eli5 what is disassociating? Tried looking online but I don’t understand.
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Dissociation (in psychology) can be defined by one word: detachment.
There are two “kinds” of dissociation, but they are essentially the same–there is some detachment from reality (that is, what is happening around them) that leads to an unclear sense of self.
A very common kind of dissociation is daydreaming. I am sure most people can recall a time they’ve experienced this. A very severe kind of dissociation is dissociative identity disorder, where a person exhibits two or more distinct personalities. These I would call the first “kind” of dissociation, where there are no memories (or repressed memories) of what has happened around them.
The other “kind” is more like a fog, and some other comments have detailed this feeling. It’s described as a sort of detachment from one’s own thoughts and feelings, as if they aren’t really there or as if everything feels further away than it is, perhaps not unlike standing in the middle of a crowd but feeling very alone and isolated.
Ultimately, dissociation refers to a detachment from what we would call “the self.”
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