DH and i couldn't change a lightbulb together. and the emotion underneath it was trust. i would get especially frustrated about stuff that i knew way better than he did. but the situations where we were closer to equal did have a different feel.

so, i think the answer is yes.

Which is why we tend to remember moments of pain or great joy over mundane experiences. The emotion you felt with your SO during the computer instruction might have been somewhat similar to the experience about which you had the flashback. Even if not the case, emotion is clearly linked to memory and PTSD especially. I saw a program on PBS about this a while back.

It never registered with me, and maybe it's an error to frame it so, that a flashback could be returning to a previous traumatic emotional state.

I've often felt like I snap into subroutines of personality that are emotionally/rationally limited...maybe this is also, or instead, a snapping into a previous traumatic emotional state???

And when I say trauma I don't necessarily mean a physically or emotionally abusive event, but something that generates extremely high anxiety or fear.

I've never run into anything about while poking around the internet in search of clues to understanding myself.

http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/ptsd

It is called This Emotional Life. The link above is to the episode or part on PTSD, but it was a three or four part series, very interesting.

You also might want to look at the archives for the radio show the Infinite Mind. It's no longer in production, but they still have online podcasts available.

http://www.theinfinitemind.com/index.html

http://www.theinfinitemind.com/mindprgm.html

i can't quite form fully coherent thoughts yet as i just started my first cup of coffee, but having an experience that takes us back to negative emotions rather than a specific memory makes perfect sense to me.

I have even had them triggered by a particular (ironically peaceful) weather situation that was going on during a particularly wretched and painful part of my life. It is a particular feeling in the air in the middle of winter when it is damp and perhaps has snowed a little bit. It can trigger some very real feelings of anxiety that I am certain relate to that time period.

I really haven't any idea what might be underneath such a thing, if it actually is the thing that is underneath this particular aspect of my problems.

if only we could insert a disk that had captured the moment but I think we embellish and exaggerate things for drama or tone things down to protect ourselves .maybe what you're seeing that's the emotional part is hiding the memory scene like something frustrating in the past you felt helpless about.
So its frustration about frustration -shit I feel that daily .