Calming dissociation involves using grounding techniques (like the 5-4-3-2-1 method, cold water, or strong smells/textures), focusing on sensory input to reconnect with the present, engaging in mindful movement, and creating a safe, stable environment, but long-term management often requires professional help from a therapist specializing in trauma.
This page offers some practical suggestions for helping you cope with dissociation, such as:
So, I would say: 1) breathing, 2) education and de-stigmatization of emotion, and 3) connecting with the bodily responses and engaging in embodied healing.” If you're looking for more ways to work with dissociation, take a look at How to Identify and Treat Dissociation (Even When It's Subtle).
Try to be patient and understanding in daily life
Experiences of dissociation can last for a short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months). Dissociation may be something that you experience for a short time while something traumatic is happening. But you also may have learned to dissociate as a way of coping with stressful experiences.
Short-term dissociation
They can happen to us all sometimes. For example, during periods of intense stress or when we're very tired. Some people also find that using drugs like cannabis can cause feelings of derealisation and depersonalisation. Dissociation is also a normal way of coping during traumatic events.
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.
Dissociation can occur in response to traumatic events, and/or in response to prolonged exposure to trauma (for example, trauma that occurs in the context of people's relationships). Dissociation can affect memory, sense of identity, the way the world is perceived and the connection to the physical body 3.
Try slowly chewing minty gum, eating a crunchy snack, or sipping a warm cup of tea or coffee. While doing so, pay close attention to the flavors and textures you notice. These grounding exercises for dissociation bring your attention back to your body and what you directly sense.
Derealization Treatment
Counselling or psychotherapy can help you to feel safer in yourself. A therapist can help you to explore and process traumatic events from the past, which can help you understand why you dissociate. They can also support you in developing new ways of managing your emotions and your relationships.
The DMN, active when you reflect on yourself or your experiences, becomes dysregulated during dissociation. This disruption may lead to feeling disconnected from your sense of self, as if you're a stranger in your own body—an experience common in dissociative identity disorder (DID).
Dissociation is a common symptom of anxiety disorders. If you're living with anxiety, dissociation serves as a coping mechanism when you're faced with extreme stress or panic. Instead of facing the situation head-on, dissociation enables you to handle the event while disconnected from the severity or reality of it.
Mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder may cause similar symptoms to a dissociative disorder. The effects of certain substances, including some recreational drugs and prescription medications, can mimic symptoms.
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.
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.
For instance, we may dissociate from situations or feelings that remind us of unmet needs or cause overwhelming emotions. Periods of intense stress or anxiety could also trigger something like DPDR, such as a panic attack or emotional stress combined with physical illness.
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💙 To stop dissociating, try grounding strategies like journaling, breathing exercises, sleep routines, and visualizations. Feeling disconnected from your thoughts or the world around you can be a confusing and often distressing experience. This feeling, known as dissociation, is more common than you might think.
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.
How can you tell if someone is dissociating? It depends on how you define dissociation. If we look at it as checking out / zoning out / emotional numbness, we look for trouble staying present. Even if the client appears to be present, they might have the subjective feeling of not being present.
Passing feelings of depersonalization or derealization are common and are not always a cause for concern. But ongoing or serious feelings of detachment and distortion of your surroundings can be a sign of depersonalization-derealization disorder or another physical or mental health condition.
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.
Dissociation can severely impair peoples' ability to effectively integrate their thoughts, memories and emotions with their experience of reality and perception of their identity.
Dissociation often feels good because it serves as the brain's natural defense mechanism against overwhelming stress, trauma, or emotional pain. The temporary relief from dissociation comes from emotional numbing and detachment, but can become problematic when used as a regular coping strategy.