how is the word dissociation misused? i just want to make sure im using it correctly
yikes im so tired im not gonna explain an entire psychological condition basically dissociation occurs most often in the context of two situations being 1 chronic trauma and 2 bpd.
1 chronic trauma: when you are consistently being exposed to traumatic events like lets say child abuse your brain learn to separate from your body in order to protect itself. the events you are experiencing are so much that you experience a break in level consciousness and develop a physical reaction to stress. so, even if trauma isn’t happening anymore, your body is trained to separate from your consciousness and your will dissociate
2 bpd some people with BPD even if they are not experiencing trauma have what some people call “the emotional skin of a third degree burn victim” meaning that any emotion that somebody without BPD might experience at a 2/10, people with BPD are experiencing at an 8/10 so even if its not what the average joe might call “trauma” it feels extremely overwhelming and the same thing as #1 happens when you train yourself to separate.
DISSOCIATION is a spectrum and can vary in separation of consciousness, from symptoms of derealization (the world feels really dreamy and broken and not real) to conditions like Dissociative Identity Disorder when you have entirely separate personality states with separate memories, preferences, thoughts, and behaviors.
now im not gonna go around and tell everybody “hey you youre not dissociating” because there are irregular experiences in which dissociation disorders are developed outside of these situations but these are the most common but the most common misuses ive been seeing here on the web as of late are:
- spacing out is not dissociating
- memory loss form drug or alcohol use is not dissociating
ANYWAY! dissociation can be extremely debilitating and is a serious problem for a lot of people recovering from trauma or personality disorders and should not be taken lightly! if you think you are experiencing something on the dissociative spectrum i suggest you look into psychiatric care and get yourself accessed by a train clinician!
stay safe.
