[Cdnstargazer]

Does anyone dissociate when (hypo)manic or depressed? I think that's the only way I can describe how I feel. I feel here nor there right now, and my mind is faster than usual and it feels like I'm not real. Things aren't real almost. It's hard to explain.

Has anyone experienced this?

[Theresa1991]

yes, i have, many times. mostly during depression and mixed states i have the feeling that nothing is real. i am usually real but the world isn't, i am no part of it and that makes me feel afraid of speaking to people and react slowly and feel even more depressed.

when hypo i am not sure, sometimes everything is just so fast that i lose track of the fact that the world is real and i don't care about anything i do because it feels like just a game...

[Wild Coyote]

I dissociate far too frequently.
It's more ofte/intense with mood swings.
My pdoc is clear he feels most of my dissociation stems from layers of PTSD, lots of trauma.

I hope you feel better soon.


WC

[Atypical_Disaster]

For me this is more of a psychosis thing but when my mania gets bad enough I do get that sense of everything being surreal.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I get it too. Usually during periods where I am very unwell.

[mar33]

Yes for me it is easy to dissociate when I'm around people and am really manically excited. and after I'm with them I don't know why I was with them or what's real and it's trippy.

I get it mainly when anxious. Like someone said above, I think it's a maladaptive protective mechanism, and part of PTSD. It's uncomfortable.

[Wander]

This happens to me though I am well practiced from years of trauma. When I am manic it is particularly bad but it also happens while depressed. Now the trauma is mostly dealt with I rarely dissociate (in an abnormal way) while stable. I think it is common with BP.

[Cdnstargazer]

Thanks everyone. I feel less alone now.