Dealing with Triggers and Flashbacks

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is a complicated and life-altering mental health challenge formed when a person is under extreme distress with no escape.

Many symptoms accompany CPTSD, with perhaps the most painful being the horrific flashbacks one experiences. This article will tackle flashbacks, the stress-related triggers that cause them, and methods used to defeat them.

Explaining Triggers

Triggers are anything that causes you to recall an experience, such as sights, smells, colors, songs, etc. These triggers are windows to the past, allowing it to flood the survivor’s consciousness.

Here is a brief story to illustrate triggers and how they influence the formation of flashbacks.

A woman named Cathy moved into a new town and knew no one except a few people at her place of employment. On the weekend of Christmas, Cathy has been invited to a party, and she goes. Upon arrival, Cathy is met at the door by her new friend and led into the house. Once inside, Cathy’s senses are assaulted by pleasant odors, such as the smell of freshly baked bread.

 

 

Two years later, Cathy walks down the street when she sees a new bakery has opened. Cathy goes inside, and the odor of freshly baked bread assails her. Suddenly, Cathy is transported back to the day she attended the Christmas party and had a wonderful time. Cathy feels she is back in her friend’s house for a few moments and finds herself smiling once she returns to the now.

Cathy had been triggered by the smell of the bread and flashed back to that crisp December day.

A person who has experienced trauma will experience negative emotions, including intense fear and the need to escape. Triggers lead to flashbacks, such as how Cathy in our illustration flashed to the pleasant experience she had at the Christmas party.

However, if the memories that flood back are horrific, your body will respond physically and mentally as though the perpetrator was still hurting you.

What are Flashbacks?

Flashbacks happen when memories of trauma in the past feel like they are happening in the now. During a flashback, the victim is transported to the moment when the trauma occurred, making it extraordinarily difficult to maintain contact with reality.

Often, in a flashback, survivors might feel that the perpetrator of their trauma is physically present, having been triggered by a random connection to the past through their senses. For instance, this author was traumatized by someone who wore a specific brand of men’s cologne while drinking beer. The scent of the cologne he wore can send me reeling into the past.

There are methods to help you if you find yourself in the middle of a flashback, including:

Deep breathing. Slowly take a deep breath in and exhale, slowly paying attention to how the air feels as it fills your lungs and the relief you feel from the release of that air. Deep breathing will not only allow you to reconnect with your body in the present, but it will also slow your body’s fight or flight response.

Remind yourself that you are experiencing a flashback. This method may seem a no-brainer, but it is difficult to do when your body is in fight-or-flight mode. Tell yourself that you are safe now and that what you are sensing happened in the past.

Employ all your senses. Look about you and list the items in the room, count the furniture, breathe in a comforting aroma, and listen to the surrounding noises. Do whatever it takes to employ all five of your senses to help ground you back in the here and now.

This list is not all-inclusive, as there are hundreds of methods to ground yourself so you can escape a flashback.

Ending Our Time Together

Stress is a significant contributor to triggering flashbacks and negative feelings about oneself. Stress makes everyone more vulnerable to experiencing triggers, especially those who have experienced complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Experiencing stress leads to many health problems and should be lowered as much as possible.

Triggers are sights, smells, tastes, touches, or sounds that are similar or the same as those survivors experienced that are connected to a traumatic event. While they are highly disturbing, flashbacks are ghosts from the past that are defeated by grounding oneself in the present.

There are at least four steps you can take to help you cope with triggers and flashbacks.

1. Know your triggers. Knowing your triggers can help you deal with them because it gives you a heightened sense of control.
2. Come up with a plan. A coping plan comprises thinking ahead of time about what you will do to regulate yourself when you are triggered.
3. Implement your calming techniques. Practice your calming tools so that you are prepared to calm yourself down when you are triggered.
4. Find a good therapist who understands complex post-traumatic stress disorder. You may explore other forms of therapy other than traditional talk therapy.

This month (May) has been mental health awareness month. I hope you have done something nice for yourself to help you feel your best. Remember, every day is a time to work on and improve your mental condition. Practice taking care of yourself and remember, that someone cares for you.

 

Are you a therapist who treats CPTSD? Please consider dropping us a line to add you to our growing list of providers. You would get aid in finding clients and help someone find the peace they deserve. Go to the contact us page and send us a note, and our staff will respond quickly.

Shortly, CPTSD Foundation will have compiled a long list of providers who treat complex post-traumatic stress disorder. When it becomes available, we will put it on our website www.CPTSDFoundation.org.

Visit us and sign up for our weekly newsletter to help keep you informed on treatment options and much more for complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Healing Book Club

As of May 7th, 2022, the current book will be– “A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD: Compassionate Strategies to Begin Healing from Childhood Trauma.”

by Dr. Arielle Schwartz.

Excerpt from Amazon listing–Repetitive trauma during childhood can affect your emotional development, creating a ripple effect that carries into adulthood. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a physical and psychological response to these repeated traumatic events. A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD contains research-based strategies, tools, and support for individuals working to heal from their childhood trauma. You don’t have to be a prisoner of your past.

 

Learn the skills necessary to improve your physical and mental health with practical strategies taken from the most effective therapeutic methods, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitization, and reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic psychology. When appropriately addressed, the wounds of your past no longer need to interfere with your ability to live a meaningful and satisfying life.

This book includes:

• Understand C-PTSD—Get an in-depth explanation of complex PTSD, including its symptoms, treatment through various therapies, and more.
• Address the symptoms—Discover evidence-based strategies for healing the symptoms of complex PTSD, like avoidance, depression, emotional dysregulation, and hopelessness.
• Real stories—Relate to others’ experiences with complex PTSD with multiple real-life examples included in each chapter.

Start letting go of the pain from your past—A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD can help show you how.

Besides this book, you have the option to also work through Dr. Schwartz’s “The Complex PTSD Workbook” as well. We have created a members chat group to share your experiences as you go through this workbook.

 

 

Mindfulness, Prayer, and Meditation Circle

 

Meditation can be an integral part of healing from trauma. Our 9-week self-study video course helps you integrate this fantastic method of grounding, centering, and focus. Join the Mindfulness, Prayer, and Meditation Circle today!

 

 

Trauma-Informed Meditation 

 

Join us for the free kick-off class of our new Trauma-Informed Yoga program! #yoga #mentalhealth #healing #wellness #cptsd We can’t wait to see you! https://ctpsdfoundation.org/traumainformedyoga

 

 

If you or a loved one live in the despair and isolation of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, please come to us for help. CPTSD Foundation offers a wide range of services, including:

 

• Daily Calls
• The Healing Book Club
• Support Groups
• Our Blog
• The Trauma-Informed Newsletter
• Daily Encouragement Texts

 

All our services are reasonably priced, and some are even free. So, to gain more insight into how complex post-traumatic stress disorder is altering your life and how you can overcome it, sign-up; we will be glad to help you. If you cannot afford to pay, go to www.cptsdfoundation.org/scholarship to apply for aid. We only wish to serve you.