What Dissociation Feels Like to Me

This is something I vlogged about a couple of days ago (see below). I've been wondering what to blog/vlog about recently, and a friend suggested I write/speak about Dissociation and how I would describe my experience of it.

(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsYBghCOVc)

According to the Merriam-Webster website, dissociation is "the separation of whole segments of the personality (as in multiple personality disorder) or of discrete mental processes (as in the schizophrenias (sic)) from the mainstream of consciousness or of behaviour"¹

You do not have to have schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder to experience dissociation, as it is "one way the mind copes with too much stress, such as during a traumatic event"². Anyone can have short experiences of dissociation, but it is when it becomes long term that a dissociative disorder may be considered. 

The kinds of things you can experience when you dissociate may include:

• " having gaps in your life where you can't remember anything that happened
• feeling as though the world around you is unreal
• feeling as though you are watching yourself in a film or looking at yourself from the outside
• feeling as if you are just observing your emotions
• your identity shifting and changing" ³

There are many other things you can experience, as part of dissociation, so no two people will experience this in exactly the same way. As shown on the Mind website, there are clinical terms for each type of dissociative symptom (for example, derealisation) also. 

For me, dissociation is a symptom of the disorder I have; Borderline Personality Disorder ⁴. The kinds of things I experience include feeling as if I'm not real, or the world around me isn't real. I can also feel as if I'm watching myself speaking or moving, and I do not feel completely in control. I may feel disconnected from my emotions, or I may start panicking (usually because of not feeling in control). Sometimes, I will look in the mirror and not recognise the person looking back at me. 

I dissociate quite often, and it can be very hard to "ground" myself. Grounding ⁵ is "a technique that helps keep someone in the present. They help reorient a person to the here-and-now and in reality". There are various techniques for grounding yourself, and they usually involve focusing on stimulating your five senses. One particular example ⁶ asks you to try the following: 

"Look around you. Identify and name:

5 things you see

4 things you feel

3 things you hear

2 things you smell

1 thing you taste "

Of course different techniques will work for different people.Have you found any techniques particularly helpful, if you experience dissociation? Please comment below. 

Resources

¹ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dissociation

² and ³ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/dissociative-disorders/#.WVtwcYgrKM8

⁴ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/borderline-personality-disorder-bpd/#.WVty8IgrKM9

⁵ http://www.peirsac.org/peirsacui/er/educational_resources10.pdf

⁶ https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/38632509284472245/