So remember -- you are absolutely safe when driving with Depersonalization! Yes, feelings of dissociation while driving can seem scary initially, but don't let anxiety stop you from doing any of your day-to-day activities, and that 100% includes driving. Get into your car and drive, even if it's for a short distance.
Numerous factors can contribute to a driver's loss of focus and attention while behind the wheel and many psychologists refer to this phenomenon as dissociation. Dissociation, essentially, is a process by which the conscious mind severs a connection to the stimuli of the outside world.
If you're driving and starting to drift, grip the steering wheel and notice all of its grooves and edges and seams. (If you're too dissociated, immediately pull over and start re-grounding while sitting still before driving again.) Crack a window (this is particularly useful in a car, but works at home, too).
While you may not be able to control dissociation, you can reduce the likelihood of it happening and also try to learn to ignore it when it does happen rather than letting your anxiety make it spiral out of control. In other words, the dissociation will stop when your brain no longer feels the need to protect you.
Periods of dissociation can last for a relatively short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months). It can sometimes last for years, but usually if a person has other dissociative disorders. Many people with a dissociative disorder have had a traumatic event during childhood.
Speak in a different voice or voices. Use a different name or names. Feel as if you are losing control to 'someone else' Experience different parts of your identity at different times.
Eye contact is broken, the conversation comes to an abrupt halt, and clients can look frightened, “spacey,” or emotionally shut down. Clients often report feeling disconnected from the environment as well as their body sensations and can no longer accurately gauge the passage of time.
Dissociation involves disruptions of usually integrated functions of consciousness, perception, memory, identity, and affect (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, numbing, amnesia, and analgesia).
It can affect your sense of identity and your perception of time. The symptoms often go away on their own. It may take hours, days, or weeks. You may need treatment, though, if your dissociation is happening because you've had an extremely troubling experience or you have a mental health disorder like schizophrenia.
Dissociative amnesia is when a person can't remember the details of a traumatic or stressful event, although they do realise they are experiencing memory loss. This is also known as psychogenic amnesia. This type of amnesia can last from a few days to one or more years.
It is a memory 'lapse'. This means you can't access the memory at that time, but they are also not permanently lost. With dissociative amnesia you might still engage with other people, such as holding conversations. You might also still remember other things and live a normal life.
Depersonalization, derealization, amnesia and identity confusion can all be thought of as efforts at self-regulation when affect regulation fails.
Evidence suggests that dissociation is associated with psychotic experiences, particularly hallucinations, but also other symptoms. However, until now, symptom-specific relationships with dissociation have not been comprehensively synthesized.
People who have experienced physical and sexual abuse in childhood are at increased risk of dissociative identity disorder. The vast majority of people who develop dissociative disorders have experienced repetitive, overwhelming trauma in childhood.
This may mean you develop a dissociative disorder as an adult. Examples of trauma include: Physical abuse. Sexual abuse.
Living a normal life after experiencing a mental health condition, like dissociative identity disorder, is possible. People who learn ways to healthily cope with dissociative disorders can increase their chances of living what they consider to be a normal life.
You may suddenly lose your sense of identity or recognition of your surroundings. You could feel as though you're observing yourself from the outside in — or what some describe as an “out-of-body experience.” Your thoughts and perceptions might be foggy, and you could be confused by what's going on around you.
Dissociation Symptoms
Memory loss surrounding specific events, interactions, or experiences. A sense of detachment from your emotions (aka emotional numbness) and identity. Feeling as if the world is unreal; out-of-body experiences. Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide.
Zoning out is considered a type of dissociation, which is a feeling of being disconnected from the world around you. Some people experience severe dissociation, but "zoning out" is considered a much milder form. Daydreaming is the most common kind of zoning or spacing out.
Some anxiolytic medications reduce hyperarousal and the intrusive symptoms of dissociative disorders. SSRIs are also commonly used to treat anxiety and are good choices for people with dissociative disorders. Benzodiazepines are typically contraindicated because they typically exacerbate dissociation.
If you have a dissociation problem, stress or boredom can cause the following: your head feels filled with fog or sand and you can't think straight. you feel very tired or even struggle to stay awake.