What Is Dissociation?

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Experiences commonly called dissociation may arise from different psychological and physiological processes.

Research distinguishes detachment from compartmentalization, two ways to access information differently.

Identifying the mechanism behind an experience can help clinicians choose more appropriate interventions.

Dissociation is one of those scientific terms that has been used casually by people who have no clear understanding of what the term involves. In my practice, when they use the word and I ask them to explain the experience, I get descriptions that go from feeling numb, not remembering something, being mentally absent, or losing track of time, to experiencing their body as unfamiliar.

Some might say, “I was there, but I didn't feel anything.” Another says, “I know it happened, but I can't remember most of it.” Someone else may say they become so heavy they can't move or speak. Some mention spending hours mentally somewhere else.

What’s also interesting about this particular term is that even professionals put all those experiences in the same box: dissociation. But are they really the same thing?

Researchers have questioned this for years. More than 10 years ago, a proposition to separate dissociation into two came up, saying that there were two mechanisms easily distinguishable: detachment and compartmentalization.

Combining that proposition with my clinical observations, I add two more mechanisms that can make people feel absent or disconnected. Not all four are necessarily dissociation in the clinical sense, but they create the type of stress and fear that the term now implicitly carries when someone believes they are dissociating.

1. The Volume Is Turned Down

This first mechanism is the most popular. it includes a woman describing her father's death as casually as........

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