3rd Person Memories/Events

[brokenchild]

I have been wanting to post about this for a while and it was kind of brought up in another thread, so I figure now is a good time to bring it up. I know a lot of us dissociated when the trauma happened and our memories of the trauma may be from a third person viewpoint, as if we are watching it happen to us. I'm just wondering is anyone else has this third person view for ALL their memories? Sometimes, I think someone is watching me but when I stop and think about it, it's me. I can talk myself out of the fear of being watched by telling myself that it's me who is doing the watching. Does any of that make sense? It's been a long day so sorry if this is totally meaningless.

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

I have a lot of 3rd person memories and most are not trauma related. It's weird and I don't understand why it happens like that, unless It's the way the mind dissociates from the event.

Tammy

 

[becvan]

Yes, all my memories (even 2 seconds ago) are in the third person. I only know a little about it. I know that I have a severe form of amnesia that is not common, called okay.. damn it.. I can't remember. (no pun here.. truly I can't.) I'm not sure if it contributes to it or not.. but mentioning it anyways..

Anyways, there are MANY types of disassociation. You can have one of them or many of them at the same time. A trained therapist or psychiatrist can do tests to determine which ones you have and how severely. I did these tests and have many of the 100% of the time, quite a few in the 50% to 70% of the time, a few below that and only a small handful that I don't have at all. (I really wish I had a copy of that test so I could list them all off.. might ask my therapist for a blank copy...) The ones that I am in a permanent state of, are the ones causing the third person memory.

Chances are you have one of these types, all the time. I really recommend that you see a therapist/psychiatrist and get this tested and ask them all about it. I'm still just learning about it and I'm not even sure if I will ever remember stuff like other people do.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

bec

 

[void]

Becvan, if you could post more info from a blank copy from your therapist I think it would help the whole forum. I doubt there are very many of us who have a good understanding of these states, I certainly don't.:smile::smile:

 

[becvan]

I won't see her till September because she's on vacation, but I will ask for a copy then! :)

bec

 

[BassistKara]

How strange, i just wrote out 2 pages for my therapist about the majority of my non-traumatic memories being in the third person!
I'm glad to hear i'm not the only one who does this, i only realised they were all in the 3rd person this past week as well.
It's such a bad thing to have, like even if i know i actually had a decent non-triggering time doing something, i still don't think it's real because of the whole 3rd person thing.
I'd be very interested in seeing that test too becvan! The whole dissociation subject confuses me so much!

 

[brokenchild]

I've had therapy for it. It just didn't really change. It doesn't bother me so much as it's just annoying. If I try really hard, I can see things in first person for a split second or so.

 

[JustJane]

Wow, this really strikes a chord with me. I think in third person, write in third person and try to convey something that happened involving me as an observer rather than an active participant. I always feel as though I am being watched - and that's because I am watching everything I do. Odd part is that I am reporting everything I do, logging it somewhere, so to speak.