Abstract

Recurrent intrusive imagery is a prominent feature across psychological disorders, including PTSD and stress-related conditions. This paper develops a non-reductionist phenomenological account, drawing on Husserl’s analyses of passive synthesis, association, and awakening. Intrusive imagery is conceptualized as emerging from pre-intentional associative processes, where past, affectively charged experiences erupt into present consciousness. PTSD-related intrusive memories exemplify clear phantasy, with quasi-perceptual vividness and an as-if structure that renders past trauma immediately present. By contrast, intrusive images in other stress-related disorders instantiate unclear phantasy, marked by volatility, protean form, and the absence of determinate intentional objects. This phenomenological distinction clarifies the structural differences between intrusive memories and images, offering a refined framework for understanding their experiential and clinical features while preserving the complexity of lived experience beyond reductive conceptualization.