Is this "normal"? how can I avoid it?

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I keep on remembering bad things that happened in the past... I remember very embarrassing situations that I have been through or nasty comments directed at me or people who have wronged me in the past. It can be things from 20+ years ago and these memories are triggered by very simple things. Like looking at a matchbox that was around when someone told me something nasty 15 years ago!!

Once I get into this mood it triggers more and more memories and they flash in front of my eyes so fast .. Things totally unrelated separated by years even tens of years flash before me maybe like 20 different memories in only one minute and I feel so angry/sad that I cringe very visibly.

If I am alone I have to yell something like "f**k God!" so that the blasphemy alarms me and gets me out of my day dreams and back to reality.

Alternatively I may frown very badly or laugh if the memories are funny and people at work have noticed it and start to think that I am schizophrenic who has hallucinations even thought this is not the case at all.

I know strong memory is typical of aspies, but do you experience anything of the sort?
What about me cursing god..etc? Is that just a mechanism for me to be alarmed and get back to reality or is it tourettes?
help please!

I'm not sure.
Certainly AS predisposes to excessive rumination, though for me I don't think about the past much at all, or get intrusive thoughts of past events.
I'm wondering whether you have activities or interests that occupy your attention, which might help reduce these kinds of thoughts? Perhaps if you can minimise them, they'll start easing off?
Not sure though.

Firstly, my brother has tourettes and there is a very easy way to know if your shouting is Coprolalia or not: coprolalia is involuntary. Meaning if you are feeling stressed and make a decision to shout something because it helps you feel better, that's not coprolalia. If it feels more like a sneeze, which you could maybe suppress if you try hard enough but is definitely not the result of a conscious decision, then it may be coprolalia (which is often, but not always, part of tourettes).

I have exactly the kinds of bad memories you describe. I can remember every mistake I've ever made, maybe not to catalogue them all at once, but they all come back vividly when an appropriate reminder comes up. I don't know whether that has anything to do with autism, but it comes up frequently as a possible symptom of PTSD.

The flood of memories you describe doesn't happen to me as frequently as more individual memories, but I do get the floods on occasion.

I am really sorry you have such stressful experiences, and I'm sure suspicious cow-orkers don't help at all. I'm sending internet-hugs in your direction.

First off, Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Your description sounds like your body is overstressed and stress is trying to seep out of you. Stress is cumulative in nature and when your body is overloaded, it can throw your body into a state of distress. Aspies experience significantly more stress than an NT. It should almost be our middle name. I will recommend a few books that you may find helpful:

"The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process" by David Berceli
This book will teach you a very strange form of exercising that allows you to vent stress at your core. It is done by putting your body into a shiver which is the way the animals normally vent core stress.

"In an Unspoken Voice" by Peter A. Levine.
This book explains stress.

One tip I was given (and I have tried it and it works) was to write down bad things that have happened.

You don't have to keep the paper, and it doesn't have to be an essay.

The act of writing it down may purge it from you memory.

My thoughts are highly repetitive (the same piece of some phrase or other will just be replaying itself over and over in my mind, all the time). Sometimes this can take the form of vivid, intrusive memories, which I might snap out of by shaking my head or whispering "shut up!". Occasionally, I'll space out completely and next thing I know, I've been just sort of muttering some word or sentence fragment over and over under my breath.

I have no idea how to avoid this, it just happens involuntarily. I know what you mean about frowning or laughing at memories, I've done that too. People probably do assume I'm crazy if they see it.

I get memories of bad or embarrassing events flashing up, seemingly for no reason. The memories can be decades old, and they're always bad. A lot of the time they are small social faux pas that likely meant little to the person I offended, but to me they feel like the worst thing in the world. Usually my automatic reaction is to think 'KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME' until they go away. I don't know why it happens, but you're not alone.

I would like to thank everybody who has replied and I have learned a lot from you.
Yes only now I noticed this increases when I am under stress and I will try to write things down to forget.
Really appreciate your feedback.