Many individuals describe feeling ‘dissociated’ during stressful mornings, like struggling to face the day amid exhaustion and overwhelm. Yet, this term often gets used loosely, even when a strong coffee restores focus and normalcy resumes.
While casual discussions of mental health terms like anxiety, depression, OCD, and ADHD promote openness, they risk diluting the gravity of severe conditions. Social media platforms host thousands of posts under #dissociation, blending clinical tips with memes that trivialize the issue.
The NHS defines dissociative disorders as conditions triggering physical and psychological symptoms, including detachment from oneself or surroundings, identity confusion, or gaps in memory for events and periods. Recent data reveals that 1% to 3% of the UK population grapples with such disorders.
What Are the Main Types of Dissociative Disorders?
The NHS identifies three primary categories:
Depersonalisation-Derealisation Disorder
Affected individuals perceive surroundings as foggy or lifeless, often feeling like observers detached from their own bodies.
Dissociative Amnesia
This involves unexplained lapses in recalling personal information, skills, or events, sometimes leading to arriving at unfamiliar places without memory of the journey—far beyond everyday forgetfulness.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, DID features distinct identities with unique voices, behaviors, and traits.
Why Do So Many Relate to Dissociation?
Even without a diagnosis, numerous people connect with the sensation. Dr. Lauren Lebois, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, attributes this to dissociation existing on a spectrum, much like anxiety.
She notes: ‘Most people have had the experience of becoming so absorbed in a task or a thought that you lose awareness of what’s happening around you – it might happen with a riveting book or driving home. These types of dissociation don’t typically impact your daily functioning in a negative way.’
Dr. Lebois adds that clinical issues arise when trauma-linked dissociation lingers, disrupts routines, and escapes control, affecting work, school, and relationships. She urges precision in terminology to avoid minimizing severe cases: ‘We need to be careful that our use of the word “dissociating” to describe more mundane absorptive experiences, doesn’t minimise the more severe and distressing experiences of those with dissociative disorders.’
What Does Everyday ‘Normative’ Dissociation Feel Like?
Matt Bordonada, deputy clinical director at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies in London, describes dissociation as a standard response to stress, overwhelm, fear, or boredom, where mind and body disconnect to cope.
He explains: ‘For example, you might get on a bus or train and arrive at your destination, and it feels like time has disappeared, and you can’t remember the journey. This is normal.’ Often termed ‘zoning out,’ it can involve floating sensations, unreality, or viewing the world like a video game.
Differentiating Dissociation from Anxiety and Depression
Dr. Lebois offers a clear analogy: Imagine navigating a tense intersection in a car. Anxiety grips the wheel tightly with sweaty palms. Depression prompts thoughts of quitting the drive altogether. Dissociation places you in the backseat, observing the driver—intensifying to feeling the driver is a stranger in extreme cases.
