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Originally Posted by bluebicycle
In some situations, I think these types of experiences can be *indirectly* related to bipolar. For example, when I start experiencing heavy delusions and paranoia, I typically start dissociating as symptoms heighten. My therapist says that this type of "reactionary" dissociation is my brain's way of trying to cope with the effects/stress of psychosis.
In other situations, I think these types of experiences have nothing to do with bipolar. You may have heightened anxiety -- or, as Spikes said, PTSD triggers -- that causes you to become overwhelmed, which is another trigger for dissociation.
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Thank you, and I think you're right. In my case I think I experience both kinds. I have this chronic derealization, but when I am in a bad mood episode it definitely worsens. I noticed that very clearly when I was in crisis last winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluebicycle
Regardless of what causes the dissociation, your brain is trying to cope with something. I think it is important for you to identify that "something" if you want to mitigate your risk of dissociating. Basically, triggers.
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That's the tough part for me. I am trying to work on this in therapy. I do have a general idea of what caused the trauma, but since it was a long-term situation I can't really put my finger on one or two events that put everything in motion. I'm also having a tough time talking about it because it feels like I shouldn't make such a big deal of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluebicycle
One grounding technique you can try is acknowledging the fact that the world doesn't seem real to you, but at the same time, acknowledge that you may be symptomatic because you know that these feelings correlate with how you typically feel when symptomatic. I'm not saying you should "question everything," because questioning everything just leads to unnecessary stress and possibly massive confusion, but if there is one particular thing that's really bugging you, I think it is a good idea to question it and analyze it. For every reason you think it is real, play devil's advocate and identify a reason it might not be real.
This technique works well for psychosis, too, because I think both dissociation and psychosis are similar on a few levels. For example, when I am experiencing psychosis, there is nothing I can do to stop psychosis in the moment I am experiencing it, but I can do fact checking to help me cope with the most bothersome symptoms, or I can find distractions. But the more I try to "make it go away," the more stressed out I get because there isn't a way for me to make it go away. I have to wait until meds kick in. So I think even with dissociation, you shouldn't focus on making it go away, but instead accept it for what it is and focus on distracting from the most problematic symptoms or challenging those problematic symptoms. Hope that makes sense.  |
Thank you, I will try that! The hard part will be to really get to the cause and to really notice why it's happening, but it's nice to know that there's hope this will help if I manage to pinpoint those things more precisely.