Smells and sounds: Why does a certain scent make me panic?
Flashbacks and Triggers-Ask Liza Express Answers
Smell is the most powerful memory trigger your brain has. Unlike other senses, scent bypasses the logical parts of your mind and goes straight to the amygdala—the region that stores emotional memory and fear responses. When a smell resembles something from the trauma, your body reacts instantly, even if you can’t consciously place the connection.
This panic is not a choice; it’s a conditioned survival response. Your brain learned, at some point, “This smell equals danger.” So today, even if you’re safe, your nervous system fires the same alarm. You’re not reacting to the present scent—you’re reacting to the emotional history attached to it.
Trauma encodes sensory details more vividly than the event itself. So your body remembers what your mind tries to forget. The panic you feel is your system trying to protect you, not punish you.
Healing involves retraining the brain to reinterpret these signals. Through grounding exercises, controlled exposure, breathwork, and traumainformed therapy, you can teach your nervous system that the scent no longer equals threat.
You’re not "crazy" or "overreacting." You’re experiencing a normal physiological response to an abnormal past.
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