How to Stop Dissociating

Dissociation can seem to come out of nowhere, causing you to feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you. It’s often a distressing experience that can last anywhere from a few moments to a few months.

When we dissociate, it can feel like a struggle to regain our sense of attachment to reality. Even though these feelings may seem overwhelming, there are several strategies that can help you overcome dissociation and reconnect with yourself and your surroundings.

Let’s take a look at what dissociation is and what it feels like to discover how to stop it when it occurs. 

What Is Dissociation? What It Means to Dissociate, What It Feels Like, and Why We Do It

Dissociation is a mental state that causes someone to feel detached from their thoughts, feelings, and sense of identity. It also causes someone to lose awareness of their surroundings, and the world around them may feel unreal.

While dissociation affects everyone differently, there are three main ways that it can cause us to feel disconnected:

• Derealization—the sense that the world around you isn’t real
• Depersonalization—the sense that you are detached from your mind and body
• Amnesia—the loss of memory for specific events or long periods of time

Sometimes, we dissociate during everyday activities like driving to work or reading a captivating book. Dissociating during these scenarios is normal, and it usually shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

Other times, we dissociate during intensely stressful events or traumatic experiences. These situations can trigger long-term dissociative episodes, which often indicates that there is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

Read our related guide on dissociative identity disorder (DID) for a full look at different forms of dissociation.

What Does It Feel Like to Dissociate?

Dissociating as a result of stress or trauma can feel like a dream-like state where you’re disconnected from yourself and the world around you. It causes you to feel like you aren’t yourself, and your surroundings may feel foggy or unreal.

When you are dissociating, you may feel like:

• You’re observing yourself from the outside
• You can’t remember information about yourself or your past
• It’s difficult to define who you are
• The world around you is lifeless
• You’re living in a dream
• Other people seem lifeless or unreal

For some people, these feelings may only be a temporary reaction to stress or trauma. To others, these feelings can be a persistent struggle that lasts for several months. Either way, dissociation can be an isolating experience that can severely interfere with daily life.

Why Do We Dissociate?

Most of the time, dissociation occurs as a response to stress or trauma. During traumatic events, the brain will dissociate to protect itself from mental harm. When someone experiences a traumatic event or a stressful situation, they will cope with it by dissociating from themselves and their surroundings.

While dissociation is commonly linked to dissociative identity disorder (DID), it is also linked to several other mental health conditions. Some of the common mental health conditions that can cause dissociation include:

• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar disorder
• Borderline personality disorder

Understanding the sources of someone’s dissociation can help them identify why it happens, when it occurs, and how to overcome it. 

At Sequoia Behavioral Health, we can treat severe cases of the mental health disorders associated with dissociation. Read through our mental health resources for more information on what we treat and how we do it. Reach out to get started today.

How to Stop Dissociating—Strategies for Overcoming Dissociation

During dissociative episodes, it can feel like you’ve lost control of yourself and reality. Fortunately, there are several strategies that can help you reconnect with your mind, your body, and the world around you.  

When you feel like you’re dissociating, you should:

• Record your thoughts and feelings in a journal
• Practice grounding techniques to reconnect with your surroundings
• Practice breathing exercises to calm your nervous system
• Practice yoga and meditation
• Develop a bedtime routine that ensures adequate sleep
• Identify and reduce stressors in your daily life

These strategies can help you overcome dissociative feelings by promoting grounding, mindfulness, and mental wellness. Although they aren’t long-term solutions for overcoming the root of your dissociative episodes, they can help you reconnect with yourself and your surroundings when you’re feeling untethered. 

Overcoming Dissociation With Professional Help

If you are experiencing frequent episodes of dissociation, then it’s important to seek help from a mental health professional. They can help you identify the root causes of your dissociation, whether it’s from trauma, stress, or a symptom of an overarching mental health condition.

Mental health professionals can also help you develop strategies for achieving long-term relief from dissociation. This usually involves resolving the underlying causes of your dissociative episodes through therapy and by teaching positive coping strategies for managing stress and trauma triggers. 

Explore our Trauma Therapy Program to discover how we resolve trauma and treat dissociation at its root. 

Sequoia Behavioral Health—Helping You Overcome Dissociation

At Sequoia Behavioral Health, we understand that dissociation can cause severe disruptions to your daily life. That’s why our mental health experts work with you on a personal level to identify the source of your dissociation and develop healthy strategies for overcoming it.

If you or a loved one is suffering from dissociation, reach out to one of our mental health professionals today.