I am having A LOT of trouble staying present during sessions I am actually having trouble with it everywhere anyway I am trying but I can't stay there I have been dissociating a lot and I have whole days I can't remember and things keep appearing and when I ask how it got there people say I moved it but I have zero recollection I am having trouble knowing what day it is and I can't remember a thing of my school work. But also I am finding it is making it hard for me to follow conversations as I can't stay on track and during my sessions this is difficult even the things my psychologist does to try and bring me back aren't working because as soon as I start them I space out again and I can't get back to do the technique I am trying so hard but I don't feel like I have any control over when it happens I don't even know it is happening untill later when I realize 3 hours have gone by and I have no clue what I was doing or where i was.

Wow thanks everyone I feel so supported

I'm sorry you don't feel supported, but remember we live on the arse-end of the earth. I dont know what stae youu are in but if you are in a daylight saving tine even I will be between 1-2.5 hours behind you. People on other continets may not see it in time.
If its any consolation I am going throught the same thing atm

Yes maybe people don't know what to say but there is a hug button and only one person pressed that so I don't think there is really a good reason also when I posted there were plenty of people on here so again I think people just don't like me not that I am not already used to that

[LonesomeTonight]

I don't personally have much experience with dissociation, so I'm not sure what to say to help with that. I think there might be a subforum on it? I support you and want to help, just not sure what to say...

[Cinnamon_Stick]

Could you ask your T to help you with the dissociation during sessions?

[Petra5ed]

I am the same way and I see my therapy as a place to practice trying to be present, that being said, I'm not good at it. You probably just have an anxious attachment style, like me. Sometimes I even imagine I'm at the other end of a tunnel, lol, my safe place. In my worst sessions I can't cry or talk, instead I just freeze, and then I leave wishing I hadn't, always always. It's something you can wok on, but it can be a slow process sometimes... Actually I really am a lot better about it now

[Leah123]

My sense is that you may be pushing yourself too hard- that was the case with me when my dissociation got to be so extreme. I don't know if you want to or feel comfortable with it- but usually being much gentler, decreasing commitments, and not focusing on the source/s of trauma for a while but mindfully distracting myself with DBT type skills/processes helps ease those states quite a bit. Being overwhelmed in other words is a very common cause of what you're going through in my experience, basically, and my experience with other people who dissociate, so... anything you can do to "change the channel" should help.

[Yoda]

Just now found your thread. I don't use the hug button because I don't like seeing a numerical value of hugs I have given. I will hug you with a smiley though.

I dissociated often when my ptsd was at its worst and I had lots of problems in therapy with remembering what was said. For months I would tell my T, I know we have discussed this already but I can't remember the conversation so can we talk about it again. She was very patient with me and after a lengthy time in therapy I improved but it oh so very difficult when my brain was overloaded and could not process all the input.

It does get better but sometimes not as quickly as we would want.

[peaches100]

Hi Eden,

It can be really frustrating, and even scary, to dissociate so much. I know because I dissociate when I get under too much pressure. I also dissociate when my t and I are trying to accomplish too much work too quickly. When we go too deep, it sometimes exceeds my ability to use coping skills, and then I will dissociate and get really forgetful and zoned out in general, even at home or work. Are you in therapy? Could the problem be that your therapist is just trying to do too much too soon, before you are ready to deal with it?

Mindfulness training can help us learn to stay in the present moment. I found a free online mindfulness class that I am taking right now. If you are interested in taking it, PM me and I'll give you the link.

Peaches

The subforum on dissociation is pretty much just people with DID so i feel very out of place there. Also the work i am trying to do is the mindfulness stuff that is supposed to help stop the dissociation but i keep dissociating as we start trying to do it So i can never actually do it properly and it keeps making me feel worse and more stressed.

[vonmoxie]

I have a non-DID dissociation disorder as well, and it does feel lonely in many regards, since not only is it lesser known, but it seems to in many ways be easily overshadowed by DID. I read a book review right here on PC about a book on Dissociation Disorders in general which completely referred to it as a book solely about DID. I wasn't insulted; just surprised, and I did wonder how much of the hefty volume the reviewer had really read (or, if they had read it with DID-colored glasses ).

I had it pretty bad when I was younger, and then mostly had it under better control for a long time, but due to some unfortunate experiences I ran into more recently am finding myself to be in a relapse of proportions that are in some ways worse even than when I was a kid.

I don't know much about any prescribed coping techniques as I personally never had a therapist knowledgeable enough to participate in really helping me in that regard, but I try to ensure that as much as possible I have access to those aspects of life that I personally find truly engaging, and for me it means having a wide variety of stimuli available. Like, I always have my ipod with me, with high-charged playlists for waking my psyche the heck up, softer ones for smoothing out my mood when I need it, and everything in between. And when there's a particularly good amount of positive external stimuli happening, like being at a party where there's plenty of great people to talk to, I'm okay... but for most any other situation I have to be vigilant.

I struggle with it a lot though. It's so easy to dissociate, and when it happens it's so lightning quick.. and sadly none of the ways I've found that can prevent it are foolproof. But they help.

I also do a lot of what might look like self-soothing to anyone really noticing it, but it's actually me doing my best to stay present, by having an active sense of touch, like pressing and moving on certain points on my body (like for instance that hollowish area between the thumb and first finger). I got the idea from that EFT (emotional freedom technique) which is all about tapping, but for me I find pressure works better.

Everyone's different though... at least it always seems like everyone's different from me I hope you find ways that work better for you soon!

I have tried touch and things like that cold things all sorts of things but normally they just make it worse like overloading my senses I don't know. I just wish that maybe I could remember more.