Have you or someone you know ever felt disconnected from yourself or your surroundings-as if you were observing life rather than living it? This experience may be a form of dissociation, a defense mechanism that serves as a response to overwhelming stress or trauma. When people dissociate, they may have memory loss of specific times, events, and people. It is often the brain’s way of coping with situations that feel too intense or distressing to fully process in the moment.
While many people occasionally experience mild dissociative symptoms-such as zoning out or daydreaming-more persistent or severe dissociation may be linked to mental health conditions. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and trauma-related disorders frequently include dissociative symptoms.
What Are Dissociative Symptoms?
- Brain fog
- Feeling emotionally numb
- Delayed reaction or slowed thinking
- Out of body experiences
- Watching yourself from a distance
- Trouble making decisions
- Gaps in memory
While a great percentage of the population may experience some dissociative symptoms in their lifetime; approximately 5% of the global population meet the full criteria to be diagnosed with a dissociative disorder, with 1.5% diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
Dissociation exists on a spectrum-from common and non-disruptive experiences like spacing out during a long drive to more severe manifestations like Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder, Dissociative Amnesia, and Dissociative Identity Disorder.
What Is Depersonalization & Derealization?
Two of the more commonly reported dissociative experiences are depersonalization and derealization.
- Depersonalization involves feeling detached from your own thoughts, body, or sense of identity. Many describe it as feeling like they’re watching their life from the outside, like a movie.
- Derealization, on the other hand, creates a sense of detachment from the external world. People often report their environment feeling foggy, distorted, or unreal—almost dreamlike.
Dissociation vs Stress
While dissociation and stress can share symptoms—such as exhaustion, emotional overwhelm, or difficulty concentrating—it’s important to distinguish the two.
- Stress is typically linked to identifiable life circumstances (e.g., job loss, divorce, or financial hardship) and tends to resolve once the situation improves.
- Dissociation, however, is more often tied to unresolved or early-life trauma, and may persist or escalate without therapeutic intervention.
In short, while stress is situational, dissociation is often protective and rooted in trauma.
What Is The Treatment For Dissociation
If you or someone you know is experiencing dissociative symptoms, working with a licensed mental health professional is essential.
Evidence-based treatments for dissociative disorders include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Helps challenge unhelpful thoughts and reconnect with reality.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – Teaches emotional regulation and grounding strategies, especially helpful for emotional numbing or identity confusion.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – A trauma-focused modality that uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories and reduce fragmentation. EMDR is contraindicated for some individuals and requires modifications depending on the level of dissociative tendencies.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with one of our EMDR therapists, please fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.
We offer psychoeducational evaluations, psychological testing, adult ADHD testing, autism assessments, independent school entrance testing, developmental assessments, and neuroaffirming evaluations. Contact Sarah Smathers at sarah@georgetownpsychology.com or (301) 652-5550 to schedule an appointment or for more information.
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