Do you dissociate?

probably at least sometimes.

Like ozone or gluten,

dissociation is one of those things everyone has heard of, but few can really define.

Hello and welcome back to savvy psychologist.

I'm your host Dr. Jade Wu.

Every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research,

a sympathetic ear and zero judgment. This week we talk about dissociation, what it is, how it develops, and three ways to counter it

if you recognize it as a problem in your life.

So first of all, what is dissociation?

Dissociation is detachment, whether from your body, your emotions, or your surroundings.

In short, dissociation is the opposite of being present. your at least sometimes. Think about all the times you've had to read a page over because your mind was elsewhere. Or you pulled into your driveway, but you barely remember the drive home.

Dissociation is not a genetic trait.

Instead, it's a response that gets honed through experience and necessity.

It can be useful sometimes. Think of heroic soldiers wounded on the battlefield who blocked

out their pain to save others. Or even in daily life that highly sought after state of flow is actually technically dissociation.

You become completely absorbed in whatever you're doing,

whether it's writing, painting, coding, and something like that, and disconnected

from your surroundings and the passage of time.

Dissociation can also be an emergency survival tactic during intense pain or trauma.

It cuts you off from your experience,

make you numb when pain or panic would otherwise overwhelm you.

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