recently i developed a way to cope with bad feelings and experiences by imagining a little blue gift-wrapped box with a red bow sitting in the corner of a dark room. i imagine that i'm putting these experiences into that box and closing them up and i forget them until i am able to reason with myself, i guess. i have found that when i'm "in the moment" so to speak, i can't think clearly without shutting the moment away for a while. this has helped multiple times over the last few weeks, since i started back to work. i haven't been doing it for the last couple days and have been freaking out, for lack of a better term, when i experience something negative. it's much easier to imagine the box when i am with other people, as though the presence of others forces me to remember that i need to act normal and not react irrationally.

i must note that i have always been one to "forget" negative experiences since i was very little, but i've only recently started making a conscious effort because the negative experiences have become more frequent.

i was wondering if this was a form of dissociation. i have brought it up with a therapist but have not received any kind of confirmation from him because for one i don't think he's capable of making any kind of diagnosis right now and for another i only see him once every two weeks.

i would have researched it myself but honestly, i don't trust myself to know even if i did find anything on it.

thank you.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by DreamAddiction37

recently i developed a way to cope with bad feelings and experiences by imagining a little blue gift-wrapped box with a red bow sitting in the corner of a dark room. i imagine that i'm putting these experiences into that box and closing them up and i forget them until i am able to reason with myself, i guess. i have found that when i'm "in the moment" so to speak, i can't think clearly without shutting the moment away for a while. this has helped multiple times over the last few weeks, since i started back to work. i haven't been doing it for the last couple days and have been freaking out, for lack of a better term, when i experience something negative. it's much easier to imagine the box when i am with other people, as though the presence of others forces me to remember that i need to act normal and not react irrationally.

i must note that i have always been one to "forget" negative experiences since i was very little, but i've only recently started making a conscious effort because the negative experiences have become more frequent.

i was wondering if this was a form of dissociation. i have brought it up with a therapist but have not received any kind of confirmation from him because for one i don't think he's capable of making any kind of diagnosis right now and for another i only see him once every two weeks.

i would have researched it myself but honestly, i don't trust myself to know even if i did find anything on it.

thank you.

is imagining a blue box, imagine tucking away your problems in the box until you are ready to deal with the problems a form of dissociation? no its actually a therapeutic technique that many treatment providers use for things like PTSD, anxiety, depression and many other physical and mental health issues... the technique is called imagery, visualizations, meditations and known by other words like yoga, relaxation, self hypnosis, vision quests and many others names for it depending upon the treatment provider and ones own cultural background.

some people use this for things like quitting smoking, losing weight, phobia's/fears too.

keep up the fantastic work.

[yellowted]

i was told in therapy years ago to try and imagine putting each bad experience in a box of its own, seal it and stick a lable on it then stack it in a corner, it worked great as a way if dealing with one problem at a time, i only opened a box when i was alone or with my therapist and had time to deal with it. fantastic system. i was able to rationalise many problems and bad experiences that way.
It was not done as a way of dissociating, it was done simply as a way of ordering and prioritising thoughts/ problems. once i had rationalised a problem/bad ezperience it was boxed up and put back in storage somewhere in the depths of my brain a bit like a filing system.

if it works then use it

thank you, good to know. was not sure if it would be considered a "therapy" or not, if maybe one day it would blow up in my face.

it does help a lot.

[MomgaJupiter]

My therapist has me use the image of a vault. We can put strong feelings into the vault to "contain" them and go back out into life. Trying to carry them around 24/7 is too hard, and not useful. We even use a "night drop" slot for the smaller stuff. One important thing is to let your parts know that you are not throwing this stuff away to never deal with it. It is a safe storage until you are in a safe place to go back and take care of one piece at a time.

[Gr3tta]

i agree that this is most likely unrelated to dissociation, but a great technique to use.
i use a similar technique in conjunction with dealing with alters.
for instance, one comes forward to tell/show/remake a memory, and not only do i acknowledge it, but we put it away safely together. that way the alter gets to get rid of the memory too. but it's somewhere safe where we can revisit/re-remember it if we need to. its not the same as just shoving it away and pretending it doesn't exist.
we like to picture a big wall of shiny brass locked doors of varying sizes. kind of like post office boxes.