Is This Typically What One Experiences With Dissociation

[eunoia]

Quoted from Dissociation FAQ’s is this what people usually experience?

"Dissociation may affect a person subjectively in the form of “made” thoughts, feelings, and actions. These are thoughts or emotions seemingly coming out of nowhere, or finding oneself carrying out an action as if it were controlled by a force other than oneself (Dell, 2001). Typically, a person feels “taken over” by an emotion that does not seem to makes sense at the time. Feeling suddenly, unbearably sad, without an apparent reason, and then having the sadness leave in much the same manner as it came, is an example. Or someone may find himself or herself doing something that they would not normally do but unable to stop themselves, almost as if they are being compelled to do it. This is sometimes described as the experience of being a “passenger” in one’s body, rather than the driver"

 

[Rhys]

Yeah!! This whole article is really cool to read, it describes a lot of what I experience.

The actions are almost always autopilot, like I'm kinda being dragged around by my body, muscle memory of things I need to be doing/saying, but sometimes it really is stuff that doesn't make sense, vaguely wondering why you would do this but the thought is so distant like if you've ever been under the influence, you wonder where you are or what you've been doing (even though you sorta know enough not to panic/care, you're kinda in a weird limbo)

I can't find the words very well but I hope it makes some sorta sense!

 

[7Cs]

Quoted from Dissociation FAQ’s is this what people usu...

Some people experience dissociation that way.

More commonly people experience it a disconnection from reality where reality seems off or foggy or fuzzy - unreal in some way (derealization) ... or depersonalization (I don't know If I experience this as much) where you personally feel unreal in some way.

If you search the site forums for dissociation you'll find lots of peoples descriptions of how dissociation feels to them.

 

[whiteraven]

I used to experience it a little like this. It's way different now. I was diagnosed as DID in 1998 after years of experiencing symptoms of dissociation. I've had a long time to practice getting to know my insiders, and now when we are coconscious, it often has that "being a passenger" kind of feel, almost like I'm in the back seat of a car when someone else is out. I'm usually pretty much aware of who is who these days. But my experience was similar earlier in that I would get, for instance (and still do) a sense of deep sadness or I would cry out of the blue and not know where it was coming from. I learned, after a time, how to explore those feelings and discover where they were coming from.

 

[eunoia]

I understand depersonalization and derealization being more commonly experienced as dissociation, just not what that paragraph had written about it. I did have to wonder because quoted above is what I experience and was surprised that it was considered dissociation.

 

[7Cs]

I understand depersonalization and derealization being more commonly experienced as dissociation, just n...

The dissociation describes is more common with ddnos, did and complex ptsd.

One theory that explains this type of dissociative experience is (secondary and tertiary) structural dissociation.

 

[eunoia]

7Cs, are you referring to the dissociation that I quoted from the article or depersonalization and derealization? I do have complex PTSD. I have read the Haunted Self, interesting theory.

 

[Sideways]

Having read over that description a few times and stewing on it for a day, it's not how I'd describe dissociation at all. My experience of dissociation is far more related to how I'm consciously experiencing the world, rather than being taken over by my emotions. I'd go so far as to say that my emotions often just switch off when I dissociate.

I have DID, and the experience of 'switching' between parts is a form of dissociation, but entirely different to this description.

At the other end, when my brain goes into auto-pilot, say when I'm driving home and my mind wanders off and I don't remember the trip, that's normal and healthy dissociation. But the experience is more about going numb, getting lost in your thoughts and daydreams, than being taken over by emotion.

Somewhere in the middle is depersonalisation and derealisation. Depersonalisation is feeling seperate from your body, often experienced as floating outside your body and watching yourself. While there may be emotions that you experience with this, it is the 'seeming to be seperate from your own body' that defines depersonalisation.

Similarly, derealisation is experiencing the world as though it wasn't actually real. This is a bit like walking around with the sense that the world is really just one great big movie set, or that the world that you're seeing is only 2D or similar. Again, it's far more about the way you're consciously experiencing the world than the emotions that attach with that state.

While it's common for dissociation to be brought on by overwhelming emotions, the consensus seems to be that dissociation is your brain's way of avoiding those emotions, not having to consciously experience them at all. But while the avoidance of the emotions might be causing you to dissociate, it is the way that you're consciously experiencing the world, rather than the emotions causing it, that defines the different emotional state.

I think it would be fair to say that for the average person, dissociating (particularly in the common, perfectly normal auto-pilot sense) usually means being pretty numb to your emotions, or not being aware of them at all, rather than being controlled by them.

 

[7Cs]

7Cs, are you referring to the dissociation that I quoted from the article or depersonalization and derea...

I was referring to OPs quote.

 

[7Cs]

experience of 'switching' between parts is a form of dissociation, but entirely different to this description.

"Dissociation may affect a person subjectively in the form of “made” thoughts, feelings, and actions."

"
someone may find himself or herself doing something that they would not normally do but unable to stop themselves, almost as if they are being compelled to do it.

This is sometimes described as the experience of being a “passenger” in one’s body, rather than the driver"


I was thinking that the above 2 quotes could describe intrusions of dissociated parts or fragments. (or EPs)

Would love to hear your thoughts as I've been trying to figure out what's going on in my personal dissociative "world" and I do consider this one of them.

 

[7Cs]

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation

Dissociation FAQ’s


Was I allowed to post that?!

 

[eunoia]

"I was thinking that the above 2 quotes could describe intrusions of dissociated parts or fragments. (or EPs)

Would love to hear your thoughts as I've been trying to figure out what's going on in my personal dissociative "world" and I do consider this one of them."

This is what I was wondering as well.

Yes, from what I gather it ok as long as you link to it, it's where I got the quote from too.