A vivid, distressing involuntary re-experiencing of a traumatic event, in which the person feels as though the event is happening again in the present moment rather than being a memory. Flashbacks are a hallmark symptom of PTSD. They can be triggered by sensory cues — sounds, smells, physical sensations, images — associated with the original trauma. For cardiac arrest survivors, triggers may include hospital environments, the sound of an alarm, the feeling of chest pain, or news stories about cardiac arrest. For co-survivors, triggers may include the location where the arrest happened or seeing the survivor unwell. Flashbacks are distressing but treatable — therapies such as EMDR and trauma-focused CBT are specifically designed to address them.
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