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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 21 of 21. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
Hi All,
so, lately people (my friend, my PT, my oldT, my newT, my pdoc, babblers) have been talking about some of the things I'm experiencing as "dissociation" or I "dissociated" myself from something.I'm having a really hard time understanding what this dissociation stuff is all about.
Here are some things which I looked up on the internet and found as signs or types or symptoms of dissociation.
depersonalization- is it a kind of dissociation or vice-versa?
Quoted from wikipedia with my own comments in *** "Sufferers of depersonalization feel divorced from both the world and from their own identity and physicality. Oftentimes the person who has experienced depersonalization claims that life "feels like a movie, things seem unreal, or hazy." [citation needed] Also a recognition of self breaks down (hence the name). The person experiencing the disorder may feel like life is a dream or an illusion of sorts. *****yes, I feel this way especially when I'm going through a lot of stress or dredging up some ugliness in therapy*****
The feeling is said to be like being a ghost. No matter how hard the person tries, he/she cannot feel like they are genuinely interacting with the world. They can't seem to perceive themselves as being normal. While the person is struggling to feel everything as normal, there is a part of themself which begs to just give up and stop the struggling. A sufferer from depersonalization can be especially susceptible to suicide, undertaking the suicidal process calmly and easily without real awareness. Simply put, depersonalization is an alteration in the perception or experience of oneself, so that the self is felt to be unreal; the person feels detached from reality and/or their own body or mental processes." *****sometimes I feel like this for a few hours at a time or even a day or two, but something brings me back to my life- usually an obligation I have made to someone.
Anybody else? I bet I'm not the only one who's experienced some feeling of depersonalization. It's not chronic for me, however.
Okay: here's another common topic that pops up on the internet under dissociation: Emotional Detachment. "Emotional detachment, in psychology, can mean two different things. In the first meaning, it refers to an inability to connect with others on an emotional level, as well as a means of coping with anxiety by avoiding certain situations that trigger it; it is often described as "emotional numbing" or dissociation. [skipped the 2nd meaning- not relevant here!].
***** I think I experience my days about 70-99% emotionally detached. It's a little habit I probably learned, um, say when I was a toddler.
then we've got a list of symptoms of depersonalization disorder
"*Loss or change of feeling in body parts:
-A feeling of numbness in one or more body parts. Loss of sensation, as though the body part
does not belong or has become detached from the rest of the body.*Distorted perceptions of your body:
-A sense that parts of the body are changing in size or shape, or that your body is shrinking. A
feeling that certain body parts do not seem to belong or appear fake or plastic. There might be
a sense that specific body parts have been transplanted from other areas or even from other
people.*Invisibility:
-You may feel invisible or transparent, and that others are not able to see you. You may feel as
though you blend in with the environment, or are moving at a different speed than those
around you.*Detachment from your emotions:
-A lack of emotional response or an inability to feel certain emotions is not uncommon. You
may feel cut off from your emotions or unable to access them at the appropriate times. There
may be a sense that your feelings are dulled or flat, or that they are stored away somewhere
deep inside of you. Many people these days feel the need to push their emotions aside when at
work, just as they feel it necessary to leave their "work self" at the office before going home in the evening. If you are suffering from depersonalization you might feel that your emotions are
no longer within reach, and do not return even when you want or need them to.*Not recognizing yourself in the mirror or in photographs:
-Being unable to recognize yourself or feeling unfamiliar with the person looking back at you
when you look into a mirror. Feeling that your reflection belongs to someone else, or to you at
a different age than you are now.*Feelings of unreality or of being a robot:
-A sense that you are functioning automatically or on auto-pilot, or that something or
someone else is controlling your thoughts, feelings, or actions. Many people experience a
feeling of being unreal, or like an actor in a movie. You may have the thought that you are just
"going through the motions" of life, or that there is no emotional connection to your actions
and no thought behind anything you do.*Floating or out-of-body experiences:
-You may feel as though you are hovering over your body or outside of yourself. You may
have the experience of watching yourself from a distance, or of standing on the sidelines
commenting on or even criticizing your own performance.*Talking to yourself:
-Having a conversation with yourself out loud, as though you are speaking to a separate
person. Possibly you will even answer yourself out loud as well, taking on the role of two
separate individuals. Everyone has internal dialogues when making a decision, preparing a
speech, or practicing for or rehearsing a future conversation, but during a depersonalization
episode these dialogues are often out loud and take place much more frequently."
*****Sat next to a woman at the bookstore that was having quite the chat with herself. She didn't seemed to be that bothered by it though, so I just turned up my headphones a little louder. I believe that she may have been in acute psychosis, however, judging from other strange mannerisms. but I digressDepersonalization:
"A change in an individuals self-awareness, such that they feel detached from their own
experience with the self, the body, and the mind seeming alien. Terms commonly used to
describe the symptoms & sensations of Depersonalization are: unreal, disembodied, divorced
from oneself, apart from everything, unattached, alone, strange, weird, foreign, unfamiliar,
dead, puppet-like, robot-like, having mechanical actions, remote, automated, a spectator,
witnessing ones' own actions as if watching a film or television program, not doing ones own
thinking, observing the flow of ideas in the mind as independent."Derealization:
"A change in an individuals experience of the environment, where the world around him/her
feels unreal and unfamiliar. Terms commonly used to describe the symptoms an sensations of
Derealization are: spaciness, like looking through a grey veil, a sensory fog, spaced-out, being
trapped in a glass bell jar, in a goldfish bowl, behind glass, withdrawn, feeling cut-off and
distant from immediate surroundings, like being a spectator at some strange and meaningless
game, objects appear diminished in size- flat, dream-like, cartoon like, artificial, objects appear
to be unsolid, as if I'm in a coke bottle viewing the world through the thick bottom."Okay.... so what? Isn't this just all a big 'ol hodgepodge of symptoms, descriptions, behaviors, and things that most "normal" people experience from time to time? Why is the word "dissociated" used so haphazardly? What does it mean to ME? At what point does Dissociation become a disorder vs. an adaptive response to a stressful situation? Don't we all have different tolerances to stress? Maybe I don't have a high tolerance at all, however, I have gotten this far in my life with these interesting little survival mechanisms- perhaps I will need them for the rest of my life.
I recognize that this is an impossibly long and disorganized post. I'm just interested in starting some kind of dialogue that will help me think about this word "dissociation".
Thanks for your patience,
-Li
Posted by Phillipa on October 13, 2006, at 22:36:18
In reply to What's Dissociation?, posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
To me you don't see yourself as yourself you almost assume another identity to help you cope. Hence the meds to calm you down. Li I think maybe you're more stressed than you want to believe. You know you're remarkable as a person but as I said before you're moving too fast maybe and hubby isn't there to comfort you. Pleas don't get mad. I care about you. Love Phillipa
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 22:54:59
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by Phillipa on October 13, 2006, at 22:36:18
I won't get mad at you Phillipa, and my T asks me if *I feel* like we're moving too fast. But I say I'm not, and she says that our conversations seem natural, not forced or hectic. I agree with her. and the meds are helping to slow down my crazy monkey brain, so that things inside my head are seeming more manageable.
I'll see my husband soon :) less than a week. Then I'll have real-life hugs. And a cat too XoXo
love,
lindenblossom-Li
Posted by Daisym on October 13, 2006, at 22:56:20
In reply to What's Dissociation?, posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
*Floating or out-of-body experiences:
-You may feel as though you are hovering over your body or outside of yourself. You may
have the experience of watching yourself from a distance, or of standing on the sidelines
commenting on or even criticizing your own performance.
This is what dissociation means to me when I use it. I do it when the subject gets too hard for me to think about. I "leave" and go outside the window or up to the ceiling. You have to know me pretty well to notice though.In my studies, dissociation is a way that the psyche protects itself from things that are too overwhelming. What is overwhelming differs from person to person. Depersonalization is a disorder, usually stemming from prolonged overwhelm and the fear that reconnection will mean retraumatization. It is a continuum of severity.
I might depersonalize a situation or event when I'm talking about it. I often detach from my emotions. But I don't see this the same as dissociation. When I'm dissociating, I can't form full sentences or attend. When I depersonalize, I actually can use my intellect to analyze stuff, I just don't "feel" it. And I now reconize when I'm dissociating. I still need some help realizing the depersonalization. I think because depersonalizing feels safer and more familiar to me.
Last comment: My therapist says falling into either protective mode (note, not a "defense")
tells us something and we need to respect that my psyche is taking care of itself. So while we don't typically just abandon a topic, we will slow down and begin to wonder what it is that is making it so hard. Or we will breathe together to get me back in my body.Good thread.
Posted by muffled on October 14, 2006, at 0:35:01
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation?, posted by Daisym on October 13, 2006, at 22:56:20
Wow, thats alot of info Li!!!!!
To me dissociation is a blessing AND a curse. Being able to dissociate enabled the oversensitive me to survive.
Its a curse, because I have so few memories.....but i guess thats perhaps a bit of a blessing too. I don't think I was the happiest child.
Its a curse when I dissociate when I don't want to.(when I first started T, I used to remember almost NOTHING of the sessions, felt like such a waste of time....)
Its a curse when your behaving in a way thats not appropriate to the situ., and realize it allasudden, and try to stop and gain control, but end up feeling so stupid and dumb.
Its a blessing, cuz its one of the reasons I am alive today.
I dissociate ALOT less now. ALOT less. Its great to not have it happening unexpectedly. I remember most of my T sessions now. Maybe thats why I am getting ahead more.
I think EVERYBODY dissociates. Its just a matter of degree I suppose, and how much it interferes with their life.
Dissociation was useful for me one session, I was somehow able to leave, but part of me stayed to answer questions. I didn't total blank.
I can tell when I going...everything looks different, sound is more muffled, I don't feel my body, as it progresses I can no longer hear my T talking, I can see her lips move, but there's no sound. Then I start comming back, and I can hear her tone of voice, but the words are nonsense, then gradually I seem to come back, but not all the way. That seems to take alot longer to come completely back.
I often say that I have gone into my 'sphere'. When I am in my sphere it feels like I am looking out from inside a glass bubble. I don't have much emotions. Everything is a little flat and muted.Visually it even looks as if I am looking thru glass. But its safe there I guess? I can be in my sphere for months at a time.
Sometimes when I S. injure I do it in order to feel SOMETHING.
So I am of the opinion that each persons dissociation is their own personal experience.
I am not DID, but I am BPD, and that dx is considered by many to be a dissociative type disorder. I do have my 'people' inside. And they are who they are. And sometimes one of them might get a little carried away and I'll wish they hadn't. But some part of 'me' is almost always present. I fortunately don't 'come to', and find myself in strange places. I don't take on a complete alter personality. My people frequently fight, but less so now, much less so now that I think about it.....
I don't mind my people. It made things easier to understand once I knew they were there, and that they were the source of noise in my head. LOL! The first time, when it dawned on me what was going on, its hilarious, cuz I couldn't figger out what was wrong with me allasudden. Then I finally figgered it out. My people were as shocked as I was I think! They all just shut up COMPLETELY, for awhile too! My head was quiet. It was VERY weird. But when they not around, I am only partly me.....just a shell of me. I need my people, even if they cause trouble sometimes....I hate it when they go away...they were away for awhile recently, but they back again now:-)
So, thats my long winded opinion of my dissociative experience. There's lots more to tell. But I goto stop SOMEwhere!!! ROFL !!!
Take care Li.
Remember dissoc. is NOT a bad thing necessarily.
Don't be scared.
Muffled
Posted by vwoolf on October 14, 2006, at 11:23:00
In reply to What's Dissociation?, posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
Hi, I have just been reading a paper on adult survivors of severe childhood abuse and neglect that I found very useful. It discusses dissociation in some detail. It's at:
I don't know much about you and I don't know if it will be helpful to you, but I think others here might find it useful.
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 11:56:55
In reply to Useful article, posted by vwoolf on October 14, 2006, at 11:23:00
Thanks vwoolf
I will read it sometime tonight when I'm done answering my 25 emails and doing a few hour of real work.I appreciate any and all information I can get my hands on. Especially in my more lucid moments, I can say -- YES!!! that happened to me, or NO... not me.
It's a nice way of knowing that I'm not a completely different species!
-Li
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 12:31:21
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation?, posted by Daisym on October 13, 2006, at 22:56:20
Well, here are things that I do that might be considered dissociative activities.
Boring situations: I tune out- kind of recognize when my exit is coming up- like I'm on autopilot. My mind might be working on my work, or thinking about? I dont' even remember. Kind of like daydreaming during class or washing dishes.
Stressful situations, especially those involving strife: Since I was 3 or 4 years old I have had voluntary control over my middle ear muscles. I can actually attenuate the sound that I hear, about as much as putting my hands over my ears. But nobody can see me doing this. Another thing I do is that I focus intently on something with tunnel vision. It might be picking a cuticle, or drawing a very tiny tiny doodle or practicing a violin concerto in my head or going into some kind of a trance state with progressive relaxation and controlled breathing. I might also imagine that I am someone else, like I am a super-star grad student and I act all confident and take charge of the stressful situation, all the while my real self is just watching this performance and rolling her eyes in disgust or shame. Or I might look out the window and count falling snowflakes. Or I might try to translate the unfolding situation into one of my foreign languages. These activities may be consciously or unconsciously applied to icky situations. If action is demanded of me, I am able to completely turn off my emotions and polly-anna-ish make suggestions, and get the necessary things done to solve many crises. My friends know me as very dependable in a crisis. I don't let my emotions get in the way. It doesn't even take me any effort to shunt them aside.
Terrifying Situations: Usually I freeze and then I may or may not find a way out. Get far away from the situation, either by imagining myself leaving the scene and walking to a safe place. Or I just withdraw into myself and turn off all processing of outside stimulation. Can't hear anything. Can't see anything. Focus on a tiny detail. a shred of fiber in the carpet for a long long time. I might still be able to have a conversation (this happens a lot with T) but I'm not sure what's going on, or who's in control of what. I don't feel like a unified person. I might not be able to remember the conversation or the event afterwards.
Identity (das Ich) conflict: When my identity undergoes a paradigm shift (I realize that I have unexpectedly won a prestigious fellowship/ I change my hair dramatically and catch a wierd reflection of myself in windows or mirrors/ I realize that I have been the victim of some kind of child abuse/ I get married/ My dad is dying/ I am betrayed by a close friend) I no longer feel real. I feel like either a robot- moving through my days and forced to act in a certain way, even though I feel like a completely different being than any other person I see on the streets. OR, I feel like I'm the same person, but that I have woken up in an entirely foreign world. It's familiar enough, but it's not real. It's not right. On these occasions, I feel like I'm in the greatest danger of harming myself. I would do ANYTHING to feel integrated with my environmnet (both internal and external) and I cannot possibly ask anybody to help me, because they are all fake, or they are talking to a fake Li. Pretty scary. I was going through this feeling several days a week during the month of September. It was really terrifying.
Othertimes- a vague sense of some disintegration o my self with the outside world- I wake up in the morning expecting to see little green buds on the springtime trees, but it's starting to become Autumn, and then I feel strange for a moment. I walk down the sidewalk expecting to see my friends from college, but then I realize that I'm at a different university. That time has passed. Sometimes I wake up and I feel either much older (by decades) as if my life has passed me by... or much younger, as if I am expecting the sounds and smells of my childhood home. Takes a moment to snap back into "reality". I also have moments when I'm not sure if something that happened in my dreams were real or not. entire conversations, a memory of cutting myself (I actually have to check and make sure!). This happened a lot when I increased my seroquel the first 2 times, and gradually got better. I hope it gets better, although I have learned to take "reality" with a grain of salt.
My world is not going to come crashing down around me if I can't remember what I had for dinner last night, or whether I ever turned in that library book (just checked- I only returned it in my dreams- DARN! :)
I haven't had the experience of a discontinuity in present time- like coming to the realization that days have passed and one is in a different place or had done things that one never intended to do, as some DID folks describe (PLEASE! correct me if I'm wrong!). My memory for my childhood is becoming richer and more authentic as I allow myself to paint the faint lines in with colors that correspond to my emotional experiences at the time.
I'm still trying to figure all of this stuff out. I know that it's probably helped me a lot, but it also can harm me- making me prone to suicide, and making me prone to the ultimate emotional retreat-- major depression.
Thank you all for your ideas about this stuff.
-Li
Posted by sunnydays on October 14, 2006, at 15:22:06
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? Li's experiences, posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 12:31:21
Oh my gosh, Li!!!! You described what I do soooo well, and soooo much better than I have been able to describe it in the past. My T says I dissociate, and we've talked about it a lot. Just talking about it and noticing it, strangely enough, over the two years I've been in therapy, have loosened it's power so that it's not something I resort to quite as automatically anymore. And it's easier to pull myself out of it if I do. But you described almost exactly what I experience dissociation to be. I wouldn't worry about it. My T also describes it as a protective thing. I really don't like it a lot of the time, because I WANT to be able to feel, and I hate feeling so disconnected, but my T says it will come when my psyche is ready to handle the emotions and that for now there's no reason to push myself to overcome it. But now that we've been noticing it for a while and I try a little bit for it not to happen in therapy, it really has gotten so much better. Although it is definitely still present in some areas of my life.
Oh my gosh! This is just so amazing for me. I was trying to describe to a friend what it felt like for me the other day and she just couldn't relate and tried, but didn't quite get the essence of what it is I experience. And you just described it so perfectly! Thank you so much. And let yourself take the time you need. The dissociation is there for a reason, and as you get stronger and stronger it will start to lift as you become more able to handle whatever it is protecting you from. It's frustratingly slow, but it'll happen.
sunnydays
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 17:14:23
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? Li's experiences » Lindenblüte, posted by sunnydays on October 14, 2006, at 15:22:06
> Oh my gosh, Li!!!! You described what I do soooo well, and soooo much better than I have been able to describe it in the past.
>My T also describes it as a protective thing. I really don't like it a lot of the time, because I WANT to be able to feel, and I hate feeling so disconnected, but my T says it will come when my psyche is ready to handle the emotions and that for now there's no reason to push myself to overcome it. But now that we've been noticing it for a while and I try a little bit for it not to happen in therapy, it really has gotten so much better. Although it is definitely still present in some areas of my life.
>
>And let yourself take the time you need. The dissociation is there for a reason, and as you get stronger and stronger it will start to lift as you become more able to handle whatever it is protecting you from. It's frustratingly slow, but it'll happen.
>
> sunnydaysSunnydays,
thanks for validating my feelings. Good to know that there are at least 2 people in the world with these experiences :) Also, I'm glad that you told me about dissociation IN the therapy context, because this is something I find incredibly frustrating. I go in, with all the intention to be true and show myself-- and the same old sh*t keeps coming out everytime. Well. I'm being a bit pessimistic, but... it IS too slow for me. I want it OUT of me. gone. I want to be better yesterday.oh well.
-Li
Posted by Declan on October 14, 2006, at 17:48:17
In reply to What's Dissociation?, posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
I just wanted to say that my experience is that *long term* just about *any* drug aggravates feelings of dissociation/depresonalisation.
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 19:39:24
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by Declan on October 14, 2006, at 17:48:17
> I just wanted to say that my experience is that *long term* just about *any* drug aggravates feelings of dissociation/depresonalisation.
Hmm that's interesting Declan- do you find that is it aggravated when changing doses or stopping/starting meds? Any particular meds(drugs) that are particularly known for this, or related to this in your experience?
I'm just curious, because I've experienced this my whole life, and the increase in August/September was not related to any changes in my medicine. Before April 2006, the only drug I had ever consumed was alcohol. no nicotine or marijuana.
I suppose the hallucinogens would be particularly effective at causing these types of feelings, but having only observed my friends (always the bridesmaid, never the bride) I'm not really sure.
thanks for your ideas,
-Li
Posted by Declan on October 14, 2006, at 20:09:31
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Declan, posted by Lindenblüte on October 14, 2006, at 19:39:24
I was thinking of your post on the main board(?) about your meds and sadness, and wondered if you having these new(?) chemicals in your system was an issue. Mind affecting drugs can make you feel strange, particularly changes in doseage.
Posted by Phillipa on October 14, 2006, at 20:31:25
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by Declan on October 14, 2006, at 20:09:31
Another example not as good as all of yours. But when working as a nurse and a patient dies and you have six more. Swallow the pain and put on the smiley face and go on. Never having time to grieve. Same with docs. not pdocs. Love Phillipa
Posted by sleepygirl on October 15, 2006, at 1:43:26
In reply to What's Dissociation?, posted by Lindenblüte on October 13, 2006, at 19:41:50
hmmmm....interesting question
the factual aspects of it evade me at this moment, but I can tell you the type of experiences I've had that I feel most closely resemble the termfor me it used to come in waves of sorts...days of horrible anxiety then followed by days of feeling detached, "numb", robotic, shut down, shut out, and yeah..."going through the motions"
I was glad when I had those days-it was just easier
I've also had periods during which I felt threatened too much, or overwhelmed, when I found myself staring, perhaps at an object, and I found myself unable to really attend to anything at all, like really spacing outit is a big word isn't it? it covers a lot of different descriptions
-just my 2 cents,
-sg
Posted by sleepygirl on October 15, 2006, at 1:45:14
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by sleepygirl on October 15, 2006, at 1:43:26
..oh yeah, and I just got reminded that there were a lot more days in my past where in therapy I just couldn't feel much of anything, just couldn't access it- is that detached? or dissociated? eh, who knows
Posted by Declan on October 16, 2006, at 4:54:58
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by sleepygirl on October 15, 2006, at 1:43:26
What I call dissociation or depersonalisation is feeling spacey, scattered, vaguely frightened, and unable to rest.
It ought to have with it some feeling of being seperated from yourself. Kinda the opposite to feeling grounded.
Interestingly this is something that accupuncture can actually help, for me at least
Posted by Lindenblüte on October 16, 2006, at 8:41:48
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation?, posted by Declan on October 16, 2006, at 4:54:58
Hmm- that's really interesting Declan. I've always been kind of intersted in acupuncture, but I'm not exactly sure what I would tell the acupuncturist. That I have anxiety? That my elbow hurts occasionally? That I have bad memories?
Is there a standard set of points for general well-being, or do I need to come in with a specific syndrome? (I'm not even sure what the Chinese would consider a syndrome!)
Well, my former roommate is coming back to stay with me for a bit in November. I know she had a whole series of treatments for her back problem, so maybe I'll ask her to go with me (and translate- she speaks mandarin and taiwanese)
I think this week I'm going to try to do some exercise for the first time in 6 months. I'm going to go stay with my husband, and he is crazy fit, so he always motivates me to go out and ride bikes and lift weights and stuff. I motivate him to eat chocolate and ice cream. We're a power-couple!
-Li
Posted by Declan on October 16, 2006, at 17:29:46
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Declan, posted by Lindenblüte on October 16, 2006, at 8:41:48
The chinese consider the brain a 'strange organ' and it doesn't figure in their analysis of things. By the time I'm finished talking to the accupuncurist they normally have some idea of what's up. For example at one practice I wanted to be treated by this particular accupuncturist. The bloke I was getting looked pretty bad like he was out of some pool playing competition, so I kept asking for the right guy. He kept saying that he was the bloke in question. I kept assuming he was missing my point. After a few rounds of this he seemed to get a very good idea of where I was at. I'd normally say I took drugs to keep sane.
Posted by wacky on October 20, 2006, at 17:06:32
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation? » Lindenblüte, posted by Declan on October 16, 2006, at 17:29:46
Just saw this thread and had to put my two cents in! I have dissociated since I was an adolescent. It first started and scared the hell out of me cause I had no idea what it was. It usually happened during times of stress or being tired. Then when I started therapy 15 years ago, I pretty routinely would "leave" because it was so hard for me. Later, I learned to tolerate it a bit more and not try so hard to escape from it.
I've experienced the whole watching a movie thing, and hearing is altered and the light in the room can even appear dimmer or brighter. It's weird and I don't think that "most" people ever experience it. My understanding is that it is brought on by extreme stress such as trauma (as in my case). I suspect that most people with PTSD have experienced it.
IMHO.
n
Posted by Declan on October 21, 2006, at 14:08:47
In reply to Re: What's Dissociation?, posted by wacky on October 20, 2006, at 17:06:32
I've experienced the whole watching a movie thing, and hearing is altered and the light in the room can even appear dimmer or brighter.
Great desription. Like being under water.
This is the end of the thread.
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