Flashbacks or dreams?

[_Jaffa_]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this or not so if it isn't sorry. It's just a question that I think about a lot....how can you tell if what you're experiencing are flashbacks of something that actually happened or are just weird fecked up dreams?

 

The reason I ask is because I see things in my head and I don't know if they actually happened or not. I mean, I know something weird did happen but the details are pretty hazy but since then I get these "visions" and I'm not sure if it's my brain trying to tell me what actually happened or if I'm just dreaming it?

[_Jaffa_]

I just re read this and it makes no fecking sense whatsoever. Sorry.

[theclockman]

LOL i used to get the same thing, but im a stoner. I used to find it really hard to separate what was a dream, and what had actuelly happened. I think (if your not a stoner) that your dreams are really real/graphic and your brain finds it hard to remember if it happened or if your dreaming.........if you follow what i mean

[_Jaffa_]

Yeah. I mean I KNOW something did happen but I don't really know what, although I have a vague idea. It's just these things I see now.....are they visions of what did happen, like coming back to me? Or are they just random bad dreams? How do you tell the difference?

[_Jaffa_]

I just read a different post and it mentioned repressed memories....Could that be what I'm getting? And if that's the case then it means the things I'm seeing actually did happen, in which case, I don't know how to deal with it.

[Juliana]

Write it down. Seriously; write down what you're seeing/dreaming. If you're having flashbacks, you'll get more. Gradually, whatever it is will integrate as a memory; you will begin to know whether or not it happened.

 

There's really nothing to do. Repressed memories come back on their own, usually when you're feeling pretty good about your life, or you're in a situation that in some parallels the one in which the memory was created. These things take their own time; you have to let them.

 

The most important thing you can do is to remind yourself: These are memories. Everything from this point on can be improvement. I am not going to go through that again in the future.

[shademan]

I think when you are too self absorbed you start getting dislocated from reality and that's why we start to wonder which things are real and then it evloves in questioning Is life really a reality or is it a screan infront of my eyes.

[theclockman]

what do you mean "self absorbed" ?

[shademan]

more like you keep thinking about ur own world and within urself, people look at you and it seems u cant see them. it's like ur looking through glass

[Juliana]

That isn't what self-absorbed means; self-absorbed means that you believe everything refers to you, and you rarely talk about anything but yourself.

 

What you are decribing is a state of dissociation -- specifically, derealization -- and yes, when one is dissociative, one will be more likely to have flashbacks.

[rocio]

Jaffa, I think there is a good possibility that you memories are real. If your father is an abusive person, then there is a good chance that his brother is also abusive (perhaps based on the environment they grew up in). If possible, try to see a professional who can give you more clarity.