Dealing With Nightmares And Flashbacks

Dealing With Nightmares And Flashbacks

Many people who have suffered a past trauma will go on to experience nightmares and flashbacks.  These can be petrifying and at times, appear so real that it is as if the trauma is happening all over again.

Nightmares can cause you to feel anxious about going to sleep and in my case, I soon began avoiding going to bed.  I taught my body to cope on just a couple of hours sleep per night and kept myself awake by sitting reading or thinking for hours.

Sleep deprivation only makes anxiety worse and I now understand that I need plenty of sleep to maintain my mental health.

Flashbacks are even harder to deal with.  They can come at anytime of the day or night. 

Often I could switch back to reality quickly and tell myself that this was not real and it was just my memory playing tricks on me.  Other times, dissociation would occur and I would sit and shake for hours, unable to move as the fear took over.  During a flashback, I could not only see visions of the trauma but also hear the words and smell the same smell of the room etc.  Flashbacks are like being punished all over again.

Again this is where self harm helped me balance my emotions, brought me back to the present and helped me to cope.