[Miswimmy1]

I was talking to someone about me thinking that my t was being distant, and they suggested that maybe I was dissociating, and therefore making it seem like t was being distant when in fact it was me. What is that? Can u dissociate without having a disorder?

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Miswimmy1

I was talking to someone about me thinking that my t was being distant, and they suggested that maybe I was dissociating, and therefore making it seem like t was being distant when in fact it was me. What is that? Can u dissociate without having a disorder?

question... do you mean it felt like the therapist was keeping her distance, seemed cold/ cold hearted or things like not touching you, not being supportive, not giving hugs, keeping her physical distance in location in the room from you, when talking with you the therapist seemed off base, stand offish, kind of not participating with you?

if so this form of "distancing" is not "dissociating" here where I live and work in NY USA.

Question....do you mean you were doing all the things I stated above?

if so this form of distancing is not "dissociating" here where I live and work in NY USA.

Question...Do you mean you felt kind of numb, foggy headed, and far away from your therapist mentally, kind of like a person feels after a night out drinking and is hung over the next day. like you are moving in slow motion, or you felt like you were not real or you felt your therapist and the room in which you were in had an unreal quality to them..

then yes these things are dissociation here where I live and work in NY USA.

yes dissociation can happen with out having a dissociative disorder. dissociation is one of those things have happens on a normal scale and on abnormal scales.

a person without a dissociative disorder can feel dissociated just by drinking alcohol, doing drugs, not getting enough sleep, not eating the way they should, not getting enough fluids, stress, anxiety, driving/ riding in a vehicle and even taking over the counter and prescription medications can cause normal dissociation,

[wotchermuggle]

Originally Posted by Miswimmy1

Can u dissociate without having a disorder?

Yes. The most common form of dissociation is daydreaming.

Yes, dissociation can be anything from a mild detachment to your surroundings right up to complete loss of reality. There are some disorders where dissociation is more common or to a greater extent, but everyone does it to some degree.

It may well have been you that was distant and not T. Sometimes it can be hard to tell who is the one creating the perceived distance. Part of the whole therapy push/pull thing I guess! It happened to me in my last session, and I'm not sure who it was - maybe it was both of us, we've been going through a rough patch, and she'd been readjusting boundaries - but I think I was subconsciously pulling back in order to protect myself from her 'rejecting' me...

I think it's good you're asking these questions and want to better understand the dynamic between you and T.

I sorta did that one time during a session. I don't know where I 'went' but suddenly I heard my t saying "where did you just go?" all I could respond was "somewhere not here". I didn't like what we were talking about.