When is Dissociation Healthy?

Dissociation has a bad rep in the mental health industry for causing a split in personality, it is also often understood as a person seeing something happening to them from an external point of view.

The above is just a partial representation of dissociation. There are actually healthy forms of dissociation. What dissociation really represents is a change in our consciousness.

Healthy forms of dissociation are good forms of coping mechanism for a temporary mental escape from chaos and from situations where help or support is not present.

It is important to mentally shut down from time to time, and withdraw from the environment to keep ourselves regulated.

Examples of healthy dissociation:

• Day dreaming

• Visualizing

• Imagination

• Reading

• Hypnosis

• Being in the flow state (working, creative arts, music)

Healthy dissociation is healing and it is productive. It helps us to unwind and allows us to mentally protect ourselves from external experiences. Such downtimes are also important for memory consolidation.

Without healthy dissociation, when a person feels threatened, they are more likely to feel increased sense of fear and this affects the frontal part of the brain – the part of the brain which allows us to process information, analyse situation to shut down. This results in us to act from the mammalian brain where we respond emotionally, before assessing the situation carefully.

When we understand the benefits dissociation have for us, learn to control when and how we can enter such altered levels of consciousness, we have an ability that will help us stay resilient and adaptable amidst the chaotic experiences of life.

What forms of healthy dissociation do you engage in? Let us know in the comments below. Share this post with a friend who you think will need 😊

All my best,
Carina

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