Flashbacks! — Evolution!
It wasn't until the Vietnam War era and the 1980 inclusion of PTSD in the DSM-III that the flashback became the "hallmark" symptom we recognize today—defined by a vivid, sensory "here-and-now" reliving of events.
This paper explores the of the flashback as a clinical concept, arguing it is a "culture-bound" symptom rather than a universal human reaction to trauma. Key Insights from the Paper Flashbacks! Evolution!
For a deep dive into how "flashbacks" have shifted from a drug-culture term to a psychiatric staple, the most interesting paper is (Jones et al., 2003). It wasn't until the Vietnam War era and
Flashbacks and post-traumatic stress disorder: the genesis of a 20th-century diagnosis. National Institutes of Health (.gov) Flashbacks! Evolution!
The term "flashback" was originally coined in the 1960s to describe the recurring visual hallucinations experienced by LSD users .