Anxiety causes me to dissociate?

Today I noticed that, upon entering an anxiety-provoking situation, I'd get this certain "thing". It's like, for just an instant, I will feel sort of disconnected, like everything is surreal and I'm not really a part of everything else. It's not bad, since it just lasts a second. But it's so weird I asked my therapist about it, and she said it might be slight dissociation caused by my anxiety. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? I'd noticed it before, but today is the first time in awhile that I've had it.

Indie you are not alone on this. If feels like everything is fake. I called my pdoc about it a while ago. She told me it's part of the anxiety. Sometimes I still get it. Not like I use to, and I still hate it. Mine usually last for 10 to 20 minutes. I don't go into a panic attack, but I need to tell myself that I'm ok. If it happens when your around someone, talk about it. It can make the symptoms go away. It can also mean you need an adjustment on your meds. It rarely happens to me. When it does I know that something is bothering me, and I look within myself to see what I'm scared of.

The more stressed I am, the more likely I am to feel that way. When I was not on meds and not taking care of myself, I walked around feeling like most things that were happening around me weren't real. One time I even had an "out of body" experience, like I was watching myself from outside myself! The lower my stress level is, the less this is likely to happen to me. As you mentioned, it's anxiety (along with no meds or self help skills) that seems to bring it on and make it worse. I'm glad it was fleeting and does not happen often to you Indie.

I feel this way often. It comes mostly when I'm stressed out or something triggers my anxiety. When it happens to me I try to focus on my inner self to see what I can learn about it. Usually it's best for me to walk away from conflict, because that is my main trigger for anxiety. I want to go to an empty room without any people around. Just so I can hear myself think.I hope this does not happen too often to you.Big hugs from over here, and a prayer to get better.

((((((( IndieSoul ))))))))

The fleeting 'dissociation' that you you feel in extreme anxiety provoking situations is actually the way the brain copes. The brain takes you away from the situation for a second or two. Although this can seem disconcerting it is helpful for the brain to do this. It is only a problem if the dissociation happens for longer periods or is disrupting your life. Keep talking with your therapist.

Anxiety is fear and it is the fear about the situation that causes the desire or need to escape.
Yes I notice it too. Just last session my therapist asked casually about previous therapists, so I began telling her about them and when I came to the one I cared so much about, I pulled away and began not being able to find the words I needed. She tries to maintain eye contact when I do that and she was having to weave and bob around to 'find' me to ground me with eye contact and further verbal engagement. I was fine until I got to that one therapist, then I was having to talk about deeper feelings and that's one place where my fears reside.

I also experience this dissociation to the point that my boyfriend says that I'm not even there. I cannot function when this happens...I think I may have developed it as a coping mechanism to stop feeling the fear.