[libribook.com] Traumatic Scar Tissue Management 1st Edition

Dissociation
Dissociation is described as an abnormal sense of psychological, emotional or
physical detachment, experienced as a sense of unusual separation from the body
(depersonalization) and/or unusual separation from the surrounding physical
environment (derealization). Generally speaking, people experience dissociation
as part of a psychological defense mechanism against overwhelming traumatic
events. Some affected individuals develop any one of several diagnosable
conditions known collectively as dissociative disorders. However, others develop
dissociation-related symptoms in the context of ASD or PTSD
(ptsdtraumatreatment.org 2014).
Depersonalization is experienced as sensations which include being ‘outside’ of
the body, looking down at the body from a distance, and a partial disconnection
of the body–mind link that forms the basis for emotional responses.
Derealization experiences are commonly associated with the feeling of being
stuck within a dream, a perception of objects in the environment as ‘unreal’ and
a more generalized feeling of distance or separation from people or things
(ptsdtraumatreatment.org 2014).
According to van der Kolk (2014):
Dissociation is the essence of trauma. The overwhelming experience is
being split off and fragmented and the sensory fragments of memory can
intrude into the present. As long as the trauma is not resolved, the stress
hormones that the body secretes to protect itself keep circulating and the
defensive movements and emotional responses keep getting replayed. If the
elements of the trauma are replayed again and again the accompanying
stress hormones engrave those memories ever more deeply in the mind.
When stimulated in the present day, the amygdala makes no distinction between
past and present and reactivation triggers powerful stress hormones and NS
responses (e.g. sweating, trembling, racing heart rate and elevated BP). With an