#relientk

“Remember that Christmas, it makes way for spring…” Boxing Day by Relient k

@fencesandfrogs I remember saying something similar to my therapist who was like "yeah that's dissociating!" so reading your post was like deja vu. Glad you already have the word for it - knowing what's up helps a ton

​hope you don't mind, tumblr replies were glitching on me.

anyway, yeah! having a word for things is so important. your response was super funny to me because like...yep. target audience reached. the experience was conveyed.

i also appreciate the contribution because dissociation feels extremely underdiscussed so like. yes. go off. i'm lucky enough to have been in therapy since i was but a wee child, and i gotta say, learning to label your own experiences can be very critical.

uh this is super unfocused i'm just VERY pro-people learning words to describe what they're experiencing so i'm going to turn this into a quick lesson. no sources just my own head please no one take a tumblr post too seriously kthx.

dissociation is separating yourself from the current moment. this can range from normal and healthy (zoning out) to a way to cope with stress (going numb in a crisis) to a disorder (depersonalization/derealization) to a disorder[special edition] (dissociative identity disorder).

depersonalization is when you stop feeling like yourself. it's often described as third person mode. you might feel disconnected with your body, out of control of your actions, that sort of thing.

derealization is when the world stops feeling real. things feel fuzzy and dreamlike. it's the "this isn't happening" feeling, where you don't feel like the events around you are really happening.

depersonalization/derealization disorder (DPDR) is a dissociative disorder that involves experiencing both of those. i'm not super familiar with the criteria off the top of my head, but if dissociative symptoms are bothering you, maybe look into it.

dissociative identity disorder and other specified dissociative disorder 1 (did & osdd-1, often written osddid) are an extreme form of dissociation known as structural dissociation. (also in this category are ptsd, cptsd, and bpd.) these form from repeated childhood trauma and a disorganized attachment style.

grounding helps bring you into this moment. there are a lot of techniques, and you may need to experiment. strong sensory experiences (extreme temperatures, intense exercise, strong tastes or scents, loud music, etc.) can be helpful, but so can mindfulness. (note: for some, mindfulness will increase dissociative symptoms. if it works, great! if it doesn't, don't force it.)

everyone dissociates to some extent, so don't panic if you have moments of dissociation. but if it's distressing to you, hopefully this gives you some language to talk about what you're experiencing, as well as the very start of how to cope.

undertale and deltarune are both masterpieces, just everything is incredibly well thought out and clever. I love how it isn't just a funny story but it also has some beautiful, emotional scenes and themes and the characters are perfect. Toby Fox clearly loves making these and you can tell he (and co) put lots of effort in them! I could go on and on about them because these two games have such a big place in my heart but ill stop here.