Having had PTSD and struggling with dissociation and derealisation during my final year of school, I picked up some tips along the way!
1. Have sensory items in your pencil case
I always kept something tactile in my pencil case that I could use to keep me grounded when I could feel my mind slipping. Things like blue tack, stress balls, fidget spinners - anything small enough to fit in my palm and pencil case was perfect. Have a Yr 12 kitchen? Keep some ice cubes that you can use to shock your senses if you need to. Eating an ice cube before class was always helpful to knock me back into reality.
2. Work our your triggers at school
A particular teacher, lesson, place etc. trigger you? Write a list down of things that you find more triggering when you’re at school and be mindful of where/when they could occur. There was a certain teacher at my school that looked a lot like a family member, so I went out of my way to avoid them. Similarly, I knew I dissociated the most in French and Psychology, so I’d always take more care of myself before and after those classes. Sometimes just being around lots of people would send me spiralling so I often found a quiet place (library!!) to stay at lunch.Â
3. When you’re dissociating
Honestly once I had begun to dissociate, there was little I could actually do in the moment. If you’re having flashbacks, your brain is off somewhere else or you feel like you’re watching yourself - by that point it’s a lot harder to help yourself. But if you are able to identify when you’re dissociating, try and remove yourself from the situation. I would ask to go to the bathroom so I could splash some water on my face. I would also just sit in the cubicle. Don’t expect to snap back into reality but at least moving yourself out of your immediate environment can lessen the intensity of the dissociation.
4. Tell someone
This is one everyone says but I feel like it’s super important for dissociation. I only ever told one friend, but it was helpful to have someone who could see the signs. I think it’s good to tell people what dissociation looks and feels like to you as each person is different. I would struggle to answer questions and would take longer to understand instructions in class. You could also tell by looking at me as I’d look like I was somewhere else, never really focusing on who was talking to me. It just meant they could check up on me after class, make sure if I was really bad I could get home, had all my stuff with me etc.Â
5. It will pass!
Dealing with dissociation is hella scary, especially when you’re under 18, in class and suddenly watching yourself from the ceiling. It can come out of nowhere, quickly, slowly - it sucks. My final tip is just to know that it will pass. Feeling like you’re floating is terrifying, so I’d always keep a little reminder on my phone that the experience I was having would pass. Even if it would take a few minutes, hours, days etc. I would come back to myself again.
I hope these help some other young students struggling!  💫💫
@studywithavalonÂ
