Get off the tracks!

what do you do when you think something is completely behind you, and I mean YEARS and with one innocent click of a button WHOOOSH....it's like the Tokyo Express just came barreling past my head, bringing with it all those memories that were supposed to be put away....you start feeling sick...try to breath calm....but I can't stop looking....even if I don't look, I can see it in my face, it's all back again, doesn't matter. Wow. I really thought this was gone. And gee, I suddenly find myself cutting everyone out of my life, even though I don't want to, gotta make room for all the intrusive thoughts that are everywhere. I can't stop it. To any and all who are caught up or casualties of this SOBs aftermath, I do truly, over and over and over again apologize.  But see that's just the thing....I'm not the only one, I know it. Maybe not to an extreme, but still...

It's happened to just about everyone, a situation, a place, a person in which you were in a painful place in your life at some point, but over time you managed to put it away, lock it in a safe closet where it should be. But inevitably, because the universe is so painfully cruel like that, the person, situation, place whatever is thrown back at you like....you're walking down the street *whistling* "Here catch!" yells a passerby at you and your automatic reaction is to reach out and grab it, keep it from getting hurt. It's only then that you realize you just rescued your nightmare. Irony. What a bitch. What is one to do? Slowly whittle oneself away? Who knows. I do know that I'm gonna go have a smoke before I go beating the shit out of something and inevitably hurting myself. (I'm such a weakling lol) What about you all out there? Thoughts? Recommendations? Examples?