[JustWannaDisappear]

10yrs ago I was involved in a fatal accident. I remember so much of everything and haven't until recently been able to talk about it. The last several months I remember a very scary part and am wondering if it could just be my mind playing tricks or if what I'm seeing in my flashbacks are real.

Is there a way to know for sure? I would expand on it but I don't want to upset/trigger anyone.

[roads]

There are scientists who specialize in memory re-capture & in trying to distinguish true from altered memory and those from imagination or illusion. This is cutting edge and I don't know of any therapists working with people who can really claim to be able to give even good answers--much less guaranteed ones.

[daughter_of_medea]

Of course I don't know any of the details of what you've been through, but sometimes I find it helpful to consider that all memories have a component of "truth" or "reality" in them, and that they are all also flavored by the perspectives and experiences that we bring to is. Have you ever watched a movie or read a book with a friend, and then compared impressions afterwards, and noticed how you each remember details differently? Same thing within our own minds, and the stronger the emotional impact (trauma), the more stuff gets "attached" to the memory. So, maybe it can be useful to consider that your flashback memory contains an important truth about your experience, whether the details of events are exactly factual or not. Talking it through with a good therapist who is knowledgeable about trauma & PTSD can help you decide what this flashback means to you and how you want to move forward and heal.

[Irine]

Originally Posted by Roadie

This is cutting edge and I don't know of any therapists working with people who can really claim to be able to give even good answers--much less guaranteed ones.

My therapist says the same.

[Coraline]

My own feeling about recovering memories is that if they begin with a lot of feelings - emotions, feeling trauma in my body (somatic memory, for example feeling like I'm activated and buzzing or trembling inside, or actually shaking on the outside), feeling sick and faint etc, these seems a very good indicator that the memory's reliable. If what's remembered was more like a story, more in my head - this happened, then that happened etc - i'd be doubting it more.

There's an article I saw recently that says the same thing. It's about trauma relating to childhood abuse but the focus is on recovering trauma memories so I think it applies to any trauma.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...99730903318467

I'm not sure if you're talking about a memory of something physical that happened (witnessing something, or physically feeling something). It's also possible to get memories of what happened for you psychologically at the time. But I won't go into that in case that's not what you mean. Thought I'd just mention it.

[Open Eyes]

Coraline,

Thank you for the information, it is very good information. I think the only thing I can say is that for me at least, I have both, things I could remember and things I blocked out. And the emotional experience of PTSD is quite a challenge.

Thank you,
Open Eyes