How Long Do Your Disassociations / Depersonalizations Last?

[OKRADLAK]

I am wondering how long it lasts on average? Could it last for several days? Or is that something else?

I am referrering to depersonalization and diassociation.

 

[The Albatross]

For myself, I experince a "post life threating crisis mode" and go into somewhere where I'm not necessarily disassociated but am not available. I have lost time during these periods but recollections that people speak to me, I answer back... or do whatever I have to do. I'm just "not there" for a time, if that makes sense.

 

[Kintsugi]

I don't have any clinical statistics on this or anything, so I will lend my experience.

I think that my differentiation between my experiences of depersonalization and dissociation, as I've come to understand them in myself, is that dissociation is a literal halting of senses and a complete void of nothingness. I lose time, sometimes doing it for 5 minutes or 6 hours, but it rarely lasts longer than 6-8 hours for me. Not anymore, because I smoke cigarettes now and avoid letting myself freeze up and leave the present for hours. The longer I indulge in this sensation to begin with, the longer it will last and the harder to get out of, so I try to prevent letting it last for more than 5-10 minutes if I can be that aware (I start losing the want to move my eyes or perceive language first).

Depersonalization is something that is more pervading for me, I think. It's the sensation that I am disappearing, sometimes feeling so much so that I think people can't actually see me, like there is a one-way mirror enveloping me, and I'm just observing. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose consciousness, like my mind is closing slowly (like a camera scope shrinking and shrinking in a circle or a scene fading off of a screen). This is much harder for me to combat and seems to last for long periods sometimes. I've felt like this pretty perpetually for a week or two before. It makes functioning hard because everything feels irrelevant and disconnected from me, and I have a hard time concentrating especially, or remembering things. The best way I've found so far to avoid these feelings is becoming engaged with people around me, especially touching someone I feel close to (asking them to hold my hand for a minute or leaning my head on their shoulder, or just sitting really close to them so that our bodies touch enough to feel the other person sitting there). These things reaffirm my existence.

I hope that was helpful for you.

 

[OKRADLAK]

Anti and Miss--these were both helpful indeed. I go into fugues and often wonder what the heck they were. I get the idea of not wanting to move. I get on a "wave length" and am frozen up in it. On the other hand, the dersonalization is more rare. I guess that is when the things I do no longer make sense.

Different than psychosis. I have been that only once and hope to never go there again!!

 

[AzureMind]

Depersonalization is something that is more pervading for me, I think. It's the sensation that I am disappearing, sometimes feeling so much so that I think people can't actually see me, like there is a one-way mirror enveloping me, and I'm just observing. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose consciousness, like my mind is closing slowly (like a camera scope shrinking and shrinking in a circle or a scene fading off of a screen). This is much harder for me to combat and seems to last for long periods sometimes. I've felt like this pretty perpetually for a week or two before. It makes functioning hard because everything feels irrelevant and disconnected from me, and I have a hard time concentrating especially, or remembering things. The best way I've found so far to avoid these feelings is becoming engaged with people around me, especially touching someone I feel close to (asking them to hold my hand for a minute or leaning my head on their shoulder, or just sitting really close to them so that our bodies touch enough to feel the other person sitting there). These things reaffirm my existence.

I hope that was helpful for you.

Miss, that's almost EXACTLY what happens to me....it's just like you said: a camera lense shrinking and the scene fades....a few times I was "stuck" and couldn't "get out" and I just had to enjoy it....I suppose it was because I was so freaked out by my father and his drug abuse problem that I really didn't want to come out.....remembering things is virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me....I've become something of a flake, and I combat that by keeping a pen and pad handy to jot things down....I don't mind it as it helps me to stay more organized :)....when I don't want to be somewhere, I have the choice to "get outta dodge" ya know? Most people can't do that! At times it can be a reall gas, and other times it flat out suxxx, but there's good and bad with everything corporeal I guess....

My dissociative spells last usually about minimum 1/2 an hour to about 2 hours, which was my longest time (that I can actually recall that is) because when I'm in there, I have no way of really knowing what's going on outside of me.

 

[Gamereign555]

I experienced this several times but only under severe stress. It happened while I was watching TV a couple times. I felt as if I was being pulled back inside my head or something, as if I was viewing from behind myself. I have never seen myself but had a strange feeling that I was watching TV or looking around the room from behind myself.
This makes me feel that objects around me are somehow not right or foreign. Maybe this is coinciding with Derealization?
Depersonalization while trying to sleep has happened also and feels the same even with my eyes closed it seems. I have seen or have felt like I was watching everything from above myself, though I didn't see myself I had a strange feeling I was there but not there.

I know I have experienced some of this in my dreams but it doesn't at all make me feel the same way.

 

[joh2141]

Usually in the average days of my life, my disassociation only really occurs sporadically and for only that instant moment. Maybe 30 minutes to a few hours after but that's rare. When I have some sort of period where I begin to feel truly disassociated, it lasts usually a week. It's not as intensive as the one that lasts 30 minutes but I literally can NOT socialize with anyone during these periods. I will usually come back from work and immediately go to sleep. Only on one occasion it lasted a full month but it's never been that serious for me as I have these "good days" in between. I can definitely say stress has a huge contribution to those days. Other times are when I felt time just went by too fast. I probably have problems in terms of daydreaming too often and sometimes I would zone out completely for a loooong time, even while driving. That's more often than my disassociation.

Personally, I'm going through some sort of that period right now. I've been feeling extremely exhausted for no apparent reason and I rarely want to go out. The only real times I go out is for work. When customers come in, because I work in a Verizon retail store, I feel extreme anxiety until they leave. It's not a great situation to be in for me because it results in bad commission percentile for this month.

I hope you're not suffering too much from this. The scariest part for me during disassociating intervals are how hopelessly depressed I feel or how alone.

Few things that help me (temporary fix that seems to work for me but I definitely don't recommend it for anyone) is cigarettes. Smoking tobacco from a pipe works a lot better. Mostly because it keeps me occupied and prevents me from really "thinking." Sometimes, I smoke weed. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but it helps for me. I'd rather indulge myself with that as opposed to drinking alcohol since I don't trust myself during my times of disassociation. Reading a book helps as well, preferably a book with a light atmosphere. It'd be hard to tell you to go out for a walk but it works for me. It works differently for all people though.

 

[AzureMind]

Few things that help me (temporary fix that seems to work for me but I definitely don't recommend it for anyone) is cigarettes. Smoking tobacco from a pipe works a lot better. Mostly because it keeps me occupied and prevents me from really "thinking." Sometimes, I smoke weed.

Yea joh, WAY ahead of ya on the "greenery" lol :D I noticed that something to keep me "grounded" works, basically anything that allows me to "stay in the moment" helps....Even though that's not usually a help, but nothing's 100% right?....well nothing but WEED lol

speakin' of which I feel the need....somedays are just harder than others dude....ugh....lol

 

[Vee Lagrome]

Will it sound bad that I have no idea how long mine last? :S
It feels like a few seconds, but lasts longer than a few seconds...
This thread has piqued my interest in paying more attention to my disassociations... :D lol

 

[OKRADLAK]

I am curious, too. The more I learn, the more I wonder about it. I do have some that last a few minutes, but the reason I originally asked the question is because once for almost 2 weeks I felt I was not me.

I was terrorized and yelling at my family that I was not me, etc. Had to go to the ER after about 2 weeks. I am wondering if you can get trapped in it that long?? I

t was the more horrible mental health experience of my life. I still wonder if it was really psychosis or just depersonalization gone nuts??

 

[scott_1971_h]

My dissociations are usually 30 minutes to a few hours. Sometimes it can last most of the day which is a pain in the arse.
Scott