Anyone else get triggered by sounds/smells after their crash? Thought I was losing it

You are absolutely not alone. After my crash last year I couldn't even sit in the passenger seat without gripping the door handle the whole time. The smell of burnt rubber would send me straight back to the moment of impact. It took a few months and honestly some therapy before I started feeling like myself behind the wheel again. What you're describing sounds like a really normal response to a really abnormal event — your brain is just trying to protect you, even if it's overdoing it.

Please don't minimize this because your physical injuries weren't severe. What you're describing — the intrusive replaying, the physical shaking, being triggered by sensory stuff like smells and sounds — those are textbook trauma responses. The body keeps score whether we want it to or not. I'd genuinely encourage you to bring this up with a doctor or even a therapist who does EMDR or trauma-focused CBT. It's very treatable, but it tends not to just vanish on its own without some support.

Oh man, please don't feel embarrassed about this. Trauma doesn't have a 'severity requirement.' You went through something terrifying and your nervous system is still in fight-or-flight mode. That's not weakness, that's just being human. I really hope you talk to someone — even a crisis text line could be a good first step if you're not ready for a full appointment yet.

Just flagging something from a legal standpoint (not legal advice): what you're experiencing could actually be documented as part of your injury claim if you haven't closed anything out with insurance yet. Psychological trauma — including PTSD symptoms — is a recognized category of damages in personal injury cases. Getting evaluated by a mental health professional creates a record. Don't sign any settlement releases until you have a clear picture of all your symptoms, physical and mental.

Be really careful if an adjuster calls and asks how you're 'doing.' They are trained to get you to say you're fine. You are NOT fine, and what you're going through is real and compensable. Don't volunteer information about your mental state to them — it can and will be used to minimize your claim.

From a documentation standpoint — start keeping a journal right now if you haven't already. Write down every episode: what triggered it, how long it lasted, how it affected your day. If this ever becomes part of a claim or lawsuit, that contemporaneous record is gold. Also, any mental health treatment you get should be tied back to the accident in your medical records. Make sure whoever you see knows this started after the crash.

I used to work on the claims side and I'll be honest — psychological injury from accidents is chronically undervalued because people don't report it. They feel exactly like you do: 'I wasn't hurt that bad, so why am I like this?' Meanwhile the claim gets settled low and the person is still struggling six months later. Get evaluated, get it documented, don't just tough through it.

Two things: one, see a doctor this week and tell them exactly what you told us. Word for word if you have to. Two, do not settle anything with insurance until that's on record. Everything else can wait — those two things can't.