During dissociation, the brain's networks become disconnected, creating detachment from self or surroundings as a protective response to overwhelm, involving altered activity in memory centers (hippocampus), emotion regulation (amygdala), and self-awareness (default mode network), leading to fragmented memories, emotional numbness, and feeling like watching life from outside. Specific brain regions like the posteromedial cortex show unique rhythmic activity that disrupts communication with other areas, explaining the feeling of disconnection and "shutting down".
Overview. Dissociative disorders are mental health conditions that involve experiencing a loss of connection between thoughts, memories, feelings, surroundings, behavior and identity. These conditions include escape from reality in ways that are not wanted and not healthy. This causes problems in managing everyday life ...
Dissociation makes you feel disconnected from yourself and your surroundings. You may also experience gaps in memory, an altered sense of time, or intense flashbacks. Mental health conditions, such as PTSD, panic disorder, and depression can involve dissociation.
Several studies analyzing brain MRI findings from DPDR patients found decreased cortical thickness in the right middle temporal gyrus, reduction in grey matter volume in the right caudate, thalamus, and occipital gyri, as well as lower white matter integrity in the left temporal and right temporoparietal regions.
Dissociation occurs when different mental processes operate independently, failing to connect or integrate. This disconnection often stems from a need to avoid distressing thoughts or emotions. Symptoms of dissociation may include: Feeling detached from reality or oneself, often described as “feeling like an observer.”
Dissociation involves disruptions of usually integrated functions of consciousness, perception, memory, identity, and affect (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, numbing, amnesia, and analgesia).
Dissociation is not a form of psychosis. These are two different conditions that may easily be confused for each other. Someone going through a dissociative episode may be thought to be having a psychotic episode, and in some cases, dissociation may be the initial phase to having a psychotic episode.
If you dissociate, you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you. For example, you may feel detached from your body or feel as though the world around you is unreal. Remember, everyone's experience of dissociation is different.
While it may feel frightening or isolating, derealization is also a form of dissociation. You are not going crazy—your mind is trying to protect you.
A Powerful Protective Mechanism.
Dissociation can serve as a protective mechanism during times of stress or trauma, offering individuals a temporary respite from overwhelming emotions.
Dissociation is also a normal way of coping during traumatic events. For example, some people may dissociate while experiencing war, kidnapping or during a medical emergency. In situations we can't physically get away from, dissociation can protect us from distress.
Dissociation can feel frightening because it often involves feeling detached from your body, thoughts, or surroundings. This can be sudden and unsettling, making it hard to feel in control. But it's important to remember that support is out there.
Dissociation in chemistry is a general process in which molecules (or ionic compounds such as salts, or complexes) separate or split into other things such as atoms, ions, or radicals, usually in a reversible manner.
Shutdown dissociation is when someone appears to “shut down” emotionally or physically in response to overwhelming stress or trauma. It can happen suddenly and may last for a short time or much longer.
People who have experienced physical and sexual abuse in childhood are at increased risk of dissociative identity disorder. The vast majority of people who develop dissociative disorders have experienced repetitive, overwhelming trauma in childhood.
[1] The result in such extreme cases is often a highly fragmented sense of life and self-identity that can lead to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
A trauma shield is a special insert that is worn in combination with a ballistic vest or plate carrier. Unlike special ballistic protection, trauma protection alone does not provide ballistic protection against shots, stabs or fragments.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): Your Brain's Emotional Regulator
During dissociation, the PFC's activity decreases, making it harder to regulate emotions or feel connected to the world around you. This explains why dissociation often feels like emotional numbness or mental “shutting down.”
One of these outcomes is the onset of psychosis, in which a person loses touch with reality. Psychosis is characterised by hallucinations and delusions, which can be confusing and frightening, and may be experienced as traumatic themselves.
A person dissociating might have trouble conversating with another person or listening to the person while they talk. However, a person who is dissociating can still interact with other people and hold a conversation. Sometimes, they might just appear spaced out.
Dissociation often feels good because it serves as the brain's natural defense mechanism against overwhelming stress, trauma, or emotional pain.
Among the great sufferers posttraumatic stress (PTSD) may develop and in some also a dissociative disorder. Dissociation is a disputed term, psychosis less so. Parts of the symptomatology related to both are the same, derealization and dysmorphofobia and also level of conscience.
Other symptoms can include incoherent or nonsense speech and behavior that is inappropriate for the situation. However, a person will often show changes in their behavior before psychosis develops. Behavioral warning signs for psychosis include: Suspiciousness, paranoid ideas, or uneasiness with others.
The good news, however, is that it is possible to heal and return to normal after psychosis. This happens most reliably when the required support system is present. With medication and additional therapy, some patients quickly recover. Others may continue experiencing less acute symptoms of psychosis.
In treating patients with DID, there are reports of some success with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, beta blockers, clonidine, anticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines in reducing intrusive symptoms, hyperarousal, anxiety, and mood instability.