Disassociation

[Toriplays]

Hello,
I'm struggling with how you define disassociation. How does it show up in your life? When do you disassociate?

Thanks for helping me understand this.

 

[Ronin]

I go with, dissociation = any time normally integrated functions aren't in line.

Such as body sensations & thoughts & emotions not alligning. Disconnect between what should be connected.

From there, healthy x unhealthy & amount of each. I'm always dissociated in some ways, but it's not always unhealthy, some of it turned off is a sign I'm in deep shit, as not remembering basics I need to stay alive.

 

[Bristol]

Pretty much what @Ronin said, for me my brain feels like its floating out of my head and i have to focus to pull it back, always get unsteady on my feet and walk into things like i cant control my body with my brain, its hard to explain, but loosing time is another one

 

[Toriplays]

I go with, dissociation = any time normally integrated functions aren't in line.

Such as body sensations...

I hope you don't mind my questions but does something happen that makes you disassociate or is it something you feel you have control over?

 

[Toriplays]

Pretty much what @Ronin said, for me my brain feels like its floating out of my head...

Does it happen a lot Bristol?
I'm just trying to understand it more.
I always here about normal disassociation being about missing exits on the highway.
I think it's more complex than that don't you?

 

[Deadman]

For me dissociation has just been a sense that something about the world around me is not quite real. Almost as if I'm seeing it through glass. It usually happens when I haven't been sleeping.

I've also had similar experience with pain. I could feel the pain but it was muted, almost like it was happening to someone else if that makes sense.

 

[Bristol]

Does it happen a lot Bristol?
I'm just trying to understand it more.
I always here about normal disas...

It happens most days for me somewhere between the floaty feeling that i am able to ground myself and stop and sometimes the complete disconnection from my body where i have broken bomes in the past and not felt it. I dont know much about it if im honest, whether it depends on your trauma etc

 

[Toriplays]

It happens most days for me somewhere between the floaty feeling that i am able to ground myself and st...

Thank you for explaining this from your perspective. I appreciate it.

For me dissociation has just been a sense that something about the world around me is not quite real. A...

I've always felt like life was an illusion. I think that is why I'm attracted to Buddhist philosophy. When I was young I didn't feel like I was real.

 

[Karmic Dreamwork]

Hello,
I'm struggling with how you define disassociation. How does it show up in your life? When do y...

I struggle with constant depersonalization / dissociation. It is every day, every minute, every second. It's awful. Sometimes I wonder if I am even really alive. I worried I might have temporal lobe epilepsy or a tumor, but EEG and brain MRI's came back normal. I am learning more that PTSD defines many of these symptoms. So to answer your question, it is a constant leech for me. It makes everything more difficult from school, work, relationships, every part of life. But I am still here and trying. You can find a way to live with it, though I don't know how much "living" it really is.

Thank you for explaining this from your perspective. I appreciate it.


I've always felt like life wa...

Wow, me too. I considered myself a Buddhist and was also attracted to those new age teachings and the music of Tool. Interesting.

For me dissociation has just been a sense that something about the world around me is not quite real. A...

I have this too. When I have those really bad dissociative days, I try to pinch myself to just wake up but it doesn't work. It's like a numb feeling. When I was younger I used to cut to try to come out of it but that stopped working pretty quickly.

 

[Llith]

Disassociation for me has always been kinda like an out of body experience.

I can 'see' myself doing things and I know I am speaking, however my mind is somewhere completely different. Sometimes its a flash back, other times I sit there just moving my hand wondering if it is still connected, because it doesn't feel like it. Sometimes my head is screaming but I can't express any of it externally.

The worst one for me is when you feel like you are in a bubble separating yourself from the world and you can't quite get back in your own body. That can last days for me and its really frustrating. I don't cut anymore but I often end up drinking to cope.

 

[AngelKeeperJ]

I have been wanting to know more about dissociation myself. I don't think that I have experienced it...since I quit using marijuana anyway.

Is it wrong to WANT to dissociate? I don't want to feel the feelings I am having...and wouldn't dissociating kind of be an "escape" from my mental state? Obviously, it would be bad while driving, but what about in a safe situation? Is it like a hypnotic state?

I am assuming that one does not dissociate by choice unless there is drug use.

@Toriplays Thanks for asking about this!

 

[Bee._]

For me dissociation happens all the time and its this constant feeling that im just asleep or numb and like im watching myself
i always describe it as im in the back of my head and someone else is in the front calling the shots
it gets so bad that i get anxious looking at my own hands cause i forget that im real and that life isnt a dream
if you understand what im saying