i dissociate sometimes when im stressed, so why are there other times when im alot more stressed but yet i dont end up dissociating?

[hope4us]

for example: there were a few times when something happened which reminded me of things in my past and i ended up in a dissociative state for hours after that. but yet, there are other times like this morning when i was way more overwhelmed and stressed out, but i didnt dissociate this morning? even though my emotions were way more intense this morning compared to the times i got reminded of my past. doesnt dissociatation happen during times when you are so overwhelmed with emotions that you cannot handle it?

 

[Tinyflame]

Can you notice what is different when you don't? What may be grounding you- task at hand, focus, dependence of others, distraction, demands, who or what is around you, cold water (eg washing your face), internal state (not hungry, less tired, etc) ?

 

[EveHarrington]

For me it boils down to safety. A trigger will cause dissociation, but stress, even a lot of stress that isn’t trauma related doesn’t push me to dissociate.

 

[Friday]

People are complicated and react in different ways to the same thing, much less under different situations and circumstance.

In some kinds of stress we find ourselves in our element, in others completely untouched, and in still others? Shattered. The Stress Cup is a very good overview to that process, but the devil is always in the details.