Dissociating when not anxious or under stress (And EEG for dissociation)

[-Shae-Lynn*]

Lately I've been having an increasingly difficult time due to dissociation. From what I've been able to gather from research it happen when the body and mind are under a lot of stress or anxiety as a means of coping.

Cool, it's a pressure release valve. I get that.

I think my mind's ability to cope is severely affected though because I find myself having really intense dissociative episodes when I'm not experiencing any anxiety.

For example, yesterday I was sitting knitting calmly. I had finally figured out what I was doing and got the knitting to do what I wanted. I was quite pleased with myself. All of a sudden I felt really disconnected from my body, like my head was floating away from my body and incredibly anxious. My whole body started shaking, my hands so violently that I couldn't continue knitting. This episode lasted for about 2 minutes. For those 2 minutes I felt like my world was coming to an end. I was sitting in the hospital and there were some doctors on their lunch and I thought about going over to them to have them check me over because the shaking is new and then decided I didn't want to bug them on their lunch. Maybe I should have. It would have proven once and for all if this really is dissociation or if it's a seizure disorder.

Has anyone else had medical investigation done based on dissociative symptoms? I have to go for an EEG on monday to check out the electrical activity in my brain. I think it's because I get the separation of body and saying that it only lasts for a couple minutes, if that, so they want to make sure it's not something else.

Has anyone else experienced dissociation that comes in brief episodes? I get it really intensely for a couple minutes and then it'll go away as if nothing had happened. Sometimes if I have a lot of them in a row I get really tired after them. If you have experienced this how do you cope with it? I find that shaking out my head and tapping on my head helps a little bit because it helps ground my head and helps my brain realize where my head is. When it lasts longer than a couple minutes nothing seems to help.


Any input would be lovely

[sherlock holmes]

I don't know much about this I'm afraid. I only experience a form of dissociation (derealisation) a few times when I was in the acute ward. I felt like I was watching the world through a TV screen, it didn't feel real and I felt floaty and that time had slowed down slightly. The psychiatrist told me it was because I was generally feeling anxious and stressed though at the time I had the dissociation I wasn't really that anxious or anything, but I was an inpatient so obviously things weren't fantastic at the time.

I've also experienced panic attacks before out of the blue when I hadn't thought I was anxious. It was explained to me that even if you are not consciously anxious it can be something that is still present in your mind in the background and can still cause panic attacks, dissociation etc.

Are you still in hospital? Can you explain what happened to your doctor?

[Arienette]

They might be exploring neurological sources for your dificulties. Some dissociative difficulties can appear similar in nature at first glance to neurological illness or epilepsy so they need to make sure if it is organi or psychological, ence the EEG.

Hope that helps a little. Hopefully scan results will produce answers. Xx

[Epicene]

I suffer from dissociation a lot, including episodes like those you described. Although it seemed like an uneventful moment when your episode occurred, it's probably more helpful to step back and view your current situation more broadly. If you are generally having a very stressful time, it isn't surprising that these things will happen, even if it is when you are relatively calm.

I lose time as part of my dissociation and have also had ECGs and CAT scans done. It was basically just to check there was no obvious physiological cause. The tests themselves are nothing to worry about. A bit boring maybe but that's it!