how does dissociating feel

[carmex]

how does it feel to dissociate? i sometimes feel like im not 'in the moment', like 'i am not all there', is this in some way dissociation?

[tryp]

I think it's different for different people.

When I was younger, I used to call dissociating "slipping out". I used to start counting days, and focusing on the numbers so much that time stopped going properly, and I could lose whole weeks at a time, just drifting along. For me, it always feels like that - sort of drifting along. Everything goes sort of fuzzy and I just start to float along. It's like not being there at all, sort of.

What you're describing could be dissociation, but it could be other things as well. It could be a medication side effect. It could be a result of anxiety or depression or other dysphoric mood. It could just be your normal brain doing normal things. Everyone has a natural capacity for dissociation, and everyone does it sometimes (in its non-pathological forms, it's simple things like getting lost in a good book). When it starts to be a problem is when you do it for long periods of time, or when you can't get back.

I think everyone feels "not in the moment" sometimes, especially people who are MI. It doesn't necessarily have to be a whole new symptom. Is this a new thing for you? Is it getting in the way of your enjoying your life? Is it linked to your other MI problems?

FWIW, if you have trauma-history or PTSD flavor, it makes it more likely that you'll have dissociative problems. Dissociation is one way that people cope with trauma, especially childhood trauma.

[GADGET_GIRL]

in the past for me dissociation has meant just forgetting what i've been doing for hours at a time - i've walked to a really high bridge feeling suicidal and not remembered how i got there and i've cut myself and not remembered doing it

atm its about feeling spaced out and not with it at all. and i've been seeing people that arent real and hearing voices - my psychiatrist said thats dissociation