Nov 21, 2025
You’ve likely experienced the desire to be somewhere you’re not. The situation you’re in is so stressful, embarrassing, scary, or boring that if you could wish yourself elsewhere, you would. This is a common response, and may be a part of the “freeze” trauma response.
To some people, a freeze response can involve dissociating. Sometimes, they dissociate for such long periods of time, or so frequently, that it becomes a mental health disorder.
Dissociation is a common symptom of many mental health disorders, and for some, it is severe enough to be diagnosed as a disorder on its own. This article will cover symptoms of dissociation, the three types of dissociative disorders, why you dissociate, and how to stop dissociation.
What Does Dissociation Feel Like
Dissociation feels like being disconnected from yourself and the world around you. For example, common experiences of dissociation include:
- Looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself.
- Feeling like you’re observing yourself doing things from the outside, like the things happening to you are happening to someone else.
- Everything feels like it’s in a dream or a deep fog, like nothing is real.
- Not remembering how you got somewhere. Common experiences include not remembering getting dressed or driving to work, but suddenly arriving at the finished state.
- Feeling emotionally numb, like you can’t feel anything at all or only feeling emotions in small amounts.
- Not reacting appropriately to emotional news.
- Time may feel irrelevant, like it’s slipping from you too quickly or too slowly.
These are only some of the symptoms of dissociation, and your individual experience may vary. The unifying factor between people with dissociation is the feeling of disconnect between you and yourself or you and the world around you.
The Three Types of Dissociative Disorders
Dissociation is a common symptom of many mental health disorders, including Depression, PTSD, and Anxiety. Dissociation is often triggered by a stressful or traumatic event, or by something that reminds you of a stressful or traumatic event.
However, in large amounts, dissociation can also be diagnosed as its own disorder. In this case, there are three dissociative disorders that you can be diagnosed with:
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder: This condition makes a person feel detached from themselves, which is called depersonalization, or from their surroundings, known as derealization. They might feel like they are watching their life happen from outside their body or that the world around them feels unreal. The primary symptom of this disorder is dissociation.
Dissociative Amnesia: This involves memory loss that is more severe than normal forgetfulness. It usually relates to traumatic or stressful events, preventing a person from recalling important personal information. For example, a child who experienced a severe traumatic event as a child may not remember parts or all of it. As an adult, they have a big gap in their memory paired with dissociative symptoms.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Formerly called multiple personality disorder, DID involves having two or more distinct identities or personality states (called “alters”) that take control of a person's behavior at different times. This often ties back to severe trauma. As opposed to dissociative disorder, this person may have altered that experience little to no dissociation, but the distinct personality disorder, and the memory gaps and confusion that can come from them, make it a dissociative disorder.
If you think you have a dissociative disorder, talk to a therapist or psychiatrist. The only way to receive a diagnosis is through a qualified professional. Dissociation can be treated through a combination of talk therapy and medication.
What Causes Dissociation
Dissociation is often a trauma response. The common phrase “fight or flight” mode has been debunked in recent years and replaced with a more accurate phrase: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
Dissociation is a “freeze” response, in which the mind, in an effort to protect itself, “goes somewhere else”, or dissociates. This can act as a coping mechanism, especially when unable to physically escape. However, outside of an immediate trauma, this freeze response can impair our mental health, relationships, and ability to live fully.
Other reasons dissociation can occur include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD or c-PTSD
- Substance Abuse
- Panic Attacks
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Migraines, seizures, and other physical health disorders
This is not a complete list, and you may experience dissociation caused by other things.
How to Tell If You Are Dissociating
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The first step to stop dissociating is to notice when you are dissociating. This can be difficult because a core part of dissociation is feeling blank, empty, or struggling to find thoughts. It may feel like your brain is foggy and you have to fight to string together a thought.
Although this is not an optimal mental state for self-awareness, you can still check to see if you are dissociating. Ask yourself these questions:
- What am I feeling emotionally right now?
- What am I feeling physically right now?
- What am I thinking right now?
- Can I name five things about my surroundings?
- Can I remember how I got to where I am, and the last few hours of the day?
If you can’t answer these questions, then you might be dissociating.
How to Stop Dissociating
The next step is to ground yourself. You can do this by paying attention to your 5 senses. Here are some ideas. Pick a few of them and do them together. Focus on each sensation and how it makes you feel, physically and emotionally.
- Eat sour candy.
- Take a cold shower, or splash cold water on your face.
- Listen to music.
- Go for a walk.
- Garden, paint, or do something tactile with your hands.
- Chew mint gum. (Mint is a great grounding and stress-relieving flavor and scent.)
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- 54321 Grounding technique
- Box breathing
- Color Scanning
Notice what comes up. What emotions are you feeling? All you have to do is notice and name them. Are you anxious, scared, angry, tired, or something else?
From there, see if you can address the root cause of your emotion. Get yourself somewhere you feel safe, talk to a friend, or solve whatever is making you anxious (if you can). If you can’t take immediate steps to address the emotion, then continue to cope by grounding and self-regulating. Try to do something you love or that engages in your values. Talk with a friend or have someone come over to hang out with you (body doubling with someone you feel safe around in this way can help prevent you from slipping into another dissociation.)
Remember to be kind to yourself. Your body and mind are trying to protect you. If you are still struggling with dissociation, talk to a therapist. They can help you understand why you dissociate and help you heal from the core wound that is causing the dissociation.
Healing is possible. Talk to Lifebulb to get started today.
