Link – How Childhood Trauma Teaches Us to Dissociate

As someone who did learn how to dissociate during my childhood, I find this description to be very accurate.

“Dissociation is a common response to trauma. The experience of being present and in the moment when we are severely abused and traumatized and feel powerless is incredibly painful. This is when our psyche self-protects and makes us disconnect from what’s happening to us in order to make it more tolerable to endure.

That’s why many abuse victims, especially those who suffered sexual abuse, say that they felt like they were watching themselves be abused from the third person’s perspective and it seemed like they were watching a movie rather than being a participant.”

Of course, as I found this link thanks to a Facebook share, I also found myself nodding with her comment on that share as well, it’s a learned behavior, so it can be unlearned.

Unlearning it is hard. It won’t feel safe, because you’ve been dissociating to keep yourself safe as a child.

On the other hand, you’re not a child any more, far better to learn new skills, because dissociating has some pretty bad downsides as well. It’s not something that is going to lead to a healthy life long term. Recognize it for what it is, how it helped you, and why it’s limiting as well.

As Julia said, it can be unlearned.

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/psychology-self/2019/02/trauma-dissociation/