dissasociation in the place of panic attacks?

[sapping]

i had a therapist, but though the course of a year we made no progress (my own fault) so i left. through our discussions i realized that i suffer from severe dissasociation, to the point where i feel like im constantly on autopilot. but sometimes it gets worse.

for example, almost every single time i go somewhere crowded or bright everything seems to go into slow motion and i can barely hear or function. i dont feel panic at all, i just feel incredibly sluggish and spaced. its becoming a huge issue and if they are actually panic attacks, i have no idea how to curb them.

 

[shimmerz]

Dissociation for me, is entirely different than a panic attack. I see a panic attack is more like a physical manifestation of my anxiety. Dissociation is more and in my mind I thing. A way to click out when I’m psychologically overwhelmed. Not sure if that’s helpful to you at all but I feel that comparing the two was like apples and oranges. They’re both fruits but nothing the same just like panic attacks and dissociation are part of trauma but they don’t come from the same place and they’re not dealt with in the same way as far as I’m concerned. Take that all with a grain of salt because I’m not exactly a highly trained trauma expert.

 

[shimmerz]

i just feel incredibly sluggish and spaced.

Sorry I missed this. This - based on my experience - is what I feel when I am dissociating.

 

[EveHarrington]

Do you know why you dissociate?

For me, knowing this was key to stopping my dissociation.

Once I figured out it was due to feeling un-safe, the solution was to make myself feel safe again.....and it explained why standard grounding techniques didn’t help me.

Have any grounding skills worked for you?

 

[Friday]

My hypervig can split in either direction pretty easily.

BAM! Through the roof... or ... :confused: f*ck me. It would be nice if I could see more than 3 feet in front of me, and everything would stop swirling, and people would stop being caricatures of themselves, and the fog would melt with the damn sun or :confused:

What it seems like, sometimes, is my mind overcompensating from waaaaay too alert/wound up ...(you’ve passed midline! yo! midline is back there! stop!)... to all but completely zoned out.

The good news is that there’s at least an attempt being made to self regulate on autopilot / I don’t have to manually yank myself down from a panic attack, my brain’s already on it... it’s just a bit heavy handed.

 

[Lily44]

Do you know why you dissociate?

For me, knowing this was key to stopping my dissociation.

Once I figured out it was due to feeling un-safe, the solution was to make myself feel safe again.....and it explained why standard grounding techniques didn’t help me.

Have any grounding skills worked for you?

QUESTION for Eve - could you describe your dissociation? i'm having trouble with the concept.

 

[EveHarrington]

QUESTION for Eve - could you describe your dissociation? i'm having trouble with the concept.

It’s like I’m in a fog, feeling disconnected from the world. I’m not fully connected to reality.

 

[Empty Shell]

QUESTION for Eve - could you describe your dissociation? i'm having trouble with the concept.

me too!

 

[HealingInProcess]

I think of it as dreaming without being aware that you're dreaming.

 

[Vox]

For me it usually comes after a panic attack. Last time i was out shopping and then got panicked and had a sort of vertigo which then led to me dissociating.