[UmightKnowMe]

A weird thing happened to me at the dentist and after I tried to explain it to my T he said it was dissociation. I always thought that people who dissociate are people with DID and i don't have that... I dont do it all the time or lose time or hear voices or have parts or anything. So I feel ashamed that I did that dissociation thing... kwim? And worry that I am falling apart or going crazy or that maybe I shouldnt talk about it. But I am terrified it will happen again...in fact I was sort of fuzzy/out of focus with myself if that makes sense...like I was walking just a bit out of myself for almost a week afterwards and didnt know how to snap back into focus. And I worried what that meant too.
does this ring a bell with anyone?? What do you do?? Do you worry about dissociating? Do you fight it if you feel it starting to happen? I have even been having trouble falling asleep because I can't let go and relax.

[January]

Hi Umight,

Lots of people dissociate and are not DID. Lots of people who are DID dissociate. I'm sure it seemed scary to you, but it's perfectly normal for most of us. It is the mind's way of protecting itself when too much stress is happening.

There is information here on the site which you can access to learn more about dissociation. You are not falling apart or going crazy. The only time I fight it is when I know I'll be driving or I have to communicate fully with someone.

Please calm down, take a deep breath and read about it. Many people often dissociate in a scary place like a dentist's office.

Jan

[kimmydawn]

Hi there and welcome.

Dissociation is a normal part of the human experience. Everyone does it. Some do it more than average (ie daydreaming, not remembering getting from point A to point B, etc.). There's normal dissociation.

There's then the not so normal...as might explain what you did in the dentist's office due to extreme anxiety, fear, etc.

There's then the extreme dissociation as in the instances of DID, DDNOS, etc.

In other words there are many degrees with dissociation from the completely normal, to the disorder. I think yours is more on the normal side if it doesn't happen alot. But that's just my take on it.

One thing I do suggest is that you speak wtih your t ASAP regarding your concerns with this. You need his/her reassurance, I think.

Best to you.

KD

[Talulah]

Hi UmightKnowme,

Hi all, as well....I've never posted in here before, but this caught my eye.

I am not DID either, actually I am PTSD/anxiety/depression. The reason I am posting is because I suffer anxiety to a very high level. I am in talk therapy and on meds as well. I can completely relate to what you experienced.

It is brave of you to bring this to light for yourself and it's the first step toward learning to contain it (if that's possible). I experience periods of extreme dissociation. I kept this from my T for a very long time because I actually thought I was having a medical problem, also I've remembered periods of my life and youth where I've done this.

In my case, I would feel "high" and "unreal" like nothing was real. I would not be able to see or hear clearly and nothing I did snapped me out of this. It was like a veil was over everything and I could not concentrate very well. I always knew where I was and how I got there, but feared it would become so overwhelming that I would blackout or something. I used to faint when I did this at 19.

I could eat or drink or breathe and I could not control it like I could my anxiety--I was very afraid because I could not get out of it. This period would last several hours to several days and made me very paranoid. I could not trust that what was happening around me was real or not. I was afraid to drive. When others drove me my body jerked and reacted as if I was doing the driving and when I tried to rationalize to myself and tell myself I wasn't driving, I kept thinking, but what if I'm wrong and I really am driving??? Basically I couldn't trust my own mind or body. I could even tell someone that I feel really weird and I could lay down, but it had to wear off or I had to take loads of xanax and knock myself out and hope to wake up without this feeling.

My pdoc and therapist told me I was dissociating. In my case I would get creeping anxiety that would intensify and they believe that it was my mind's way of protection from what it sensed as danger. The problem is, that often there was no danger in the present moment but my mind (due to past trauma) hasn't learned to react properly and cannot differentiate that. it was trying to protect me and perhaps something triggered it but its hard to say because my mind has skewed perception and my coping strategies not working appropriately.

They were quick to try to get this under control, and upped my anti depressants to double the dose! This was 2 weeks ago and I have yet to experience another "episode" of this.

Talk to someone about it and see if they can offer suggestions on how to cope during these scary moments.

Just want you to know you're not alone.

[(JD)]

There is a component of dissociation in the PTSD. However, every human dissociates.

When you are driving, for a usual example, and the next thing you know you are at your destination but don't recall all the exits, streets etc, you dissociated during the trip. Some ppl call it daydreaming, when you allow your thoughts to take you away from the boring classwork... Or even when you are so focussed on a project that you don't hear (you tune out) the surrounding noises... that's also dissociation.

There is a sticky post at the top of another forum...maybe anxiety? Grounding Techniques. It gives things you can do to stay in the here and now, rather than dissociating. It can feel scary, but with a mild effect, usually quite safe.

I suspect something familiar in the dentist office may have triggered your mind into a connection with whatever caused your PTSD?

TC!

[UmightKnowMe]

Oh yes the dentist office was the definate trigger...there is no mystery about what it stirred up...I wont describe it here..

I will have to print out those grounding techniques....I feel like I should not allow myself to dissociate because I understand it was something I did to protect myself when I was younger...but NOW I am not in any danger and need to not do that. It is weird...I feel like it is a step backward for me to do that. But that may not be accurate...I am not known for good judgement and self talk! LOL