For a person who is suffering from trauma, it is an everyday ordeal that never seems to go away. It affects them, but it also affects the people who love them the most. It can be difficult to understand trauma when you’re the victim, and understanding it as the loved one of a victim is even more challenging.
One of the areas that often seem to plague people who have experienced trauma is experiencing flashbacks. It’s possible that you have even had flashbacks of your own, but you’ve grown accustomed to them, or you weren’t exactly sure what was happening. The only thing you knew was that you were currently in a situation that you needed to get out of right away.
The Horror of Flashbacks
Many trauma victims have memories that they keep buried deep down inside of them. These memories are so severe and so horrifying, their subconscious minds have tried make them completely disappear. Unfortunately, they’re always there, lurking in the background.
For others who suffer from trauma, they can remember the events very vividly, and whether they are doing well with coping in their daily lives in spite of those memories or not, they are able to recollect the events that caused their trauma vividly. Either group is capable of having flashbacks, and they do.
A flashback can strike without notice and it often occurs because of a trigger that’s experienced that brings certain memories to mind. It can take the form of hearing a certain sound, smelling a familiar smell or even seeing an image. In his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk discusses how he spent a great deal of time studying trauma and the triggers that resulted in patients experienced flashbacks. One of the methods he used was the Rorschach test, which is done by showing a series of cards and recording what the person saw in the inkblots on those cards.
Quite often, certain images would evoke a serious flashback. One of Dr. Van Der Kolk’s patients in particular was immediate drawn back to a time of war when he witnessed a child being blown up in Vietnam. His physical response was one of panic and the symptoms he displayed demonstrated the fact that it was as if he was reliving that terrible event all over again.
Who Suffers from Flashbacks?
This response is very typical for flashbacks, but not all events have to be severe. A traumatic event is characterized as any life event that either you have done or that was done to you that caused you to experience serious emotional pain. As Dr. Van Der Kolk puts it, it is “unbearable and intolerable” because these events leave you with memories that affect your daily life. It is as if they attack everything you do and who you are.
Anyone who has experienced a trauma is likely to suffer from flashbacks. Perhaps you are, or perhaps you know someone close to you who is. Please know that help is available that can help you heal and bring you hope.
If you would like to talk with a professional who can help you, please contact me.
