What is Dissociation? Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment
May 15, 2023
Updated October 10, 2023
5 min read
Why do we sometimes feel like a passenger in our own body?
Written by Irina Neagu
Do you catch yourself zoning out all the time? Daydreaming? Lost in your thoughts and absent from any feelings? You might feel disconnected or dissociated from your mind and body. These dissociative experiences are difficult to navigate.
Dissociation is a defense mechanism that helps us escape emotional or physical trauma. It can lead to the development of a dissociative disorder. They cause an intense disconnect between you and your emotions, identity, and environment. Dissociation can disrupt you throughout the day. It becomes difficult to remain present or focus for a few minutes or hours. Some forms of dissociation cause these symptoms over the course of several years.
You can get better and heal if the symptoms result from a dissociative disorder or one-off problems processing trauma.
What Causes Dissociation?
The exact cause of dissociation isn’t always clear. However, it can often affect people after they experience traumatic events. It may be an emotional reaction to feelings and experiences that are difficult to process and tolerate.
Risk factors and reasons you might dissociate
There are a number of risks and experiences that might make someone more likely to dissociate, including:
Age. For more than four in five individuals, dissociation occurs before age 20.
Recreational drug use. Ketamine, cannabis, cocaine, alcohol, and hallucinogens like “magic mushrooms” can cause dissociation.
Other mental health conditions. People with depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, migraines, and a host of other mental health conditions may be more likely to experience dissociation.
Trauma. This includes traumatic childhood experiences, war-time trauma, or trauma from natural disasters or other intense events.
What dissociation feels like
Dissociation sometimes feels like you are watching your body from a distance. It’s almost as if you’re controlling a video game character that is detached from yourself and your identity. It can also alter your perception of your surroundings.
Common Types of Dissociation
There are many different manifestations of dissociation, which include:
Dissociative Amnesia. After intense emotional or physical trauma or suffering, people may experience forgetfulness. This amnesia can last anywhere from minutes, hours, to days. Disconnecting from these events may be the brain’s way of coping with the stress.
Depersonalization Disorder. This condition makes people feel like they aren’t in control of their own body. They can watch the emotions and actions take place but don’t feel like they are present.
Dissociative Identity Disorder. People with this rare condition feel like they have multiple identities. Each one has its own personality and mannerisms. It affects roughly one in every 300 people. These identities function independently of each other. Switching causes people to temporarily “zone out.”
How Are Dissociative Disorders Treated?
The treatment for dissociative disorders and conditions is personalized, often involving some form of therapy and sometimes medications. The goal is to make sure you’re better equipped to cope with the trauma.
Here are some common modalities of treatment:
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). This form of talk therapy helps people talk through their feelings and better understand the underlying causes of their condition. A therapist can help someone develop a set of cognitive skills and coping tools to help them better deal with their trauma.
Medications. There are no specific medications for dissociative disorders. However, people may be prescribed antidepressants (Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac) or antianxiety drugs (Xanax) to help cope with symptoms and adjacent conditions like depression and panic attacks.
Note that while some practitioners might recommend a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), there is no evidence to support that it actually works.
Finding Support After Trauma
We can’t prevent stressful or traumatic events that might trigger these disorders from happening. But we can control how we respond to the challenges life throws our way.
Finding a sense of community and a peer you can speak with alleviates some of the burden. A strong network of social support can uplift you and also help you avoid triggers and unhealthy relationships. Friends, family, or even doctors can help us get the tools we need to maintain healthy connections and develop proper coping skills.
Takeaways
Struggling to regain control and stay present within yourself is not something to be ashamed of. Difficult and upsetting experiences happen to us all, but they don't have to define us.
These experiences don't have to derail your life. They don't need to make you feel like you have no control over your actions. With the right treatment, we can emerge triumphant in the face of dissociative disorders.
**Please note, this article is not therapy or a replacement for it. Engaging with it does not constitute a therapeutic relationship of any kind with the writer. Please seek professional help if needed.**
