Dissociation Or Stress? Can Anyone Help? Confused

[Tinyflame]

Oh haha @Silver-lr :wideeyed: I was thinking more of a Pizza or Restaurant Delivery Line. :roflmao:

:hug: :hug:

 

[Tinyflame]

So maybe the answer is, Is it Stress or is it Dissociation- yes!! Maybe the stress (or triggers, proper) leads to varying degrees of the other.

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

I think for me I only realised I was dissociating when I started to look into it and do a bit if research. It was a bit if a lightbulb moment. I just thought that's what everyone experienced and I was just a bit more spacey than most.

I think when it says memory loss like @BlueOrange says if it cannot be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. For me it's very pretty obvious it not.

I also tend to notice dissociation is something other people tend to pick up on. They mightn't be able to put a finger on exactly what's going on, but they know something's not right. I'm often asked if I'm ok or if there's something on my mind or people might just comment on me being spacey. They may say something like @where were you?" Or ask if I'm daydreaming.

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

I get confused between the differences, too. But my stress level (and the amount of work/jobs/things I do) is exceptionally high, so sometimes I can't decide when I'm more stressed than the usual person and when I'm reacting more to stress than the usual person. Does that make sense?

I know that I get more dissociative the more stressed I get. I also have a dissociative disorder, however, so I'm maybe not a good control subject.

 

[Tinyflame]

I'm often asked if I'm ok

I've actually been asked that a lot what seems to me out of the blue lately, really don't know why.

know that I get more dissociative the more stressed I get.

Think that would make sense. Really the first time I've had this experience in different areas at once, or the 1st time I've noticed.

I think I know the trigger, & it never fails to shock (& sicken) me how small it seems to be (or should be). I have to lern to say/ think, "So what", it's as big a deal as I make it. It sounds easy, but so difficult.

I suppose it's because there's a lot of pain there.

Thanks everyone so much. Just knowing this & your help the last couple of days, & other big things I was thinking of, like I take for granted the physical stuuff I have means nothing, & really life actually is too short to live as though you have time guaranteed, & why worry/ think about things that aren't so important, well as a consequence today I think I might have actually entered the orcbit of the Land of The Living. :) :notworthy: ( I hope so. ;) :notworthy: )

Hugs to all. :hug:

 

[BlueOrange]

Is it normal also, however, not to forget to do it, but swear you did it? That is, I swore I purposefully (with intention) left the item. After that I (apparently went to the bank? The receipt says so, :wideeyed: ) The vape juice I knew I filled more often- not as much as I thought until I realized it was empty- that I can sort of see. I know I saw x3 bottles of pasta sauce- God knows where? :confused: I can only think maybe a dream I just can't distingish was a dream?

It can be normal, yes. For example, normal people do lock themselves out of their houses and cars, being completely convinced at the time that they had their keys with them. (This is why 'compulsively checking your pockets / bag on the way out of the house' isn't OCD, it's also 'part of the normal experience'.) The 'bottles of tomato sauce' thing I'm inclined to also assess as normal. Assuming that there have often been times when there were bottles of pasta sauce in the cupboard, and that the number varies, then being confused about when you looked two days ago, as opposed to when you looked a week ago is understandable. (Especially if it was really pleasing to know that there were 3 bottles of sauce in the cupboard on that time when you saw them - greater emotional weight means the memory is more likely to get played back when it isn't accurate.)

On the other hand, if you live in Tibet and there hasn't been a bottle of tomato sauce in the cupboard for 5 years, then having a vivid memory of buying tomato sauce when it hadn't happened at all might not be 'normal forgetting'.

So yeah, based on a few assumptions about you and what your typical experience is like, then forgetting "I used the last bottle of tomato sauce" while remembering "I checked the cupboard, and there were 3 bottles of tomato sauce in there" sounds like normal forgetting to me.

 

[Tinyflame]

Thank you @BlueOrange you really have a great understanding of this. I appreciate it I also feel 99% better. The only thing is,

.

On the other hand, if you live in Tibet and there hasn't been a bottle of tomato sauce in the cupboard for 5 years, then having a vivid memory of buying tomato sauce when it hadn't happened at all might not be 'normal forgetting'.

I hvaen't made pasta or used pasta sauce maybe twice in 4 years, and food in general or pasta in particular wouldn't ilicit any reaction (other than being thankful to have any food in general), But, my sister usually buys the groceries and:

greater emotional weight means the memory is more likely to get played back when it isn't accurate.)

I thought ('was sure I saw' ) x3 bottles of sauce that weren't red colored. 'When' in the last couple of days Idk? However, salience with that potential fact alone.

I think it's just being overwhelmed & messed up. Even the times I think, "where am I?", I surely likely feel the same. For all I know, that's some kind of panic attack or God-knows-what. Usually I'm pretty overwhelmed or more likely out-right triggered then but not acknowledging it to myself, if that makes sense. Great fear with that, but the fear probably precedes it too.

My memory is not normal, but other than FB's I think I'm 'there' (maybe not present but not 'somewhere else', either).

.

 

[Tinyflame]

ETA, I think I get the distinction. In a similar way but unrelated, I think my brain plays tricks related to how badly I'm triggered. For example, every flash of light, or object on the road, or movement, or shadows etc, I will 'fear' ('think') I see something horrid, but then I'll see it isn't/ it's harmless. But it defaults that way constantly when I'm triggered (not other times).

 

[BlueOrange]

Really glad to have helped @Junebug !

And there's a reason I developed some expertise - I needed it pretty badly in order to cope with my own stuff :) And yeah, tiredness and other 'weakened states' make us vulnerable to things that might not hit us so badly when we are closer to full strength.

 

[Tinyflame]

You're an angel @BlueOrange . :) I'm sorry for you having to go through what you did that necessitated learning it, but I am thankful for your expertise & kindness in sharing it. :hug:

 

[BlueOrange]

I'm sorry for you having to go through what you did that necessitated learning it, but I am thankful for your expertise & kindness in sharing it. :hug:

Spoken like a true community member at the PTSD forums :) Likewise, I hate the things that brought you here, and I'm glad you're here.