Disassociation and Depersonalisation - Q & A session on how to manage this Anxiety /OCD disorder
In this clip I am answering the common questions I am asked about anxiety and OCD based disassociation, depersonalisation and derealisation and is from my online OCD video program/course here
http://www.patreon.com/theanxietyspecialist where we use logic, reason and common sense to untangle our emotions!
So, the first set of questions are around the topic of depersonalisation and dissociation. Disassociation - Typical questions are; I feel so separated from myself; how can I ground myself more?
When talking to others, I sometimes zone out, trance out; it is hard to focus on them, what they are saying and what I want to say. Or things like, I don't seem to have any emotions; I feel flat or numb.
Or, when I'm triggered, I turn into a different person and behave in ways that I don't feel are me.
Well, to be honest, I think dissociation is quite natural!
It's what people who don't have anxiety unknowingly step into all the time.
If you say to them, "Aren't you scared to do that thing?" They'll say, "Well, yeah!" (arm out) – sort of implying that there is a part of them that is scared, but they have detached and are ignoring it.
Can you see that I'm trying to get you to have this same behaviour – only to do it consciously, with awareness, to choose to dissociate?
My metaphor – the horse and the rider - the rider can be calm (your Observer, your Soul), even if the horse (your body, mind and brain) isn't!
This is disassociation; this is depersonalisation – we are stepping away from the old story of you, who you think you are, who you were trained to be, who you think you ought to be…
The trick is to stop thinking that the mind is you because it is not! You have a mind - you are the Observer of the mind; you are the one listening to the mind.
The mind is of the brain, and the brain is of the body.
You are the Observer.
But to make that transition, you may need a template or a model to follow. - What worked for me was to consciously attempt to divide my mind, my ego into two parts.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhYOrUBLnRA