Understanding Disassociation: Coping, Survival, and Finding Balance

Some of the people closest to me right now keep asking me if I am ok. My family is going through a huge transition of relocation, leaving familiarity and kin, and parting with home. I have been assisting and supporting in this difficult process and whenever anyone asks if I am ok I simply said yes. However, a few days ago someone asked me that very question and I sat back and said “I have removed myself from everything.” What I meant by this was “I have disassociated and disembodied to this experience”.

Disassociation and Disembodiment are all survival mechanisms. As humans we are always routing to safety and when things get too overwhelming sometimes one of the fastest and most efficient ways find safety is to turn off our ability to feel (physically and emotionally). We also might block out whatever is happening around us. This is all a way of self preservation.

And for me right now I know I am doing it because I have to get things done for my family. Yet, I also know that eventually, my nervous system will come back online and I will feel all the sorrow, anger, confusion and everything else that might come along with this experience. But, for some of us, we might get stuck in that dissociative or disembodied place, never being able to close our loop and kick ourselves out of that survival mode.

Knowing your own nervous system, what it feels like for you when you disassociate or disembody, and what practices support you when reality sets back in are key to keeping yourself balanced. I know I will be leaning on my support networks and tribe when all my feels show back up.  

As you navigate your own moments of disassociation and disembodiment remember that there are many personal practices that we can find together in your private sessions with me to assist you.  Because believe me, I’ve been there.