Pretty much everyone will experience dissociation at some point during their lives. If you’ve ever had an out-of-body experience or felt totally numb to what’s happening around you, it was probably that. This experience can happen with relatively little incident, too. Daydreaming or driving down a familiar road and realizing you can’t remember a recent stretch can both technically count as dissociation.
Occasional dissociation is fairly normal. But recurring breaks in how your mind processes situations and interacts with the world around you can get in the way of your best life. In fact, recurring or long-lasting dissociation can be diagnosed as a mental health disorder (mental health professionals now call multiple personality disorder dissociative identity disorder [DID]).
At the end of the day, understanding dissociation and how it can affect you can help you keep a finger on the pulse of your own mental wellness.
Dissociation 101
Dissociation occurs when there’s a disconnect in your mental processes. You might feel like you’re watching yourself in a movie. Or you might be having an experience but feel numb to it. Some of the most common symptoms of dissociation include:
- Gaps in your memory (amnesia)
- Disconnection from the world around you (derealization)
- Disconnection from your thoughts or physical sensations (depersonalization)
This break can also affect your identity, leaving you confused about who you truly are or feeling like your identity has altered temporarily. Remember, at its most severe, this condition can manifest as multiple personalities.
Like most mental and physical conditions, dissociation occurs on a spectrum. You might experience mild cases of it every once in a while, or you might dissociate regularly so much so that it makes it hard for you to go about your day.
When it can present a problem
Generally, it’s worth talking to someone about dissociation if you experience it regularly or it lasts for a long time.
Beyond DID, this kind of dissociation can be the hallmark symptom of other conditions, including:
- Depersonalization-derealization disorder: If you regularly feel disconnected from your own thoughts and feelings and/or the world around you, you could be living with this disorder.
- Dissociative amnesia: With this condition, you realize you have gaps in your memory after the fact.
Alternatively, you might experience dissociation as a symptom of another mental health condition, like anxiety, depression, OCD, or PTSD.
In some cases, people experience this type of break after a traumatic incident. Many researchers theorize that it’s your brain’s way of protecting you from a painful experience.
To help yourself decide if you should talk to a mental health professional, check in with yourself. If you regularly feel detached, have memory gaps, or struggle with your identity, treatment might help you.
Treating dissociation
For many people, effectively treating this condition comes down to regularly talking with a therapist. Through psychotherapy, you get tools to identify dissociation. You also get help minimizing how frequently you experience it and how much it impacts your life.
If your dissociation stems from a past trauma, therapy can also help you unpack and heal from that incident.
If you want to talk to someone about what you’ve been feeling — or your lack of feeling — we’re here to help. Contact our team of dedicated therapists whenever you’re ready.
