dissociation is one of those things that has many causes and reasons behind why its happening....in normal every day life its an automatic reaction to a feeling, event, situation a person is having trouble handling....

example a person who is bored will start daydreaming, a person who is driving a repetitive/familiar route will space off or start thinking of other things.

we are taught from early childhood some as small as preverbal how to communicate/play imagine, and in some cases stop crying about a boo boo, perceived pain/fears.

the result is some people learn through boredom, pain, strong emotions / their parents/teachers.... how to use their natural dissociation to remove/shut down/daydream....its all part of normal side of what dissociation is.

what changes it to the abnormal side of dissociation like the kind of dissociation that comes with depression/PTSD and dissociative disorders is the inability to control it, and the inability to control how it affects our lives (which boils down to severity and mental disorders.,)

Every day I have some control over when and how I dissociate example I allow myself to daydream, use imagination when I am home or working with a child. I shut down my emotions/pain when its not appropriate to let them have free rein (like at work) but on the dissociative disorders, PTSD, Depression (disordered side of the coin) I dont have any control over when my mind makes me feel numb, spaced out, disconnected due to a trigger, like yesterday when I opened my mail I found a letter from one of my abusers. my body immediately went numb, spaced out disconnected feelings first I used my grounding therapy tools then my wife and I went to the police station and courthouse /made a report/showed the evidence and obtained a protection order/cease and desist order.

my point is normal dissociation is controlible/abnormal(disordered) dissociation is not. I have both.