ABSTRACT
For many people their traumatic memory feels as if it happened yesterday. It is so vivid, they remember not only what happened, but also the sights, sounds and smells associated with the event. When it comes to mind they may re-experience many of the bodily sensations that they had at the time of the incident, for example the sense of helplessness or horror. These flashbacks may occur in response to some reminder or may come out of the blue. At their worst, but rarely, the flashbacks may be so extreme that the person loses awareness of their surroundings for a time: these are dissociative flashbacks. Further your sleep may be disturbed by dreams of the incident and sometimes the dreams are of an even worse outcome. You may wake in a distressed state, have difficulty getting back to sleep and fearful of a reoccurrence of the nightmare if you do return to sleep. The nightmares may even affect your mood the next day.
