'stepping out' of my body - am i alone in this?

[419can.dance]

I have been stepping out.
I don’t know what else to call it.
My days have been going so well. Why? Because I’m stepping out and controlling the situation. I’m totally okay okay with it. And doesn’t seem to do any harm.

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I tell my therapist?

 

[digger]

What does 'stepping out' mean? I know you said you can't think what else to call it, but can you describe the behaviour? What happens/what do you do when you 'step out'?

 

[419can.dance]

What does 'stepping out' mean? I know you said you can't think what else to call it, but can you describ...

When I “step out” I can feel myself separate from my body and stand outside my body. I feel as if I am controlling the whole situation from the other side of the room.

 

[joeylittle]

I feel as if I am controlling the whole situation from the other side of the room.

Is it as literal as, you can see yourself (from being outside)? Or more like a sensation of distance?

 

[Abstract]

Absolutely. I haven't done it in a while now but it was something I did fairly often. Including in therapy. Funny thing is that I never really "thought" about it until late in life. It was only after certain experiences in therapy that I started dragging myself more into self awareness and that included developing awareness of how I distanced myself from myself. It didn't upset me either. It just was. Like crossing the road in a way. Just a part of my life.

 

[PTSD4UandME]

I experience this as well, though the majority occurred during childhood, and then, thankfully, very rarely after around age 20-ish.

It didn't upset me either. It just was. Like crossing the road in a way. Just a part of my life.

This is it exactly -- the experience is so non-emotional and benignly detached from everything that I couldn't conceive questioning the experience, it was just what has happening to me then.

I believe this is a technique of depersonalization.

Is it as literal as, you can see yourself (from being outside)? Or more like a sensation of distance?

For me it's usually like I'm suddenly slipping off of myself into an invisible body, and I am actually looking back at myself like we were into the room together, and similar to 419can.dance said --

I feel as if I am controlling the whole situation from the other side of the room.

-- I feel like I am somehow shaping reality into manifestation, like its bypasing my conscious mind and feeding out directly from my sheer will itself. It's kinda like the all-consuming hyperrealism that you can experience during a psychotic break, but without any of the mania, just crushing anhedonia instead.

 

[Mach123]

I used to try and do it but probably because I was split anyway I just wanted to see how I already felt, that part of me was watching. Now I know I just switch between at least two of us. I can't control or direct this. I just notice it.

 

[grit]

It is extremely important not to pathologize all our sensations, intelligence and our intuition if they do not fit the culture we live in. If you are not feeling harm, it is really important you befriend this side of you and learn how to maximize it creatively.

There is a great American writer (she is truly gifted) who writes about this sensation and I believe her depersonalization is a gift that just keep giving.

I hope you enjoy it.
Just in case the link is not showing up: google The Trees Stepped Out of the Forest by Barbara Ehrenreich in Harper Magazine.

[Readings] | The Trees Step Out of the Forest, by Barbara Ehrenreich | Harper's Magazine

just fascinating story similar to the story you have here.

 

[419can.dance]

It is extremely important not to pathologize all our sensations, intelligence and our intuition if they do not fit the culture we live in. If you are not feeling harm, it is really important you befriend this side of you and learn how to maximize it creatively.

There is a great American writer (she is truly gifted) who writes about this sensation and I believe her depersonalization is a gift that just keep giving.

I hope you enjoy it.
Just in case the link is not showing up: google The Trees Stepped Out of the Forest by Barbara Ehrenreich in Harper Magazine.

[Readings] | The Trees Step Out of the Forest, by Barbara Ehrenreich | Harper's Magazine

just fascinating story similar to the story you have here.

Thank you so much. Your words encourage me. I will look into this author