What’s the link between anxiety and dissociation?

A Quick Guide

Is spacing out normal? Sure, everyone occasionally lets their thoughts drift once in a while. But if someone keeps spacing out to the point that their daily life is negatively affected, then that’s something we call dissociation. And what about those people who seem to space out for days, weeks, months, or even years before they remember themselves? 

Well, we consider that an extreme level of dissociation. There could be many reasons as well as triggers that lead a person to dissociate. One of the major ones is anxiety. Yeah, there’s a strong link between anxiety and dissociation.  A person who suffers from dissociation loses touch with their surroundings or with themselves. This reaction helps people deal with possibly stressful emotional experiences like traumatic memories temporarily. It may also lessen their emotions of guilt, anxiety, or fear. However, it is not a long-term solution.

Anxiety-related dissociation can happen before, during, or after a worrying time as well as during or after a stressful, anxiety-inducing event. Dissociation “works” in the short term but has detrimental long-term effects because it is rooted in an avoidance coping strategy.

What is Dissociation?

Dissociation is a condition in which your awareness, memories, thoughts, and identity become briefly disconnected from reality. It can result in out-of-body experiences, feelings of detachment, and even a loss of identity.

Dissociation symptoms in children, for instance, may be brought on by the trauma of neglect, abuse on both an emotional and a sexual level, or both. The same forms of abuse could lead to dissociative disorders in adulthood, just as experiencing war or natural disasters and other forms of trauma could.

Numerous illnesses, including generalized anxiety disorder, dissociative disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder, can develop as a result of trauma.

The connection between anxiety and dissociation

The two disorders have many similarities, as evidenced by the fact that dissociative experiences are one of the more frequently reported symptoms of panic disorder, which is one of the more severe types of anxiety disorder.

Past traumas may be the root of dissociation and anxiety. Both may be signs of a bigger problem that hasn’t been dealt with. Both problems are the result of your mind trying to defend you against either dread, worry, or recollections of past traumas.

As a result of their mutually reinforcing risk factors, anxiety, and dissociation both increase the likelihood of developing the other disorder.

How to cope with Dissociation and Anxiety?

Utilizing grounding strategies to return to the present moment is the key to overcoming anxiety-related dissociation. 

This can be accomplished by constantly having a “grounding plan” in place to use when you start to drift off or otherwise feel as though you are dissociating.

The dissociation will end when the brain stops perceiving a need to defend itself. You can take the following preventative measures to control anxiety-related dissociation:

• Develop your grounding skills.
• Get enough rest every night.
• Minimize daily stress and triggers.
• Stop your anxiety from spiraling out of control.
• Work out each day as you should.

We hope you found this article useful in learning more about the link between anxiety and dissociation and how you can cope with it.