What is Trauma-Related Dissociation?

Daydreaming and dissociation are related to each other, but they differ in terms of their duration, severity and underlying mechanisms.

What is the Difference Between Daydreaming and Dissociation?

Daydreaming is usually a harmless activity where an individual imagines certain people, places or events. 

Daydreaming is Pleasant and Relaxing

Daydreaming is often a pleasant and relaxing experience (unless someone spends an excessive amount of time engaged in it to the detriment of other things in their life). 

Daydreaming, getting absorbed in a book and forgetting the miles driven on a familiar road are all light forms of dissociation.

Dissociation involves a detachment or interruption from either thoughts, feelings, current surroundings, memories or an experience of oneself.  Under ordinary circumstances, light dissociation is a temporary detachment or interruption.

Dissociation is a common response to stress.

Dissociation is also a common response to trauma and, under severe conditions, it's a response to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) which was formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

Dissociation is on a continuum. Mild dissociation can last up to a few minutes minutes and, on the other end of the continuum, severe dissociation can last days or longer.

Comparing daydreaming to more serious dissociation: Ordinary daydreaming is usually not disruptive to one's life, but severe dissociation can be a distressing experience.

What is the Connection Between Trauma and Dissociation?

Dissociation is an unconscious defense mechanism.

During a traumatic event, the fight or flight response can get activated.

Trauma-Related Dissociation

If an individual is unable to fight or flee, the freeze response gets activated as a way to protect the individual through dissociation.  

One example of the freeze response is the "deer in the headlights" reaction. 

So, for instance, if someone is walking down a deserted street and someone suddenly jumps out to attack them, the person who was walking alone might freeze as part of being shocked.  

The freeze response is an unconscious defense mechanism. As part of the freeze response, the person who is shocked might be unable to speak, run or fight because they are immobilized by the traumatic shock of the attack.

What Are the Signs of Dissociation?

Signs and symptoms of dissociation include (but are not limited to):

• Feeling disconnected from your body, also known as an "out of body experience" (depersonalization)

• Feeling separate from the environment around you. The world around you might feel unreal or distorted (derealization)

• Experiencing lightheadedness, dizziness or a racing heart

• Feeling emotionally numb or disconnected

• Having difficulty feeling emotions

• Feeling unsure of who you are

• Forgetting significant events or times in your life or personal information which could include big gaps in your memories, including memory gaps in your family history

• Feeling disconnected from your body so that you don't feel pain when you would normally expect to feel pain

• Experiencing flashbacks including emotional flashbacks

What Are Some Ways to Cope With Dissociation? (non-DID dissociation)

Some of the following activities might be helpful:

• Writing in a journal
  

• Practicing mindfulness
  

Mindfulness and Square Breathing to Cope With Dissociation

• Practicing Square Breathing
  

• Making self care a priority
  

Getting Help in Trauma Therapy

The suggestions above for coping with dissociation can be good strategies to manage your dissociation, but if you want to overcome trauma-related dissociation, you need to seek help in trauma therapy (see my article: What is a Trauma Therapist?).

Getting Help in Trauma Therapy

Regular talk therapy often has limited success for working through unresolved trauma, which is why certain forms of trauma therapy, like EMDR, AEDP, Somatic Experiencing, IFS, Ego States Therapy and clinical hypnosis, were developed.

All of the above modalities are Experiential Therapies (see my article: Why Experiential Therapy is More Effective Than Talk Therapy to Overcome Trauma).

Unresolved trauma can linger for months, years or even a lifetime, so getting help in trauma therapy sooner rather than later is important.

Once you have worked through unresolved trauma, you can lead a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, Somatic Experiencing, IFS, Ego States and Sex Therapist.

With over 20 years of experience as a trauma therapist, I have helped many individual adults and couples work through trauma.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.