Do You Have Momentary Flashbacks?

Does anyone here have flashbacks to something that DIDN'T happen?

I have a vivid memory that pops up occasionally of a trip to Moscow I took with my mother. The problem is that I didn't take a trip to Moscow with my mother. I haven't taken a trip to Moscow with anyone. I've never been to Russia.

It's so vivid, though. I can describe the hotel we stayed in. I know what we were wearing. I can remember the plane trip.

And, no, I've never used LSD, so it's not THAT kind of flashback. Just your garden-variety flashback except there's no garden.
When I was about 10 years old, I could see in my mind (often) slaves in the desert making clay bricks. I began writing poetry about them.
My Mom freaked out how detailed they were. Only thing I can think now is I loved the movie Ben Hur with Charlton Heston and so much
I was probably putting myself into the movie.
 
Does anyone here have flashbacks to something that DIDN'T happen?

I have a vivid memory that pops up occasionally of a trip to Moscow I took with my mother. The problem is that I didn't take a trip to Moscow with my mother. I haven't taken a trip to Moscow with anyone. I've never been to Russia.

It's so vivid, though. I can describe the hotel we stayed in. I know what we were wearing. I can remember the plane trip.
Yes, I do that once in a while. I've wondered where this comes from. My best guess is that we are remembering dreams. I've actually sorted that out to dreams as the source a couple of times. They may be from dreams from years past, which makes it harder to sort out.
 
Many of the major events of life that were anticipated and planned seldom come to mind. It is the little bits and pieces that seemed completely unimportant when they occurred. Like 30 years ago, my wife standing in the drive waving a quick goodbye to me as she went to see her mother - or, the time a duck chased her when we went to a farm.
 
Does some little insignificant time in your life come back to you momentarily?

It’s not triggered by anything. You just remember it.

I feel like I’m having more of these. Today I was folding laundry and a memory of a rest stop along the Columbia River popped up. It was just a short flash. This would have been 10+ years ago. Sometimes it’s something from my youth.

Yes. Often. It's distracting. Usually of obvious mistakes made in the past.
 
Mostly unpleasant flashbacks to me. Wish they'd stop, but they increase. Probably a neuronal chemical reason involved
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Yes. Often. It's distracting. Usually of obvious mistakes made in the past.

You're right. With me, it's often mistakes from the past I can't seem to get over and forgive myself for so I choose to put them in the back of my mind until they pop up again.

Yes, too many that are intrusive and not helpful nor enjoyable. I'm learning to put them in their places in favor of happier thoughts and visions. It's worth the effort.
 
It makes me wonder, how much is locked away in our brains that we have lost the path to access anymore? I'm 70, and that's 70 years of events. Most mundane, some exciting. How much is still there, such as these random memories which appear at times? Sadly much of it has become vague and distorted by the years.
When my mother was in her 90s, her mind was still good, but much about her earlier life was just down to the bare details, and even some of those she got wrong. I see myself going that way. My children recall so much which I can't recall anymore. As time passes more of it slips away.
My spouse and I get into our worst fights about who's right about a past event. You just have to laugh it off.😄
 
When I went biking. Oh here I biked when I was 19! Oh here I biked with the kids! Oh here we walked in the wood with the cow! Here I always biked home and climbed this huge hill! Here we biked to the indoor playground. We biked through 2 places where I lived years ago.
 
I would not really call what I experience as a flashback.
It is more like remembering with feelings.
I have these more often the older I get.
Most times they are pleasant memories.
Knowing that others do as well makes me feel better about my sanity.

The mind is a tricky little devil.
As long as I can still tell reality from a dream am ok with past memories.

🧚‍♀️🦄🧚‍♂️
 
For me, a song I hear triggers a flashback. It is all about music for me. My only real quiet time is when I spend time in our courtyard. Today, "California Dreamin" was in my head. It's usually "Summer Breeze" when I look at the jasmine. When I hear some songs, they put me right back into a place/time that I remember vividly.
Like seadoug, I have flashbacks when I listen to music. Sometimes I do not mind, sometimes it makes me feel nostalgic.
Recently, I lost three acquaintances. These women lived each in cities we lived in previously. It brought me back to the past while I thought of them. I was particularly sad about it because two of them were quite young with families and it was totally unexpected.
 
Does some little insignificant time in your life come back to you momentarily? It’s not triggered by anything. You just remember it. I feel like I’m having more of these. Today I was folding laundry and a memory of a rest stop along the Columbia River popped up. It was just a short flash. This would have been 10+ years ago. Sometimes it’s something from my youth.
There is a scientific term for this.

What you’re describing is most commonly called involuntary autobiographical memory (often shortened to IAM).

An IAM is a sudden, unintentional recall of a personal past experience, often:

  • seemingly random
  • triggered by something subtle (a smell, sound, texture, thought chain)
  • sometimes very vivid
  • often about ordinary, “nothing special” moments
Examples like opening a can of soup from decades ago, or a sudden recollection of sharpening a pencil in grade school...

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Yes, flashbacks mostly of my earlier years.
Wish I could have a flashback right now
.
I bought a three ring binder which I wanted to use for some important paperwork.
It was very hard to open and I just could not do it with all of my fussy hand problems.

I thought I would ask my neighbour across the hall to help me but he was not at home
so I came back with it and that is the end.

Our doors are almost opposite and I know I did not go anywhere else....or did I ?
I cannot find it anywhere in my apartment.
I have tried to remember what I did with it when I came back to my own apartment.

That is a flashback I would like to have!
The paperwork is still in my desk..waiting.....
 
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