I remember when I first started working with trauma survivors I had one client* who struggled with powerful olfactory flashbacks. She would remember a certain smell from her molestation as a child and this flashback would provoke an avalanche of trauma symptoms that turned her life into a living hell of nighmares, flashbacks and terror which would last about two days. We knew if we could interrupt the olfactory flashback we could stop the process. I was young and turned to my mentors for advice. But everything I was told seemed so, well, lame. "Lavender is a cleansing scent", "Vanilla is purifying", "Tell her to chant positive affirmations", etc. I instinctively knew these would not work. Trauma reactions are instinctual, biological and very, very powerful forces. I felt like I was being handed "warm snugglies" to throw into the face of a gale force wind.
So I went back to what I knew, that the olfactory flashback originates in the brain. And it's a memory. What we needed was something so powerful it would yank the brain back into the present. Some smell so powerful that the brain could not ignore it for a memory from the past.
At the same time I had a client who was abusing Vicks Inhalers. This strange combination came together in my mind with a bang - Vicks Inhalers! Have you ever stuck one of those up your nose? My gosh, they seer through your nasal passages like acid. If that won't bring the brain back to 2009 nothing will. So we tried it. And it worked perfectly! Not only was it effective, it was cheap, small, easy to carry and discreet. The generic inhalers are maybe $2.50 for a package of two inhalers. They are small and compact and where I live, everyone suffers with allergies. So sticking an inhaler up your nose in the middle of the grocery store would never cause a second glance. Perfect!
Being able to control the olfactory flashbacks empowered my client and allowed her to see that she no longer had to be a victim of the molestor or the symptoms he caused. She could get control of her own mind and body and emotions. And if she could control those, she could control her own life.
You are your own best healer. If this doesn't sense to you, don't do it. If this is the answer you've been looking for, take it. But make your own decisions and think for yourself.
See the Sexual Abuse, PTSD and Trauma sections for more articles on this topic.
*Client vignettes are always fictionalized to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the client.