I am just realizing that I dissociate automatically sometimes when things get very stressful (at least that is what I think it is now. I feel like I am in sort of like a trance and the world seems to be just going by at a slow rate and nothing matters) but I also noticed that when I become extremely emotional I can shut the emotional pain off by taking a few deep breaths and I notice the emotions go away and I start to zone out again feeling similar to what happens automatically sometimes.

Do others do this to themselves and do you think this is part of dissociation or just a learned method of self calming?

[kaliope]

I think I have been able to dissociate at will, things become too stressful I just stare at a spot and leave....I do it in therapy all the time.......

[Silent_Tears_17]

I have been dissociating at will since I was 10. I started just zoning out into a different world when I would swing on a swing set. Then it was swing sets and listening to music. And then I learned to do it much of the day. People called it daydreaming. Which was true. But I was also trying to escape the life I knew. Now that Im 19, I use my music and walking or a rocking chair to "induce" disassociation and to give myself time each day to break from my life.
But if things get stressful I will do it too. Or any strong emotion, really. Even if it is good. I also will do so if I am triggered. But I use it as a coping skill.
Idk if that helps but thats my experience

[lightcatcher]

I think I truly realised this week that I can disassociate at will, in response to the emotions I am feeling. I often start off the beginning of disassociation by holding my breath.

[amandalouise]

dissociation is one of those things that has many causes and reasons behind why its happening....in normal every day life its an automatic reaction to a feeling, event, situation a person is having trouble handling....

example a person who is bored will start daydreaming, a person who is driving a repetitive/familiar route will space off or start thinking of other things.

we are taught from early childhood some as small as preverbal how to communicate/play imagine, and in some cases stop crying about a boo boo, perceived pain/fears.

the result is some people learn through boredom, pain, strong emotions / their parents/teachers.... how to use their natural dissociation to remove/shut down/daydream....its all part of normal side of what dissociation is.

what changes it to the abnormal side of dissociation like the kind of dissociation that comes with depression/PTSD and dissociative disorders is the inability to control it, and the inability to control how it affects our lives (which boils down to severity and mental disorders.,)

Every day I have some control over when and how I dissociate example I allow myself to daydream, use imagination when I am home or working with a child. I shut down my emotions/pain when its not appropriate to let them have free rein (like at work) but on the dissociative disorders, PTSD, Depression (disordered side of the coin) I dont have any control over when my mind makes me feel numb, spaced out, disconnected due to a trigger, like yesterday when I opened my mail I found a letter from one of my abusers. my body immediately went numb, spaced out disconnected feelings first I used my grounding therapy tools then my wife and I went to the police station and courthouse /made a report/showed the evidence and obtained a protection order/cease and desist order.

my point is normal dissociation is controlible/abnormal(disordered) dissociation is not. I have both.