5 Signs You're Experiencing Dissociation

There are many ways our bodies escape from stress. One way is through dissociation. Dissociation is a defense mechanism where we unconsciously push away conflicting or threatening emotions from our subconscious mind. It’s a form of compartmentalizing your feelings so that you do not have to deal with them. Below are a few different signs that you are or have experienced dissociation.

DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or guidance

Writer: Sara Del Villar
Script Editor: Vanessa Tao
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
VO: Amanda Silvera
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

References:

[drinasun]

1.0:50 Memory loss
2. 1:29 Derealization
3. 1:59 Feeling lightheaded
4. 2:30 Not feeling pain
5. 3:08 A loss of self-identity

[manasvi]

This is one of those things where you go *"Oh, that's what that feeling is."*

[channel]

Me: *Shows all the symptoms.*
Me: *It's probably just a phase.*

[cakecrumb]

The strangest feeling I get from disassociation is when I suddenly feel like my surroundings are unfamiliar, as if I’ve been dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar place, even though it’s in my own house or something.

[evanclark]

I think I’ve had derealization for years and let me say, it is the hardest thing to describe to people. The weirdest feeling ever it’s so hard to deal with but to put a name to it and seeing others have it helps me feel less crazy

[grammarnazi]

Dissociation is awful. You just feel so disconnected from everything. To me, it feels like I'm a spectator in my own life, and a lot of times, I'll sort of temporarily "wake up" from that trance and realise, "dang, I'm really here, aren't I?" before slowly transitioning back into Spectator Mode. It just feels like there's a part of me missing that I can't explain or figure out. I think I'd prefer overwhelming emotions, positive _or_ negative, over this...numbness.

[cainfreak]

sometimes I feel like I’m a child again. I just stare at myself in the mirror, breathe in and realise that “wow. this is real life. I’m really here. I can interact with the things here. wow.” And it absolutely blows my mind every time.

[patriaciasmith]

Psilocybin containing mushrooms saved my life. The drastically reduced my benzodiazepine withdrawal allowing me to quite illicit pill addiction after three years of heavy daily use before it would had became medically dangerous to quit. It has also helped me survive depression.

[cesarvilla]

I’m 24 . Sometimes I still feel like the kid I was when I was freshly 18 . I see everyone at my work or in public that I think and view them as there older then me to only come to find out there around my age. People often are surprised by my age as well because I have a full beard . When I look at my self I feel this sense that my life is going by so fast and I can’t wrap my mind around it . I recently got out of a 4 year relationship and I feel like I lost most of my memories and mind when I try to tract them down . I just simply forgot everything when people talk about a memory and say “ damn that was two years ago remember “ I just don’t remember .

[selfish.machines]

i swear this channel knows exactly when to post a video when people need them

[earthboundisawsome]

My way of describing it is it feels like playing a video game in 3rd person. Your character is you. You controll them. You press the buttons. You know your skills and stats. You can see your hp and mp. You know when your hurt and take damage; or when you're tired and have a debuff. But you stop feeling it. Sometimes you wonder if maybe even there's someone else in there that does.

[michalsmitmajer]

Lived with that misery called Dissociation little over 4 years…. It’s truly a terrible experience…. But eventually I broke away, when I started to follow some new true purpose. Persuing and focusing on brighter future (rather than thinking about the past or present) truly set me free from that hell.
I came out filled with energy and stronger than ever….
For all those who “live” with dissociation: Please, endure. Good time will come, solve your problems one by one and have patience.

Remember, there will always be someone who loves you in this world… even if you don’t see it.

[JP-emrj]

Going through these comments is really taking a huge weight off my chest, I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing these things, knowing I'm not alone really does ease a lot of anxiety.

[jellyfisheee]

My symptoms:
-Not feeling like my surroundings are physically there
-Feeling like other people arent there
-Keep forgetting who i am and what ive done in my life
-Constantly getting lost in thought and forgetting alot of things
-Feeling like my words and movements arent coming from me
-Feeling dizzy/lightheaded easily
-Not caring about/feeling physical pain

Ive dealed with these symptoms for over a year now and i hope that my therapist will properly diagnose me.

[scratchgotcrazybeats]

You will feel like you're in a movie, there is a filter between you and the world. It's like being high/drunk - without the fun part. Everything's on auto-pilot. All of the the decisions are pre-determined. When you wash your hands it feels like you are touching your hands for the first time.
Ironically, you will probably enjoy it the first few times it hits because it's an escape or maybe it's just me but it stays with you day after day and then when you actually want to experience the world, you can't. There is nothing you can do that's gonna connect you to the world.
You're gonna wake up in the morning thinking it's gone, but after a couple of minutes you realize it's still there and you go about your day.
You will probably talk about it with your friends and they do not know what to say.
You are here but not present.

[alcmeroso]

I’d like to point out that you can derealize without having dissociation. I derealize every once in a while, and it’s best to just do something that grounds you such as paying deep attention to each of your senses

[Chlo]

I have this every once in a while, sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a few days. I remember dissociating, kind of like having an out-of-body experience, as a child when I was living with my abusive parent, and so I know that's why it's happening. It's a weird feeling but it doesn't worry me like it used to! Everybody hang in there ♥️

[evangeleneconnolly]

I never realized I was dissociating my whole childhood untill I looked back and realized I couldn't feel anything during some of the bad memories and I completely blocked out others. What hurts the most for me is the depersonalization - it was fueled by the fact my main guardian always told me "You never experienced anything painful. You were only a witness" and it created such a strong disconnect between what I felt and what I thought and who I was. A truly awful way to cope with an even worse environment

[beamily]

Dissociation memory loss actually isn't always super obvious. It's not always a sudden "jump" (although sometimes it is). But there can also be a "transition period" when you aren't really even aware enough to realize you can't remember. As an example, I might be playing guitar, then realize that I'm playing guitar, then realize I don't know how long I've been playing guitar, then realize the last thing I remember is being in the kitchen making lunch and that can't remember the last three hours. So there's still a gap in memory, but the realization might come gradually rather than in a jarring transition. And sometimes the realization doesn't come at all. Like, I'll be going about my day, turn around to make my bed, or put the groceries away, or do laundry, and it's already done. So there's a gap, but I would never have realized without something moving in the environment or something. And sometimes you notice a jarring transition, but you're so dissociated that you don't even register that its jarring or scary. You have like no thoughts or emotions about it. You're just zoned out

[sabaideebee]

I remember at a very young age, I had this haunting feeling like I was a passenger in my body, peering through the windows of my eyes, feeling like I was subconsciously acting out the will of some entites. In middle school I used to forget the class I needed to go to halfway walking to it, or sometimes the specific building I was in or where I was exactly, it was pretty scary trying to recollect where I was or what I was doing, but still, I'm hesitant in saying I have any condition.