How can you tell if you dissociate. T tells me I am doing it but how can you tell? Sometimes I feel that I have seen her really up close even if we are sitting far apart. Thats a bit strange. We have been working with me getting into a trance but how can you tell the difference?

She once asked if I were seeing colours when I closed my eyes. Well I don´t and the whole thing scares me a bit. Sometimes I feel a bit freakish.

Have all people who dissociate been abused or do some people just use it as a defence mechanism even as adults?

Originally Posted by lonelybychoice

How can you tell if you dissociate. T tells me I am doing it but how can you tell? Sometimes I feel that I have seen her really up close even if we are sitting far apart. Thats a bit strange. We have been working with me getting into a trance but how can you tell the difference?

She once asked if I were seeing colours when I closed my eyes. Well I don´t and the whole thing scares me a bit. Sometimes I feel a bit freakish.

Have all people who dissociate been abused or do some people just use it as a defence mechanism even as adults?

Hi lonelybychoice
I'm not sure if all dissociatives have been abused, and I can't see why it could be a defense mechanism without a good reason.
I can answer for myself though. When I dissociate, I either lose time completely or feel I'm watching a movie of what ever is happening. Sometimes I remember nothing at all, sometimes it's vague and dreamlike.
If it's ok to ask, why have you and T been doing trance work? Does the therapist think there is something you aren't remembering or too hard to deal with without being in a trance state?
Sorry I couldn't help more.

Originally Posted by Calista+12

Hi lonelybychoice
I'm not sure if all dissociatives have been abused, and I can't see why it could be a defense mechanism without a good reason.
I can answer for myself though. When I dissociate, I either lose time completely or feel I'm watching a movie of what ever is happening. Sometimes I remember nothing at all, sometimes it's vague and dreamlike.
If it's ok to ask, why have you and T been doing trance work? Does the therapist think there is something you aren't remembering or too hard to deal with without being in a trance state?
Sorry I couldn't help more.

Thanks for your reply. Its a good point about defence mechanism being there for a reason. Don´t think a have been abused in a serious way anyway. Think she uses trance to bring back childhood memories,so she can " repair" and be "the healthy parent". Never quite worked for me though. I do remember my childhood and the trance never seemed to worked as I never really got the point of it until reasonly.

[pbutton]

I usually stop feeling like I'm real. I feel like I am outside of my head, watching myself.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I typically feel like a veil drops between me and the world. I feel like I'm no longer connected to my body, and I struggle to focus on outside stimuli. Sounds are less sharp, everything seems foggy, and I'm less sensitive to touch.

I was not abused as a child. I dissociate due to anxiety. When my anxiety levels are extremely high, I start disconnecting from everything around me. It's a defense mechanism to try to lower my anxiety levels.

For me, it feels like I'm outside my own body and I loose time, it feels like I'm in a black hole and I cant see or hear what's going on around me. T says its a natural defense strategy but I don't do it On purpose.

[Perna]

Everyone dissociates; anytime you aren't aware of what's going on around you ("lost" in a good book, for example, or drive to work and don't "remember" the trip) you are dissociating. When you are dissociating you aren't aware, so you can't know you are doing it then :-) Did you mother ever call you to come do some chore (mine was always to fold clothes out of the dryer) and had to call you several times because you didn't hear her? Anytime you are day dreaming, you are dissociating.

People with a dissociation disorder might dissociate for hours, days, etc. If they have dissociation identity disorder, instead of just not being "there" another personality might emerge and run their life so when the former personality comes "back" they won't know what has happened/taken place in the meantime. Someone might tell them they said or did something and they have no recollection. When the rest of us dissociate, we don't go or do anything we can't figure out we did (getting to work but not remembering the route or what you were thinking, you still know you probably just drove straight to work, your usual route and that it is your usual time for arriving, etc.).

[Nelliecat]

I don't feel like I'm in my body but I think I only mildly dissociate because I'm aware it's happening, I just can't stop it. It's a horrible feeling, my body also doesn't feel like it's in contact with anything. It used to happen a lot as a child and it's started happening over the last year again.

[stopdog]

I lose time/end up places and not know how I got there and sometimes it is like floating away and observing what is going on from a distance.

i just leave. gone.. poof! i had a pdoc ask where i went and i told him, "i don't know...i just don't know"... i often wonder what i am doing when i am gone???

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by lonelybychoice

How can you tell if you dissociate. T tells me I am doing it but how can you tell? Sometimes I feel that I have seen her really up close even if we are sitting far apart. Thats a bit strange. We have been working with me getting into a trance but how can you tell the difference?

She once asked if I were seeing colours when I closed my eyes. Well I don´t and the whole thing scares me a bit. Sometimes I feel a bit freakish.

Have all people who dissociate been abused or do some people just use it as a defence mechanism even as adults?

its different for everyone.

sometimes it feels like you cant feel anything, numb like
sometimes it feels like you are moving in slow motion
sometimes it feels like you are spacey foggy headed
sometimes it feels like you are far away from every thing
sometimes it feels like you are very close to something,
some people even see auras or sharp edging,
sometimes its like getting so into something you are doing that you lose track of time.. that saying time flies when having fun kind of thing.
sometimes its like time is going too slow
sometimes its like not feeling real either you or things/ people around you
some people even hear wind /tones in their ears/head when dissociated.
in some locations daydreaming, types of hypnosis is called dissociation.
for some locations trance states and dissociation are one and the same.

different locations, treatment providers, and people have different views of what is called dissociation.

for me

dissociation is when Im on the wrong medication/dosage I am spacy, hung over, nauseous, slow motion and the world doesnt feel real and Im not a part of the world.

for me dissociation is when Im under so much stress my head becomes foggy, I get this sudden sinking feeling, or this sudden backing up feeling even though physically I am not moving, the voices of those around me get muffled and sounding far away..

for me dissociation used to be switching into alternate personalities

for me dissociation is daydreaming / losing track of the time because my mind is busy.

for me dissociation is feeling numb, like Im not in my body...

here where I live and work there are many different symptoms and ways to be that are considered "dissociation".

the best way to know what something like dissociation is, is by contacting your own treatment providers and going according to what they tell / have told you about what dissociation is where you are, and in relation to your own problems.

[tkdgirl]

Not to hijack the thread but does anyone ever feel sick after disassociating. Sometimes I zone out a bit during session but today I had a long period where I was totally disassociated and once I came back I had a killer headache and felt like I was gonna puke. I haven't really been able to shake the sick feeling all day. Just wondering if anyone else experienced something like this?

Originally Posted by tkdgirl

Not to hijack the thread but does anyone ever feel sick after disassociating. Sometimes I zone out a bit during session but today I had a long period where I was totally disassociated and once I came back I had a killer headache and felt like I was gonna puke. I haven't really been able to shake the sick feeling all day. Just wondering if anyone else experienced something like this?

When I switch, I get killer headaches. There have been a fewtimes when after being dissociated, I felt very nauseated.

[Butterflies Are Free]

I usually struggle with attention and feel like I am not present in my body. I also struggle with my connection to my T and "space out".

[myexpression]

i typically have a hard time crying, but i recently sobbed so hard that i that i could barely believe the sounds coming out of my mouth were my own; i felt myself pulling away and starting to "observe" myself from the outside. i was very aware of the phenominom and "brought myself back into my body"... i have trauma in my past, but most recently have been enduring tremendous emotional pain.

[Towanda]

When I start to enter a dissociative state, everything slows down - the world around me, my movements. My arms and legs, my body, feels heavy, like its an effort to move, and then suddenly, I can't move, like I'm paralyzed. I feel like I have cotton in my ears. My vision narrows down, like tunnel vision. I cannot talk or communicate in any way. I feel like I am outside my body, watching myself from a distance. I can stay frozen like this for hours unless someone helps bring me out - by gently touching my arm and talking to me softly, reminding me of where I am, telling me who I am. It takes awhile but gradually sight and hearing come back.

It's scary - happened three or four times while working through SA memories.