Detaching from Reality: How to Come Back?

disassociative episodes are parts of many neurodivergant people's lives, but disassociative episodes are also in neurotypicals (day dreaming, zoning out, coping with high stress). Flashbacks of PTSD are themselves disassociative experiances. And disassociative episodes can be part of PTSD when seemingly not triggered (usually with a trigger one has yet to recognize). If this has you thinking these episodes are more than PTSD or ADHD it might be worth exploring. Though, im not sure the treatment differs much. Coping skills, grounding skills, cbt, dbt/mindfulness are pretty much the bread and butter of disassociative episodes. It only differs when a lot when it comes to medication. You wouldn't treat disassociative episodes from ADHD with a benzo, nor would you treat an episode from occasional flashbacks with a stimulant. In my experience, meds are not the go to, nor the cure for disassociative episodes.

yes i struggle with the same! just recently, i’ve had to deal w it more than i’d like to because a traumatic event made it unmanageable. the thing i’ve found that helps me the most is grounding techniques. there’s so many based on what feels right, but i like to sit, focus on breathing, and imagine roots growing from my spine into the ground. i also try to take a minute in the shower and jus focus on the water and my breathing. any type of body movement like stretching or dancing helps to. short term fixes but they can be life savers

I have my people to ground me. It's really hard to do it myself, especially since I just started. But having people catch you is a good start. Just don't rely on them all the time.

💕🤗 yes I believe I also do this