fighting you for my life...seriously...

a memory..you touch me & it will take a bit to refocus but you won't get hurt

[Open Eyes]

((((become Unmasked))))

I am sorry your experiencing Flashbacks. When they started coming to me I was dumbfounded. I honestly didn't understand it at all. For me, what helped is that I paid attention to them and all the details that were in them. After they stopped I would think about the messages and what they meant. I had to really consciously tell myself, ok, yes, that did happen and it is over and I see why it came up and I will now see that it is a question, is this happening now, and I will work on saying no.

I think it is different for everyone depending on WHAT the flashback contains. I just found that, for me, if I paid a conscious attention to it and thought of it as a question than I could process it better and often it would stop. I always bring it up in therapy and work on consciously resolving it. I did find that it stopped them. No, it isn't easy but really work at calming yourself down and reminding yourself that whatever happens in the flashback is not happening to you now.

Open Eyes