Flashbacks, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the Brain
Everyone experiences flashbacks. Most of the time flashbacks are benign
when they experience a trigger, such as the smell of fresh-baked bread and it reminds them of their grandmother.
However, flashbacks are a nightmare for those who have experienced extreme trauma in childhood or as an adult. This piece will concentrate on flashbacks that are part of the lives of those who live in the shadow of complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
What Are Flashbacks?
Flashbacks, in PTSD, are where one relives a traumatic event while awake. Flashbacks are devastating to those who experience them, as they are suddenly and uncontrollably reliving something that happened in their past.
Flashbacks are akin to vomiting when having a stomach virus.
You cannot choose when or where it will happen.
Yet, flashbacks are not like a nightmare, where the person wakes to realize it was only a dream. People experiencing flashbacks become transported back to the traumatic event, reliving it with all its sights, sounds, and fears as if it were happening in the present.
