1.) Flashbacks and other intrusive symptoms are automatic reactions in which a survivor temporarily associates some trigger in the present with an aspect of their past abuse.
2.) This results in dissociation from the comfort and security of the present and a re-experiencing of the past abuse.
3.) The automatic reactions may be thoughts, feelings, or somatic sensations that disrupt current functioning.
4.) Automatic reactions are extremely common, insidious and often operate below conscious awareness, making the survivor feel confused, upset and out of control.
5.) Common emotional reactions are: fear, panic, terror, anger, sadness, shame, disgust, paranoia, anxiety, confusion, suspicion and emotional numbness.
Common physical sensations are: nausea, pain, headache, tight stomach, rapid heart beat, chest pain, adrenaline rush, sweat, chills, cold, genital pain, flushed, euphoric, inappropriate sexual excitement, spontaneous orgasm, sleepy, faint, or physical numbness.
Common intrusive thoughts include: abusive sexual fantasies, thinking partner is an offender, thinking the past is the present, thinking you are a child, thinking you are bad, thinking you are inadequate, thinking you are unworthy of being loved for yourself, wishing you were someplace else.
6.) Some automatic reactions last for seconds, some for hours. Automatic reactions usually occur in a series, linked up so that one triggers another. A chain of automatic reactions can trigger compulsive sexual behavior.
7.) Your triggers may be known to you, dormant for years or difficult to identify. Identifying and analyzing your triggers gives you power. The triggers lose their secrecy and mysteriousness once you understand them.
8.) Reducing the number of triggers in your life may make it easier to deal with your automatic reactions. Also, eliminating stimulants may help. Counseling and support groups are essential.
9.) Questions to ask yourself in discovering your triggers:
a) Where were you at the time of the abuse?
b) What were you like at the time?
c) What was the offender like?
d) What was your relationship to the offender like?
e) What touch and sexual experiences did you have during the abuse?
f) What was happening inside your body?
g) What were your emotional experiences?
h) Other sensations, feelings or thoughts you experienced at the time of the abuse.
10.) The key to handling automatic reactions is to bring them into your awareness, understand them, and find ways to cope.
11.) The following steps provide a format for you to analyze and master your intrusive symptoms:
A) Stop and become aware: Acknowledge what's happening. Say to yourself, "I'm having an automatic reaction." Assume you have hit a trigger.
B) Calm yourself: Tune into your body. What are you feeling? Tell yourself something reassuring. "I'm safe, no one can hurt me." Take slow, deep breaths. Relax your muscles. Go to your "safe place".
C) Identify past situation: When have you felt this way before? What situation were you in the last time you felt this way? Try to identify the trigger.
D) Identify similarities: In what ways are this current situation and your past situation similar? For example, is the setting, time of year, or the sights, sounds, sensations in anyway similar to the past situation when you felt this way? If there is a person involved, how is she or he similar to a person from the past who elicited similar feelings?
E) Affirm your current reality: How is your current situation different from the situation in the past in which you felt similar feelings? What is different about you, your sensory experience, you current life circumstances and personal resources? What is different about the setting? If another person or persons is involved, how are they different from the person(s) in the past situation? Affirm your rights: "The abuse was then. This is now."
F) Choose a new response: What action, if any, do you want to take to feel better in the present? For example, a flashback may indicate that a person is once again in a situation that is in some way unsafe. If this is the case, self-protective actions should be taken to alter the current situation. On the other hand, a flashback may simply mean that an old memory has been triggered by an inconsequential resemblance to the past such as a certain color or smell. In such cases, corrective messages of reassurance and comfort need to be given to the self to counteract the old traumatic memories.
Adapted from "Resolving Traumatic Memories" (p. 107) by Y.M. Dolan, 1991, New York: W.W. Norton and from Wendy Maltz's "The Sexual Healing Journey", Harper Collins Publishers, 1991, Chapter 5.
Copyright Michael J. Sturm 5/95
Write down your process through this experience, or draw about it.
Remind yourself of the date and time. Remind yourself of where you are, how old your body is, and that you have lots of capabilities and knowledge.
Feet are very sensitive: put an ice pack under your feet, stamp them, or rub them on the carpet a few times. Rub your arms and legs. Name five things that you see in the room around you, then do it again until you know where you are. Flex your muscles all over your body.
Treat yourself without overindulging. Have some herbal tea, take a hot bubble bath, read a relaxing book. Burn incense, scented candles, oils, or potpourri to awaken your sense of smell. Play calming music.
