dealing with flashbacks

[kirsty000]

2 months ago I was raped by a stranger I thought I had been coping ok until recently when I started having flashbacks. They are just like its happening again and they are horrible.Then after the flasbacks I can relax or shut my eyes because I see his face. Im just worried that im going to have more. Has anyone had flashbacks and how do they deal with them, I try to tell myself Im safe and nothings going to happen and its not real, but the flasbacks keep happening. I want to just get on with my life like I was before all this happend i just to get back to normal. My boyfriend is the only person who knows everything and im worried after a while he will start to get fed up of my problems, hes got enough things to worry about but he keeps telling me hes there for me. After the flasbacks I know im ok if hes there but hes not always going to be there when I have one. I need to know how to cope with this.
Kirsty

[diana_holbourn]

If you catch a flashback early enough, you might be able to distract yourself from it, by telling your brain to stop it, and then trying to focus as hard as possible on what's around you, like things you can see that you can feel OK concentrating on, things you can hear, the texture of any chair you're sitting on or any surface you can feel beneath your feet, and anything you can notice with your other senses. It might help you bring yourself back to the present, as well as refocusing your mind on something else rather than the flashback. And you could try reassuring yourself continually while it's going on that it's only your brain trying to heal itself.

If you keep a diary for the next few weeks and try to work out what's triggering the flashbacks off each time, by trying to remember what happened just before you had each one, writing it down, then you could reassure yourself better, because you could think about each thing on the list, and write down several reasons why your brain doesn't need to react to it as strongly as it has, and then remind yourself of the reassurances every day.

Breathing in a slow, controlled way could help to calm you down. For instance, if you feel a flashback might be coming on, if you count as slowly as feels comfortable to four while breathing through your nose with your mouth shut, and then breathe out in the same way, and keep it up for several minutes, it should calm you down quite a bit, as well as being another thing that focuses your mind on the present. If you try that several times a day just under normal circumstances as well, it will hopefully make you feel calmer in general.

[Snoopyseed]

Hello there hun, im so sorry to be hearing about whats happening to you i know this may seem out of reach to you right now but i do know that flashbacks can be brought under control, your welcome to come and join my site if you need to chat or talk to me in person diana has my contact details.
I can reccomend you speak to a counsellor as soo as possible and perhaps an hypnotist.This really really helped me.As did using bach flower rescue remedy and Valerian which helps to calm the body down.I would also reccomedn Oak flower remedy to give you some grounding.Hypnosis really helped me through the flashbacks coupled with reiki to deal with the underlying truama,Its different for everyone when it comes to dealing with these things, but if you need to chat with anyone im a fully qualified therapist myself and i also run a support network for survivors.
Whatever you do dont give up, and if Diana doesnt mind me mentioning a book to read i would reccomend Louise L Hay You Can Heal Your Life.

Powerful stuff!

Email me anytime for a chat!

Blessings to you
Snoopy