When a flashback comes back to haunt you

[Chad]

Every now and then I get a random flashback of something long forgotten that makes me either shudder or cringe. Sometimes something out of the blue comes to mind that makes me think WTF?

I just remembered something from a works night out back in 1997. I was new with the company and my team decided to go 10 pin bowling. Everything got a little rowdy with drinks galore. I didn't really know my new colleagues so I suppose I was going for the Dutch courage approach. I've just remembered for the first time in 17 years I was standing outside the bowling alley with my jeans and underpants down at my ankles for no good reason in front of innocent by standards with people shouting at me. What was I doing? I have no idea.

Anyone else had these type of random flashbacks?

Some of the random stuff I get from my trip to Amsterdam 14 years ago are inexplicable and shameful

very often but not gonna go into detail lol

[weenie]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

very often but not gonna go into detail lol

ditto and I don't have the excuse of drink.
Mainly before I met my hubby at the grand old age of 17.

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I have a few, mostly social gaffs from when I was much younger. I look back and think "You idiot"

I try not to dwell on them though as the more you remember them the stronger they get but just occasionally a similar situation will cause one. Guess it's a sort of déjà vu

This.

[Gary L]

The only flashbacks I sometimes get is the ones where I was being baby sat by my 2 Aunts when I was between 10 and 14.

Not often enough, though

Originally Posted by Gary L

The only flashbacks I sometimes get is the ones where I was being baby sat by my 2 Aunts when I was between 10 and 14.

Not often enough, though

Now why does this remind me of a certain song by Queen.

Did your aunts have generously proportioned derrières by any chance?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I have a few, mostly social gaffs from when I was much younger. I look back and think "You idiot"

I try not to dwell on them though as the more you remember them the stronger they get but just occasionally a similar situation will cause one. Guess it's a sort of déjà vu

Same here. I suspect if you ask anyone, we've all made mistakes in the past.

I can certainly think of a few situations where I've made a gaff (sometimes drink related and sometimes not) that I look back at and think "why did I do that?".

Very few I can go into here though.

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by Chris

Now why does this remind me of a certain song by Queen.

Did your aunts have generously proportioned derrières by any chance?

Everything was just the right size.

I remember standing on car bonnet with my trousers and boxers down on a night out. A police car drove up and they simply said "get down you prat". Took All the fun/silliness out of the moment and left me feeling... Well a right prat.

Sometimes that memory can strike me out the blue and I hate it. I actually feel embarrassed now an it was 15 years ago.

[GrimUpNorth]

It's when the flashbacks don't stop you from doing it again (and again!!!)...

Cheers

Grim

[Matthew]

Frequently have them, more often when driving, just stupid things I have done in life but I think why!

[idi banashapan]

intrusive thoughts can be triggered by anything really, even stimuli you only register on a subconscious level. but they can be triggered through sight, smell, sound, emotive state, texture... anything really. and don't forget that memories, especially those of a long time ago, can be severely altered and no longer like the actual event. to remember is just that, a recreation put together from snippets of information, often distorted over time or due to emotive influences at the time. the memory is also often heavily influence by current stimuli. that is to say, your current environment or surrounding, your current mood and so on can change the way in which you remember the event. those things which are mainly internalised are also amplified. in a few of the examples you guys talk about above, they are of moments you feel silly about, and thus are not likely to have been shared too much after the event. you try to suppress the memory of the event because it brings about negative emotions related to the event. in your mind, the event then becomes much worse than it actually was. and then those times when you suppress the memory when it pops up randomly, can also become triggers for a flashback at a later date resulting from a subconscious (or conscious) stimuli.

have fun trying to forget!!