Dissociation and Chronic Illness

"Living with chronic illness often means living in a body that hurts. The pain can be searing or dull; intermittent or constant; affecting the body as a whole or specific body parts. Experiencing pain is a profound experience that can be overwhelming. In response, our minds - in an attempt to cope with what feels unbearable - try to protect us. One way that our minds attempt to manage pain is through dissociation."

"What Is Dissociation? In simplest terms, dissociation is the mind separating itself from the body. Have you ever driven to a destination and thought, "I have no recollection of my trip over here!"? That is a benign example of dissociation. Your mind removes itself from your experience and goes elsewhere. When you are dissociating, you do not experience yourself as an embodied person."

Dissociation separates mind from body to protect against overwhelming physical pain. It can range from benign, everyday detachment to a more profound absence of embodied self-awareness. Dissociation serves as an adaptive, temporary response during acute pain, cushioning impact by disengaging sensation. Problems arise when dissociation persists after acute threat subsides, leading to chronic disconnection from bodily experience. Safe re-embodiment requires attunement to external and internal realities and the use of small, frequent practices to avoid overwhelm. Gradual, gentle embodiment practices reduce reliance on dissociation and support restored connection to the body.

Read at Psychology Today