Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Dissociation

"I’m not afraid of dying.

I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

-Woody Allen

In its mildest forms,

dissociation is a breakdown in the continuity of our felt sense,

it almost always includes distortions of time and perception.

A mild variety of this symptom is responsible for the experience many people have when driving home from the corner store;

suddenly,

they find themselves arriving home with no memory of how they got there-

the last thing they remember is driving away from the store.

Dissociation is also operating when we put our keys down ‘somewhere’ and then can’t remember where.

At such times,

we may brush off the momentary absence of the felt sense by carelessly referring to ourselves or others as having been ‘spaced out’ or ‘zoned out’ or ‘out to lunch’.

In other words,

out of our bodies.

These are some of the forms that dissociation takes in our everyday lives.

It enters our experience specifically when we are faced with life threatening situations.

Similarly,

the woman being sexually abused,

the soldier facing enemy fire,

or the victim of an accident may experience a fundamental disconnection from his or her body.

From a corner of the ceiling,

a child may watch him/herself being molested,

and feel sorry for or neutral toward the defenseless child below.

Dissociation,

as it is presented here,

occurs in a variety of ways,

each having a common fundamental disconnection between either the person and the body,

a part of the body,

or a part of the experience.

It may occur as a split between:

1. The consciousness and the body.

2. one part of the body, such as the head or the limbs and the rest of the body.

3. the self and the emotions, thoughts, or sensations

4. the self and the memory of part or all of the event.

There seems to be evidence that the use of dissociation as a response to trauma is influenced by both genetics and personality structure.

#PTSD