I have trouble with dissociation sometimes. It gets worse as stress increases. I have been checking out a lot the last couple of weeks. I look at it as a pressure release. Things get a little to much to take so I check out long enough to regroup then start up again. Sometimes it is just a little spaciness, sometimes everything comes to a screaching halt and I stand there with a blank look on my face while the gears try to slip back into place. My T and I did a little work on controlling this process. If we hadn't we wouldn't have gotten anything accomplished in session because when I first started seeing him I would check out for most of the session. He had to learn the best way to get me back which isn't an easy thing because different stressors cause different levels of check out. Sometimes he would talk me out, sometimes he would need to be quiet. He got a feel for it then helped me learn gain some mastery of it.

If it were me in your place, I would use the increased dissociation as a sign that there is something in my life that was causing me an unacceptable amount of distress. If I couldn't locate it on my own I would go to my T and have him help me connect to whatever it is that was bothering me. Then I would have him help me make a plan for dealing with that stressor in hopes of eliminating it.

Good luck and take care,
Carrie

<font color=green>Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.--Emily Dickenson