From Flashback to Flash-forward: The Continuum of Intrusive Memory and Mechanisms of Suicidal Behavior

Context and Relevance. Suicidology faces a prediction crisis – risk assessment methods based on verbal self-report poorly predict the transition from suicidal thoughts to action. Attention is shifting towards suicidal imagery, or flash-forwards, which influences affect and behavior more strongly and may serve as a proximal risk marker. Objective. To ground a model in which traumatic flashbacks and suicidal flash-forwards appear as links of a single continuum of intrusive memory associated with impairments of autobiographical memory and episodic future construction. Materials and Methods. A theoretical integrative review with a targeted search in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, APA PsycNET, ScienceDirect and eLibrary.ru covering 2005–2026. Results. Suicidal flash-forwards differ from verbal rumination in sensory richness, a first-person perspective with a here-and-now quality, and a mental rehearsal function that reduces the fear of death and intensifies entrapment. Overgeneral memory, a deficit of positive episodes and dissociation impoverish future modeling, so that the image of death remains one of the few accessible models of crisis resolution. Conclusions. Integrating the constructive episodic memory account, motivational-volitional and interpersonal models of suicide, and the system-dynamic approach describes the flash-forward as a mechanism transforming a traumatic past into a suicidal future scenario. The practical implications include the assessment of suicidal imagery, its modification through imagery rescripting, the restoration of memory specificity, and training in positive prospection.

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