Ideas For Stopping Dissociation

[Manic11]

I have a very hard time with dissociation. I dissociate very strongly and very often.
I'm curious to know if anyone has ever found a way to stop dissociation when you feel as if you are going to.

One time, I felt that I was going to dissociate and immediately turned on a song that I listen to quite often and blasted it. That definitely helped ground me and keep me together, however it doesn't work all the time.

Does anyone have any experience with this or have any other suggestions?

Thanks.
Manic

 

[rjtransient]

I'd be interested in hearing others' thoughts on this, too.

I've read the excellent thread here on the forums about the necessity of routine. In the short term, I have somewhat... individualistic ways of handling each episode. I'm not sure if they'll work for anyone else.

First Line: Pharmacology

When I feel the fog descending, I get myself home and take any pill or supplement that might help me to refocus. Before the c-PTSD diagnosis, I used to think it must be hypoglycemia or some kind of dietary deficiency (which has since been ruled out), so I'd have a glass of orange juice and take some iron, folic acid, and B12. My family doctor put me on a sedative which also functions as an antipsychotic; I'll take a very low dose of that, and whether or not it's psychosomatic at tiny doses, it seems to help. Likewise with small doses of a stimulant like methylphenidate. If anxiety is involved, I'll throw in an anti-anxiety med.

Note: that's personal experience. Don't mix meds if you don't know what you're doing.

I stock up on two supplements called piracetam and choline. They're 'nootropics' that allegedly improve learning and memory. They work, but they take awhile to kick in, they can cause headaches, and they're kind of expensive. /med geek

Keeping A Record

Then I turn on every light in the house and put on music or the TV. I open up Text Editor and write point-form notes about what I'm feeling and what led up to it. In painstaking detail, if I can. "Had a medium mocha latte on campus at 6:00. Walked back in the snow. Started feeling dizzy. Can't concentrate. Words are starting to disintegrate. Think I might be going insane." It's not terribly coherent, but the point is to have a record of these episodes and the triggers. To observe myself. I can stay in control by trying to stay rational.

Coming Back To Reality, When I Want To

From there, I go one of four ways:

1) What my workbook calls "controlled dissociation": Close your eyes and mentally project yourself to an imagined protected place. This usually leads to fantasizing, which slowly re-engages my brain, but there's a downside: once I feel calm and normal again, I'll get up and peer at the clock, and realize I've been lying there for three hours.

2) Roll with it, incrementally. I start out with something trivial like listening to music I haven't heard for years. It seems to be grounding. Music I used to like, movies I used to like, it's all good and useful.

I'll go to news sites, satire sites, and scientific sites. I have websites bookmarked and RSS feeds that go straight to my inbox, so I might check up on those. Then I slowwwly re-immerse myself in the real world, maybe by browsing an online news site just to remind myself what year it is. It's easy to sign in, find an article open to reader commentary, and click "I Agree" or "I Disagree" if I'm not up to writing.

3) Write to-do lists. "This is what I want to work on this week (or this month)." The more I add to the lists, the more my memory seems to return, along with the ability to focus and to plan. The lists don't have to be 100% achievable; they're just to orient me in time and space. This goes hand in hand with reorganizing something or cleaning up around the house. As long as I don't "reorganize" anything important that I might conceivably misplace and forget about when I come out of the fugue.

4) Accept that I'm feeling like a robot, put on a sci-fi DVD, and zone out.

Failed Strategies:

- Taking a sleeping pill and sleeping it off. I wake up even more disoriented. Not recommended.
- Actively looking for something to trigger adrenaline and wake me up.
- Driving or going for a walk or talking to a friend. Usually helpful for anxiety or frustration but not for dissociation.

Anyone else? Just out of curiosity, does anybody know of grounding techniques that involve physical movement?

 

[growingpains]

I have told my partner to ask me a basic question I would know the answer to if he sees me disassociating. But I am extremely introverted so sometimes I am just deep in thought when he asks me and then I get mad that he interrupted my deep thoughts.:wink: But it does work to get me out of my head and back to reality. It might be worth a shot to try this.

 

[onebravegirl]

Dissociation is there for a reason. It is not just there to annoy you. It can be an indication that you are over stressing yourself and need to slow down. It can also be an early indication of being triggered. Like any other symptom of PTSD you have to work through it now stiffle it. Remeber that PTSD is because of injury and dissociation is part of your brains way of asking for attention to the wounds. Working with and not against the symptoms will help you progress.
The quickest way out of quicksand is to float. You cann't hurry. If you are stuck in the muck, the muck is in charge not you. Respect the muck.
O

 

[rjtransient]

It's a natural response that can go haywire.

Yes, dissociation actually is sometimes a healthy way of preventing further trauma when you have no physical escape from the situation. But when you constantly dissociate as a response to stress, it becomes maladaptive.

It can also be an early indication of being triggered.

In my experience, it's a late response to being triggered. I can handle a trigger rationally in the afternoon, then start to space out in the evening. That's the bad kind of dissociation. I'm not actually experiencing an overwhelmingly awful situation that I cannot get out of; I'm just happily trying to go about my daily business when it starts to descend on me.

The overall feeling I get from browsing the forums and articles is that with time and therapy, it's quite likely that the dissociative episodes will become less frequent. Some of us have more trouble with it than others. While you're out there in the fog, though? You can work through it, but I don't see anyone suggesting there's a magical button or switch that'll instantly bring you from outer space to ground zero. I don't remember if I've ever completely staved off an oncoming episode.

I agree with you that it's best to understand the triggers and not avoid the "muck". That would be as unhealthy as abusing any other means of escape (fantasizing, alcohol abuse, drug abuse) to avoid facing the problem -- or to avoid facing the fact that you actually can't solve the problem or change your current situation overnight. I didn't get that from the OP's post, though. I think we're trading ideas to make the inevitable episodes of wading through the muck more bearable.

It's true that sometimes all you can do is "be with it". Be with the pain or the anger or the fog... or the muck. ;)

-RJ,
jamming to "Joining The Plankton" by The Cardiacs

 

[Manic11]

Dissociation is more of a late response to a trigger, personally. I also seem to dissociate a lot easier when I am tired but when I dissociate I don't want to sleep which just makes things worse.
I know that there's no switch to just turn it off but I wish there was a way I could prevent it. It happens too often and its hard on me and my loved ones.

I appreciate everyone's input on this though. I guess it also depends on what kind of dissociation you're going through... I mean, for some, they just feel out of body.
I lose track of who people are, who I am, where I am, time (what the date is, etc). Does anyone dissociate that way?

Manic

 

[onebravegirl]

In my Worst dissociation episode, I overdosed. It was terrifying. I woke up in the hospital with family firends beside me and I had NO idea what to say.
My poor husband and children were terrified too. Greatfully that never happened again, but it took years for my husband to leave me alone in a room by myself for more than a few minutes. He handled all my meds, counted them out in a pill holder and hid the bottles. I love that man.
O

 

[Grama-Herc]

I like all of the ideas listed here. The suggestions for grounding sound like they would work for me when my panic/anxiety kicks in.

Currently, I just go to bed and let it run it course, but I can see now there are other options which might enable me to live a better quality of life.

Thanks guys

 

[seaworthy]

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been predominant on one side of my family. One of the hallmarks symptoms in my family was dissociation.
Persons who have been Traumatized and whom have the ability, tend also to dissociate. I've asserted that the same neurochemical phenomenon which
leads to dissociation is occurring in both classes of people.

My grandfather was emphatic that people who dissociate, or whom have TLE are not 'pathological'. He asserted that the ability to dissociate was a creative
gift and if the dissociation was used/handled properly it could be very productive. Vincent Van Gogh, Dante, Dostevksky were all dissociatives. My grandfather
would dissociate and feel compelled to write, so he wrote books.

The things he taught me to potentialize my dissociation was to intentionally go into it. He called it 'expressing the wound'. He would spend scheduled time alone
to meditate and dissociate. He saw episodes of dissociation he had as a signal that he needed to go within and follow the dissociation. I also learned to manage
my dissociation as he did by following a lifestyle for epileptics: regular aerobic exercise, regular diet, regular sleep habits, keeping stress low. To keep my stress low,
I had to get my insides straight so that I wasn't constantly experiencing Traumatic stress...on top of the stress of fevers and menstrual hormones.

I had a very productive life for the years that I lived this way. Then I got psychologically Traumatized in a prolonged and horribly way. I also incurred
a number of severe head injuries in rapid succession and I dissociated due to these brain injuries. My problem is that I would dissociate to where I was
in another time or reality and not have executive control over my body and I would go drink. So, it's seemed my problem was one of drinking and the existence of Trauma,
the TLE, the head injuries, and the dissociation were cast aside as I was labeled as 'just a garden variety alcoholic'.

I can relate to everything people wrote. I'm doing my best each day to make progress on Trauma resolution and take care of myself.
I still don't know what I'll do the next time that foreboding sense of the black dissociation descends upon me and I am helpless
to get out it. My fear is that I'll go drink and then I'm a real mess.

seaworthy

 

[jo74]

I'm a little confused, I've never had any feelings or such that I'm going to dissociate. I'm here one second and the next, I'm either in a different room or it's the next day.
I can feel when a flashback is coming on and can put in on the back burner for a while, but eventually, it hits me hard.

For me, the flashback and dissociation are more frequent when I'm mentally unstable.

jo

 

[becvan]

Jo everyone is different in how they experience Disassociation. I also have no warnings. I'm either here or I'm not. Although I have worked my butt off trying to get a handle on it, it's still a major problem for me. Once I go there, I'm gone. Nothing brings me back out until it has worked it's course. Sometimes this is only moments sometimes hours. I never know. So don't worry, you are not alone in having no warnings. I'm also quite sure that many others have completely different experiences with this.

bec

 

[Spacechic]

My psychologist suggested to me to find something tangible with memories attached to it. For example he said to touch my wedding ring. because it reminds me of my husband an dfamily. And then I think about how much I love them.
Other siuggestions is the eye thing. Where you look left an dright left an dright till it becomes almost automatic and let thoughts happen but focus on eye movement an dthe objecvts you see.

Spacey