Flashback
When your brain replays a traumatic moment so vividly it feels like it's happening right now — not a memory, but a re-experience.
A vivid re-experiencing of a traumatic event where the brain replays sensory details — sights, sounds, smells, physical sensations — as if the event is happening right now. Caused by the amygdala activating trauma memories that the hippocampus hasn't properly filed away as 'past.' The body responds as if the danger is current.
How it works
Your brain stores traumatic events differently from normal memories — fragmented, vivid, and without a clear 'this was then, not now' timestamp. A trigger can replay sensory details so intensely that your nervous system responds as if the danger is present.
Think of it like
It's like a film projector that suddenly switches from today's movie to a scene from years ago — and your body can't tell the difference.
What it feels like
You're suddenly there again — the sounds, smells, and fear are immediate and overwhelming. It takes real effort to ground yourself back in the present.