What Is Dissociation?

You might have heard the word dissociation and wondered what it means. Dissociation is actually very common and something many of us experience, often without even realising it. When something feels too much, too overwhelming, or too painful, the nervous system can shut us off from it. This is your system trying to protect and help you.

Reviews

Thank you very much for this very clear and inspiring explanation. I don't believe I am consciously aware of dissociation in my experience. I have felt a cold numbness all over my body after being given a hug on a warm day. I had to wear a thick hoodie afterwards and wear it for at least an hour. I don't know what that was and why my body does that in a certain situation. If an intense situation arose in a domestic setting, my brain was trained to keep the situation as calm and safe as possible due to my work training. But I believe I was present because it would be linked to a fight or flight response. For some reason the poem by Keats called La Belle Dan's Sans Merci comes into my head because the poem describes being left alone on the cold hill side where no birds sing.
Thank you for everything you do here. Your love and kindness in all of these videos come out very powerfully. Your feedback too is also so incredibly helpful. I have written down some of your feedback in my notebook so I can read it again and again without staring at a screen. There is so much wisdom in what you wrote and say. I am also still listening to your video on trauma and the window of tolerance. Thank you so very much Amanda. Your work is just so valuable. Love Shuman

Great, simple yet profound explanation, your voice increased the sense of safety 🙏🌷♥️

Excellent. Thank you. Yes, it is a wonderful thing as long as you don't stay there too long too often. I never "numbed out" but I have learned to become an observer & that enough for me to see from a higher viewpoint just how much of a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things the emotion, trigger, issue is. Everyone deserves to feel safe. Hope my words come across the way I intended. Thank you so much again, excellent video.

Wonderful content and a rather fine explanation of a concept the meaning of which eluded me for quite some time.

One small production “note”: I noticed that the sound from this recording is playing •only• through the left channel, with no sound in the right one. Perhaps my headphones need adjustment, but I thought I’d mention this before trying a different track.

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Nice introduction to the body’s defense mechanism of walling off. Yes, I’m glad for it at times to guard against further hurt. Thank you!