What Are Emotional Flashbacks? Triggers & Coping Methods

What Are Emotional Flashbacks?

Emotional flashbacks differ from traditional flashbacks associated with PTSD due to the lack of visuals. In a traditional flashback, the individual experiences the visual component, such as memories. With emotional flashbacks, the individual experiences distressing emotions without the visual disturbances.²

Emotional flashbacks are often a symptom of C-PTSD. Although CPTSD is not recognized in the DSM-IV, it is widely recognized by providers who specialize in treating trauma. According to the CPTSD Foundation, emotions that were ignored and minimized in an individual’s traumatic childhood will often be triggered, leading to an emotional flashback.¹

Emotional Flashbacks Vs. Panic Attacks

Emotional flashbacks can trigger a panic attack; however, you can experience an emotional flashback without experiencing a panic attack. If you have panic attacks caused by your emotional flashbacks, working alongside a professional who specializes in trauma can help. They can help you to learn your triggers and how to cope effectively.

Symptoms & Signs of Emotional Flashbacks

Emotional flashbacks include both emotional and physical indicators, which can look different for everyone.

Common symptoms of emotional flashbacks include:

• Feeling shame, hopeless, or inferior.
• Catastrophizing or assuming the worst will happen
• Thinking in black or white
• Being overly critical toward yourself
• Judging others
• Increase in fight, flight, freeze, fawn response
• Noticing that your reaction/response does not match the current situation²

What Do Emotional Flashbacks Feel Like?

Emotional flashbacks can evoke a variety of emotions that were experienced during the past trauma. Typical emotions experienced may include fear, shame, despair, sadness, and anger. Those who have experienced an emotional flashback often report these feelings.

Common Triggers of Emotional Flashbacks

Common triggers that can provoke emotional flashbacks include anniversaries, sensory experiences, stressors, holidays, time of year, particular phrases, or facial expressions. An individual may also have internal triggers such as feeling sick, tired, or hungry.³

Common triggers of emotional flashbacks include:

• Anniversaries
• Holidays
• Smells
• Sounds (tone of voice, a specific song, etc.)
• Experiencing conflict
• Specific places
• Seasons (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring)
• Feeling hungry, tired, or sick.

The Psychology Behind Emotional Flashbacks

There is a strong connection between emotional flashbacks, past trauma, and the brain’s response to triggering events. Experiencing trauma, especially chronic trauma, can harm the brain’s ability to calm down from a perceived threat or danger. This can be associated with changes in activity in the amygdala, which is responsible for the activation of the fight, flight, or freeze response.¹

Emotional Flashback Impacts

Experiencing frequent emotional flashbacks can harm an individual’s daily life, relationships, and mental health. Emotional flashbacks are often debilitating and hinder the individual’s ability to function and complete daily tasks. Those who experience chronic emotional flashbacks might feel their quality of life is diminished due to the severity of their symptoms.

Experiencing emotional flashbacks can have a significant impact on the individual’s quality of life. Some people fear that they will encounter a trigger in an unpredictable environment, leading them to experience an emotional flashback. Eventually, this could lead to avoidance and hinder their ability to leave their home environment.

How to Cope With Emotional Flashbacks

The good news is there are practical coping methods and strategies to manage emotional flashbacks. Of course, the first step is recognizing that you are experiencing an emotional flashback. Once there is awareness, you can implement coping skills to decrease distress.

Use Grounding Techniques

There are helpful grounding techniques, such as mindfulness and sensory grounding exercises. Grounding and mindfulness techniques are particularly helpful in coping with the emotional consequences of trauma. Grounding will assist in reminding your body that you are no longer in danger and that you are safe.

Some ways to practice grounding include:

• 5-4-3-2-1 method: The 5-4-3-2-1 method involves identifying 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. This exercise orients the body to the present when the emotional flashback attempts to bring you back to the trauma.
• Exercise: Exercise helps mental health conditions, including emotional flashbacks. There is extensive research proving exercise to be helpful in treating mental health. Yoga, particularly trauma-informed yoga, is a popular form of movement that empowers the individual to heal their body, mind, and soul.
• Progressive muscle relaxation: A therapeutic technique that involves actively engaging muscles, creating tension, and then progressively releasing them. Progressive muscle relaxation is a quick and immediate way to reduce stress.⁴
• Utilizing Cold Water: Submerging part of, or your entire body into cold water can bring your body and mind back into the present. If you are not able to hop in a cold shower, try filling a bowl with cold water, holding your breath, and sticking your face into the bowl. You can also activate the Dive Response if you hold your breath in the cold water for 30 seconds.⁷

Practice Self-Soothing Strategies

Learning how to relax during an emotional flashback can provide immense relief from the distress you are experiencing. Attempt to engage the senses in a way that makes you feel safe. What smells bring you comfort? What temperature feels best for you in this moment? Self-soothing tends to the parts of us that were neglected or hurt during the trauma or traumatic events. Taking the time to relax provides the safety that your body and mind are longing for.

Meditation

Utilizing meditation for PTSD can help decrease overall distress that is brought on by emotional flashbacks. A meditative state provides the mind with a safe space to exist without judgment. If you find your mind wandering, you may find guided meditation to be more helpful.

Build a Support System

Leaning into your support is essential to managing emotional flashbacks. A supportive network can include friends, family, mentors, coaches, a therapist, or a support group. Re-experiencing the trauma through emotional flashbacks can evoke feelings of loneliness. However, loneliness and isolation can’t exist when we are rooted in connection.

Treatment Options for Emotional Flashbacks

The role of trauma therapy is to provide a safe, therapeutic environment facilitated by a mental health professional. It is important to note that treatment can look very similar, if not identical, to someone who has a PTSD diagnosis as the root is the same – traumatic experiences.

Common therapy options for emotional flashbacks include:

• Trauma-focused CBT: If you are between the ages of 3 and 18, trauma-focused CBT might be appropriate. TF-CBT is an evidence-based, trauma-informed intervention used with the child and their non-offending caregiver.⁵
• Cognitive processing therapy: A technique that helps clients learn how to modify and challenge unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. CPT can be used to treat emotional flashbacks by addressing these negative core beliefs brought on by the trauma(s).⁶
• Dialectical behavioral therapy: DBT for PTSD involves treating maladaptive behaviors or destructive thinking patterns that are brought on by experiencing trauma. Some may use maladaptive behaviors such as self-harm, risky sexual behavior, or substance misuse in order to cope with emotional flashbacks. DBT can help in the treatment and recovery from emotional flashbacks.
• Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR): A type of psychotherapy that involves the reduction of distress associated with traumatic events. EMDR involves bilateral movements combined with processing trauma.
• Sand Tray Therapy: A visual, hands-on way to process feelings, emotions, and behaviors related to trauma. Not only do people find sand trays to be a soothing sensory activity, but they also provide a space for an individual to physically detach from distressing events and process them.⁸