Discussion is dissociation bad

[ALonelyFreak]

are stuff like derealization, depersonalization, spacing out hard, having many personalities, bad? I mean it's kinda useful it doesn't hurt that I'm not sure what's real and what's not...

 

[lost_one]

Well... it's complicated, I guess"normal" people would say it's bad, cause those thing are not real, and that you should try to build "real" conections etc. But to me it's a double edged sword, it's good as a distraction, it feels "nice" sometimes, but it is also bad in the sense that I feel like it makes it harder to "bond" with real life.

So like do you, I do dissociate or day dream, when I am most depressed and I don't mind it...it's not like the real world has any thing to offer to me...
Well... it's complicated, I guess"normal" people would say it's bad, cause those thing are not real, and that you should try to build "real" conections etc. But to me it's a double edged sword, it's good as a distraction, it feels "nice" sometimes, but it is also bad in the sense that I feel like it makes it harder to "bond" with real life.

So like do you, I do dissociate or day dream, when I am most depressed and I don't mind it...it's not like the real world has any thing to offer to me...

 

[Hollowman]

It's bad for me, it's ruined everything.

 

[-Link-]

Dissociation is the brain's last-resort defence mechanism against extreme stress, trauma, or emotional pain.

Is it "bad"? That's an arguable point, but it has its place as a survival mechanism.

It's not really ideal as a long-term coping or therapeutic mechanism because it reinforces avoidance of root problems. The more something is avoided, the harder it becomes to face it, the greater the want/need to avoid it becomes, etc. It's a cycle that, over time, becomes worse and more challenging to break.

There are some warning signs to be mindful of: Memory gaps (eg. blacking out or losing chunks of time), shifting identity (eg. inner conflicts that feel like separate voices or people), extreme emotional instability (eg. feeling like emotions are happening "to" you rather than occurring from within you), paranoia, reality distortion, or severe depersonalization (eg. feeling as if your past history happened to someone else).

These aren't necessarily a danger in and of themselves, but they can be an indicator of severity and a sign of it becoming more ingrained within you, which can slow integration and make treatment efforts more challenging.

Overall, dissociation is not exactly ideal, but if this is what's allowing you to survive, then do what you need to do.

 

[CatLvr]

I don't think so. It's the only way I survived my childhood.

 

[gonesoon!]

I have come to enjoy it. Although I don't think enjoying it is common. Maybe its depersonalization and not derealization. Which one of those is even dissociation? Im not positive. All I know is my senses like touch feel weird and my eyes are blurry and I feel like Im looking at things from the "back" of my head. Hard to describe. Ultimately I think its a bad thing. Even though its a protection mechanism i think its probably harmful. or at least not a promotion of healthy coping mechanisms. anyways. back to daydreaming......

 

[theboy]

It becomes "bad" when it interferes with your daily life or when you have a crisis

 

[Rynalia]

Is it bad? Early on, I'd say no. It's a mechanism designed to protect you after all.

But when dissociation becomes the go-to response to everything, it becomes terribly unhealthy and enters the realm of bad.

Anything that starts to interfere with daily life can be considered a problem.

I'm on the really awful side of dissociation and ended up developing serious identity disturbance issues...

I've already been living a life that I had no control over in the first place. But not even being able to be present day-to-day and live life, is something I wouldn't dare wish upon even my worst enemies.

It's miserable living like this.

 

[EmptyBottle]

are stuff like derealization, depersonalization, spacing out hard, having many personalities, bad? I mean it's kinda useful it doesn't hurt that I'm not sure what's real and what's not...

depends on how often and where it is used. If it doesn't interfere with day to day life, then it may be ok imo.
distraction might sometimes be better in other cases maybe? idk.

 

[author]

It's not inherently a bad thing - it's a survival mechanism our brains invented to cope with intense situations. It's only "bad" when it's affecting your life badly, but it comes from a neutral place of your brain trying to survive stress. In our current state of the world, stress overload to the point of dissociation is more common than it should be, so if you're already prone to dissociation due to trauma or other factors, I wouldn't be surprised if it's happening all the time. There's ways to get better, like grounding exercises and therapy, general healing from trauma, etc - but it takes a lot of time. I've heard unplugging from social media or at least using your phone less helps, and as much as that sounds like a boomer take, it's kind of true. It won't cure or fix anything to use your phone/socials less, but it can help attention span, which can help dissociation and dealing with stress. It's kind of a one-step-at-a-time thing. That's only if you feel like you want to fix your dissociation though. If you think it's helping you, which is what your brain's goal in making you dissociate is, then more power to ya.

This ramble was brought to you by someone who studied psychology for a long time but had to drop out because they were depressed and dissociating so hard they couldn't turn in the work and failed all their classes lmao

 

[mlb]

it's an avoidance reaction to something. personally, it absolutely helps me to get through rather unpleasant situations, and if i hadn't been dissociating i would probably be extremely irritated. it's a saving grace for me at times.

but certainly it's not the best coping mechanism to rely on as it could be a warning sign to social impairment and isolation and those can get dangerous. see for yourself if you need to reduce if you think it makes you less functioning where you need it and replace with other coping methods (@EmptyBottle mentioned distraction)