Re-living the Nightmare: Flashbacks and Why They Occur in Older Age

Life events that occur can include happy experiences but also things we would all rather forget. Being part of or even witnessing a traumatic event can affect us throughout our lives, recurring to haunt us when we are at our most vulnerable. Baby boomers who are old enough to have war experiences, for instance, might find they are distressed by flashbacks in older age, despite being trouble free for decades.

Some aging baby boomers find that upsetting events that occurred in childhood, such as the death of a parent, returns with vivid imagery in later life. Some of the events that scar human beings might be the death of a beloved pet or an act of cruelty. A child’s phobia can have a long reaching and permanent effect causing elderly problems in later life, despite being kept at arm’s length throughout many years immediately following the event that caused the problem.

There are many psychological disorders that could be the result of serious emotional damage in early life or a traumatic event that has not been properly addressed. Flashbacks are often the warning signs that all is not well. Sometimes they are simply the result of feeling vulnerable following the death of a friend or partner; occasionally, the cause is more serious and will require professional counseling to overcome the problem.

Flashbacks might take the form of fleeting images, seemingly unconnected with the task at hand. Alternatively, they may recur only when the sufferer is indulging in a particular and perhaps mundane activity, such as sweeping leaves or washing the car. The study of psychological connections made by the mind is a precise science and one that is rarely achieved with any success by unqualified parties, however interested and well meaning they might be.

Flashbacks might take the form of quite pleasing and apparently harmless memories or they might be a nightmarish and lengthy experience not easily put aside or dismissed as daydreams. During early adulthood, when the pressure of a busy family and working life exhausts on a daily basis, flashbacks might occur rarely if at all. As baby boomers progress into retirement, however, the incidence of bereavement and emotional upheaval might be more intrusive and lead to flashbacks becoming more intense; less manageable. Increased spare time might also allow for deeper introspection and result in flashbacks increasing in frequency.

Behind most flashback experiences, there is a psychological reaction to a previous experience lurking. For many people, flashbacks continue until the day they die and are accepted as part of life’s strange tapestry. Others find flashback incidents too disturbing to ignore and eventually seek professional psychological help to deal with them.