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Reconnecting with Yourself: Working Through Dissociation

Do you feel distant from your emotions, thoughts, surroundings, and memories? Do you ever find that you’ve safely made your way home from work without any conscious memory of your drive? This is part of a phenomenon called dissociation. We all experience some degrees of dissociation throughout our day-to-day lives, and it can be an indicator of increased stress or something much more serious, such as various dissociative disorders. In a broader context, dissociation is our body’s way of signaling that something is amiss and needs attention. It can appear as a natural protective mechanism that alerts us when our system is overloaded. Recognizing these signals is crucial, as they can be early signs of deeper emotional or psychological issues that require understanding and care. In this mini sketch, we will explore the concept of dissociation, its reflection on our daily lives, and how we can manage this. 

What is dissociation?

Dissociation is a break in how your mind handles information. It is an involuntary experience that occurs when you feel disconnected from yourself or your environment. It is a separation or detachment from something or someone, and can be developed into a coping mechanism throughout a person’s childhood. When you experience dissociation, you may have gaps in your memory or find yourself making mistakes. Some report that the physical world doesn’t feel real or that they don’t feel real. Other everyday experiences of dissociation can feel like: 

  • Having an out-of-body experience 
  • Spacing out easily 
  • Can’t remember much from the childhood years 
  • Showing inappropriate affect when discussing distressing events 
  • Feeling lightheaded or having an increased heart rate 
  • Feeling emotionally numb or detached 
  • Feeling tired, or little to no pain 
  • Experiencing an altered sense of time 
  • Not remembering where you put something or how you got somewhere 
  • Having tunnel vision 
  • Experiencing intense flashbacks that feel real 
  • Hearing voices or becoming engulfed in a fantasy world that seems real 

Depersonalization and Derealization

You may also feel detached from your body, as if you are watching yourself or that someone else is operating your body, a phenomenon also known as depersonalization and derealization. All in all, staying in prolonged states of dissociation can be scary and even dangerous, leading to various consequences such as accidents, poor work performance, strained relationships, and a weakened sense of self. It’s essential to recognize that the brain continually strives to maintain homeostasis, so dissociation can be a sign that something in our environment, thoughts, or feelings is so distressing that the brain must shut itself off to cope with our circumstances.

Why are we dissociating?

There are several different causes of dissociation, such as past or current trauma, substance use, panic attacks, personality disorders, or defense mechanisms.

Trauma

Trauma is a large contributor to why dissociation happens. Dissociation is a natural response to real or perceived threat. Experts believe this is a technique your mind uses to protect you from the full impact of an upsetting experience. We can observe similar behaviors in the wild, where if an animal cannot outrun its predator, it will enter a freeze response, similar to a dissociative response, to survive or mentally disconnect from traumatic circumstances. Victims of abuse will similarly slip into dissociation as a coping mechanism when they are unable to be removed from a threatening environment. Therefore, in the context of danger, dissociation can be very helpful in our survival. 

Substance use

Certain substances may cause you to lose your sense of identity or reality. Research shows people who take psychedelics may experience briefly losing their sense of self. 

Anxiety

While dissociation is a symptom of some anxiety disorders, such as acute stress disorder and PTSD, it can also worsen symptoms of anxiety themselves. People who have experienced trauma may dissociate to avoid reliving the experience in their minds. However, they may also experience increased anxiety or panic because of how disorienting dissociation feels. 

Personality Disorders

Trauma and personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), have a high correlation. Due to the high prevalence of lived trauma, stress-related dissociation is often a “core symptom” of those with BPD. According to Krause-Utz (2022), it is reported that 80% of people with BPD will experience periods of dissociation, with the severity of symptoms aligning with the severity of trauma they experienced. Dissociation within BPD is linked to several adverse outcomes, such as impaired working memory, greater fragmentation of personality, reduced risk to psychotherapy, and abnormal stress responsiveness.

Defense mechanisms

A dissociative response can serve as a defense mechanism, which is an unconscious strategy your mind uses to protect you from distress. Just like any other defense mechanism, dissociation may help you in the moment; however, it can have harmful consequences if it becomes your only method of protecting yourself from distress. When you can’t physically leave a threat, you may try to escape mentally as you notice yourself dropping in and out of consciousness. If your mind escapes to another reality, then you have fewer mental resources dedicated to telling you how scary or threatening the situation is. On the other hand, dissociation can serve as a form of ego protection. Creating a mental separation of a different, younger part of yourself that carries intense feelings of guilt and shame can serve as a protective factor. The dissociation assigns your trauma symptoms a whole other identity, so you can build a healthier self-image; however, fragmented parts of self do not lead to a healthy quality of life either 

Managing Dissociation 

Although dissociation can be an isolating and depressing experience, there is hope for better ways to attune to yourself and ways of managing dissociative periods and episodes. With the help of a therapist or trained clinician, there are methods to tackle dissociative symptoms in an integrative way: 

  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): This type of therapy focuses on teaching individuals to regulate their emotions, tolerate distress, enhance mindfulness, and improve interpersonal effectiveness. A combination of these skills can aid in dissociative symptoms as they offer strategies for grounding yourself in the present moment, managing overwhelming emotions, and creating a sense of stability and connection. 
  • Distress tolerance skills: Distress tolerance skills, such as TIPP, help individuals return to the present. TIPP involves a change in body temperature, intense exercise such as jumping jacks, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation. This combination quickly changes one’s body chemistry and reduces emotional arousal by attuning to bodily sensations. 
  • Attuning to Self: The first step is noticing your triggers. This means attuning to whether you feel anything, starting with self-observation and curiosity toward yourself without judgment. By noticing your bodily cues, you are beginning to slow down the process of slipping into dissociation. Taking notice of a change in heart rate, feeling tense, or any changes in body temperature. Becoming alert to these triggers and bodily sensations can take some practice, but it will get easier over time. Once you’ve got control of self-observation and awareness, you can use your body’s signals as a red flag to introduce grounding techniques to intervene and stop the dissociation.
  • Body scan: This exercise focuses on physical sensations throughout the body. The script instructs listeners to scan their body from their toes to their head, observing any sensations they experience along the way. For example:
  • 5-4-3-2-1 sensory exercise: In this exercise, you need to name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste
  • Use a sensory object: In this exercise, you need to carry an essential oil in your pocket. Walk in nature barefoot if you can. Get someone to hug you tightly. Put your face in a bowl of ice water, hold onto ice cubes, or run cold water over your wrists and arms. 

All in all, dissociation can be a distressing, emotionally exhausting, and isolating experience. We will all experience dissociation at some point in our lives, and can find comfort in the understanding that there is hope and help to manage uncomfortable symptoms. Establishing a therapeutic relationship with a trusted professional can help get to the root cause of why dissociation is happening for you and can offer some relief in managing emerging and worsening symptoms around dissociation.

Take-aways

  • Dissociation is an involuntary experience that occurs when you feel disconnected from yourself or your environment.
  • Prolonged states of dissociation can be scary and even dangerous, leading to various consequences such as accidents, poor work performance, strained relationships, and a weakened sense of self. 
  • There are several different causes of dissociation, such as past or current trauma, substance use, panic attacks, personality disorders, or defense mechanisms.
  • Although dissociation can be an isolating and depressing experience, there is hope for better ways to attune to yourself and ways of managing dissociative periods and episodes. 
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy,  distress tolerance skills, exercises for attuning yourself, such as body scan, 5-4-3-2-1 sensory exercise, and using sensory objects, can help you manage dissociation. 

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2022). What are dissociative disorders? 
  • Borderline Personality Disorder: Trauma and Dissociation. Crownview Psychiatric Institute. (2023, July 18). https://crownviewpsych.com/blog/borderline- personality-disorder-trauma-dissociation/ 
  • Krause-Utz, A. (2022). Dissociation, trauma, and borderline personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation, 9(1), 14. 
  • Swaim, E. (2022, November 7). Why Dissociation Happens and How to Handle it. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/

While our physical offices are located in South Loop and Lakeview neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois for in-person sessions, we also welcome and serve clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Rogers Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more.  

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Whether you’re seeking guidance on a specific issue or need help navigating difficult emotions, we’re ready to assist you every step of the way.

Contact us today to learn more about our services and schedule a session with our mental health professionals to begin your healing journey. To get started with therapy, visit our booking page.

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This page is also part of the Roamers Therapy Glossary; a collection of mental-health related definitions that are written by our therapists.

While our offices are currently located at the South Loop neighborhood of Downtown Chicago, Illinois, we also welcome and serve clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Rogers Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more. You can visit our contact page to access detailed information on our office location.