Psychology.

Mental Time Travel & Emotional Flashbacks.

The neurocognitive processes involved in flashbacks.

Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

I found emotional flashbacks one of the most debilitating symptoms of complex posttraumatic stress syndrome (CPTSD). I could be having a fantastic day and all of a sudden everything would spin out of control.

Emotional flashbacks feel exactly like re-experiencing a traumatic event or series of events, and though they can occur due to stress or the anticipation of stress, they also present without any explanation.

An emotional flashback includes the following:

• Speech, language, and comprehension dysfunction.
• Difficulty breathing (either shallow or gasping).
• Irrational emotions of anger, fear, and paranoia.
• Heart palpitations.
• Sweating.
• Incontinence.
• Stomach cramps.
• Dry mouth.
• Dizziness.
• Fainting.
• Hearing loss.
• Memory loss.

Emotional flashbacks feel like panic attacks except that flashbacks are rooted in past emotional trauma and can have little or nothing to do…