How to Handle Flashbacks: 4 Grounding Techniques to Try

Grounding techniques are the fastest way to handle a flashback: they pull your attention out of the memory and back into the present through your senses and your body. The four below are naming what you see, breathing out slowly, anchoring through your feet and hands, and talking yourself through the moment. Practiced in calm times, they work faster when a flashback hits.

This article is for adults and teens in Texas who get flashbacks after a frightening or painful event, and for the partners, parents and friends who want to help. It explains what a flashback is, four grounding techniques with step-by-step instructions, how to build a plan, what to say to the people around you, and when to get help sooner.

What is a flashback and why does it happen?

A flashback is a sudden re-experiencing of a traumatic event that feels, for a moment, like it is happening now. The National Center for PTSD describes PTSD as involving reliving the event, avoidance, feeling on edge, and sleep and concentration problems, and reliving is the symptom that flashbacks belong to.

Flashbacks happen because trauma memories are stored differently from ordinary ones: more as raw sensation and less as a finished story with a date on it. A smell, a sound, a season or a body feeling can open the memory without warning. The National Center for PTSD also notes that stress reactions after trauma are common and do not automatically mean PTSD; most people recover on their own, and treatment helps those who do not.

How do you know a flashback is starting?

You know a flashback is starting when the present begins to thin out: sounds feel far away, your heart speeds up, your body braces, and a feeling or image from the event pushes in. Early signs are different for everyone, and learning yours is half the skill. Common early signs include a sudden urge to leave, tunnel vision, a wave of nausea or heat, numbness, or a thought such as "it is happening again."

Keep a short note on your phone of your own early signs and the triggers you have noticed. Certain times of year can also raise the risk; Lyte's article on fall-triggered PTSD symptoms looks at seasonal triggers specifically.

Grounding technique 1: name what you can sense (5-4-3-2-1)

The 5-4-3-2-1 method brings you back by making you look, listen and touch on purpose. Say each item out loud if you can.

1. Name five things you can see: the color of the wall, a lamp, your shoes.
2. Name four things you can touch, and touch them: the chair fabric, your keys, a table edge, your sleeve.
3. Name three things you can hear: traffic, a fan, your own breath.
4. Name two things you can smell, or two you like the smell of.
5. Name one thing you can taste, or take a sip of water and notice it.

If you lose count, start again. Like all grounding techniques, the point is not to finish perfectly; it is to keep the senses busy with the present until the memory loses its grip.

Grounding technique 2: lengthen your exhale

A long exhale is the simplest signal to the body that the danger is over. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four, pause briefly, and breathe out slowly for a count of six. Repeat for one to two minutes. If counting is too hard mid-flashback, just make each out-breath longer than the in-breath.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people, though a few people notice more anxiety at first. If closing your eyes or focusing inward makes things worse, keep your eyes open and combine breathing with technique 1 or 3.

Grounding technique 3: anchor through your body

Physical grounding uses pressure and temperature to prove to the nervous system that you are here, now. Press both feet hard into the floor and notice the resistance. Push your palms together or against a wall. Hold something cold, such as a can from the fridge or ice wrapped in a cloth, and notice the sensation. Shift your weight slowly from one foot to the other, or rock gently if you are seated.

Name your body parts as you go: "feet, legs, hands." Some people keep a textured object, a smooth stone or a piece of fabric, in a pocket for exactly this purpose. Movement helps too: a short walk, even just to the next room, tells the body it is not trapped.

Grounding technique 4: talk yourself through it

Talking yourself through a flashback means stating the facts of the present out loud, in simple sentences, until they land. Use your name, the date, where you are, and what is true now. These are example statements, offered only as examples.

• "My name is ___. It is [day, month, year]. I am in my kitchen."
• "This is a memory. It already happened. It is not happening now."
• "I am safe in this room. The door is behind me. I can leave if I want."
• "My body is reacting to the past. It will settle. I have gotten through this before."

Keep the statements factual rather than forced. "I am safe in this room" works better than "everything is fine" if everything does not feel fine. Writing your three favorite statements on a card and keeping it in your wallet removes the need to find words in the moment.

Building a flashback plan: step by step

A flashback plan is a short written list of what to do, in order, that you can follow without thinking. Build it when you are calm.

1. List your early signs and your known triggers.
2. Pick your first move. For most people it is feet on the floor plus one long exhale.
3. Pick your second move. Usually 5-4-3-2-1 or the spoken statements.
4. Name one person to contact if it does not pass, and what you want them to do.
5. Plan the after. Water, a snack, a quiet task, no big decisions for an hour.
6. Practice weekly while calm, so the grounding techniques are automatic. The National Center for PTSD's PTSD Coach is a free app with coping tools and symptom tracking; it is not a replacement for professional care.

If you have ever had thoughts of hurting yourself during or after a flashback, fold that into a broader plan. Lyte's mental health safety plan template shows what to write.

What to say to the people around you

The most useful thing to tell the people close to you is what a flashback looks like for you and what you want them to do. The National Center for PTSD offers guidance for family members on how to help, including looking after their own well-being. Example requests, offered only as examples:

• "If I go quiet and stare, say my name calmly and tell me where we are and what day it is."
• "Please do not grab me or come up behind me. Ask before you touch me."
• "Remind me to breathe out slowly. You can breathe with me."
• "Afterward I need a few minutes alone and then a glass of water. Please do not ask me to explain right away."

When to get help sooner: red flags

Get help sooner when flashbacks come with any of the following, because grounding manages the moment but does not treat the cause.

• Flashbacks, nightmares or avoidance lasting longer than a month. The National Center for PTSD advises seeing a provider when symptoms last longer than a month, are very upsetting or disrupt daily life.
• Thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or feeling you would be better off dead.
• Losing track of time, finding yourself somewhere without knowing how you got there, or hurting yourself during a flashback.
• Using alcohol or drugs to blunt the memories.
• Avoiding so much of life that work, school or relationships are shrinking.
• Sleep that is badly broken by nightmares. The National Center for PTSD notes that insomnia and nightmares are PTSD symptoms and that treatment exists.

PTSD care in Texas: what treatment looks like

In Texas, trauma-focused therapy is available in person and by telehealth, and both formats are used for PTSD care. The National Center for PTSD describes cognitive processing therapy as usually 12 weekly sessions with worksheets between them, and other trauma-focused approaches follow a similar structured course. Medication is sometimes part of the plan.

Lyte Psychiatry offers telehealth visits to patients who are physically located in Texas at the time of the visit, and in-person visits are available at Lyte Psychiatry's clinic in Pantego, in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. Veterans and service members may also have options through the VA; the Lyte article on finding the right therapist for veterans with PTSD lists questions to ask.

Getting support in Texas

Lyte Psychiatry offers therapy, psychiatric evaluation and medication management in Texas. Most new patients are seen within 1–2 business days. Weekend appointments are limited. All Lyte Psychiatry services are available in Spanish.

Lyte Psychiatry is an outpatient practice. It does not provide inpatient care, crisis or after-hours coverage, medically supervised detox, or intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization programs. Availability, insurance and clinician fit require confirmation. Learn about PTSD care, therapy at Lyte, or contact the practice.

If you are in a mental-health crisis in the United States, call or text 988. Call 911 for immediate danger.

Educational information, not a diagnosis or individual treatment plan.