What I expierence is that a EF

Started by ET, October 21, 2014, 08:30:07 PM

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ET

Hi  :wave:
I don't know if that what I am experience are EF.
I am quite a activ person or better said I have a activ part.
It can happen that from one minute to the other I am suddenly in a dark pit
and feelings of total emptiness is in my head.
It is scary when that happens. Is that a EF?


schrödinger's cat

Hm, the thing is, I'm not an expert. It could be a flashback, it could be something else. In either case, I'm hoping you're not having one now? Having a really depressed mood just football-tackle you like that sounds scary.

Here's a very brief version of what therapist Pete Walker says about EFs:

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--if fear is the dominant emotion ---> feeling overwhelmed, panicky, even suicidal
--if despair predominates ---> sense of profound numbness, paralysis, urgent need to hide
--also common: feeling small, young, fragile, powerless, hopeless
Typically, all this is overlaid with toxic shame, which obliterates your self-esteem with an overpowering sense that she is as worthless, stupid, contemptible, or fatally flawed as she was seen by her original caregivers. This inhibits you from seeking comfort and support, and isolates you in an overwhelming and humiliating sense of defectiveness. EFs can cause you to forget that proven allies are still reliable. You flash back to your childhood when no one was trustworthy.
Another thing that happens is perfectionism. That can focus on your own actions, words, posture etc., and/or on people around you (=you become hypercritical). It can also lead to drasticizing, catastrophizing, extreme all-or-nothing thinking, etc.

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There's more about that here: http://www.pete-walker.com/fAQsComplexPTSD.html, scroll down to the bit where he talks about how to recognize flashbacks.
Here's something on managing EFs: http://www.pete-walker.com/flashbackManagement.htm and also http://www.pete-walker.com/13StepsManageFlashbacks.htm .