Dissociation can be hard to understand. If it’s you that’s going through it or a loved one that’s going through it, I hope this article will help you understand what’s going on in your brain and body, and how to help.
What Is Dissociation?
Dissociation happens as a normal and natural coping mechanism that we all have when our world overwhelms us. It can be on a small scale where you are not wanting to deal with something and you decide to come back to it at another time. Or it can be on a bigger scale where you feel numb and your body seems to shut you down. Your body seemingly becomes slow, your facial expressions are flat, tone of voice is the same, heart rate is slow, breathing rate is slow, and you have little to low energy. It’s basically just the body telling you that it can’t handle the perceived threat that lies ahead of you. And/or the very intense emotions that come with that.
Remember the word ‘perceived’ threat. You as an outsider might be trying to help someone that dissociates and it might not make sense to you as to how they can sit on the couch all day and seemingly just stare at a blank wall for most of that time. You might think it’s not a big deal. But for that person who is dissociating, it is a big deal because going for a walk takes a lot of energy that their body is saying it just doesn’t have.
What Can You Do to Help?
The most helpful thing you can do for a person is to help them regulate, which means going for a walk, listening to music, or rubbing their back – something that is going to help with movement and rhythm.
A person that is in this state is not going to say any of those things is a good idea. It’s going to be really hard for this person to move out of the place that they’re in and into a place where they’re actually moving their body again.
It’s going to take a lot of encouragement and understanding!
