Excessive fear and worry are the two most common characteristics of anxiety disorders, but there is also a strong connection between dissociation and anxiety. Understanding what dissociation is, and recognizing its relationship to anxiety, can be important steps toward getting effective care for yourself or a loved one.
Struggling with dissociation and anxiety? Our team is available now to answer your questions, discuss treatment options, and verify your insurance. Take the first step toward healingโcall us today to get started.
What Is Dissociation?
Before we explore the connection between dissociation and anxiety, letโs take a moment to review what dissociation means and how it can affect people.
When used in a mental health context, dissociation refers to the sense of becoming detached or separated from reality. As weโll discuss later in this post, dissociation can be a symptom of many mental health disorders, including anxiety.ย
There are two general types of dissociation: depersonalization and derealization. Some dissociative episodes involve both of these experiences, while others may only include one.
Depersonalization
Depersonalization refers to the feeling that you have become detached from your body, thoughts, and emotions. When you are in the midst of a dissociative episode that includes depersonalization, this experience can include:
- Emotional and/or physical numbness
- Feeling like you have lost control of your thoughts and movements
- The sense that you are viewing yourself from outside your body
- Being unable to access your memories, maintain focus, or make decisions
- Hearing your own voice without realizing that you were speaking
Derealization
Derealization is an aspect of dissociation that affects how you perceive other people and your environment. While in a dissociative state that involves derealization, you may feel that:
- You are viewing your surroundings through a fog, mist, or pane of glass
- The world has been drained of color or has taken on a dreamlike quality
- People or objects are much closer or farther away from you than they actually are
- People or objects are larger or smaller than they actually are
- The progression of time has stopped, or is occurring much slower or faster than normal
Dissociating vs. Hallucinating
Though dissociation is characterized by altered perceptions, this term is not a synonym for hallucination.ย
When a person is hallucinating, their senses are detecting stimuli from sources that do not exist. Common examples include seeing light patterns, hearing voices, or having the sensation of insects crawling over or beneath their skin.
When someone is dissociating, they are not accurately perceiving themselves or their environment โ but this experience does not include seeing, hearing, or otherwise sensing things that arenโt actually present.
Whatโs the Connection Between Dissociation and Anxiety?
Extreme fear, excessive stress, and trauma can all cause dissociative episodes. They can also be risk factors for an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are characterized by disproportionate fear and/or worry. The events or circumstances that bring about these feelings can vary depending on which type of anxiety disorder you have. For example:
- If you have social anxiety disorder, your symptoms may be triggered if you have to give a speech, meet new people, or even eat dinner in a public place where you can be observed by others.
- The symptoms of specific phobia are related to specific objects, animals, or situations, such as spiders, air travel, heights, or blood.
- Someone with agoraphobia may become uncontrollably upset when among a crowd of people, in an enclosed or wide open space, or even when simply leaving the house.
- For those with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or panic disorder, symptoms can occur without any apparent external trigger.
When fear or worry become overwhelming, a person with an anxiety disorder may automatically begin to dissociate as a way of numbing themselves to โ or distancing themselves from โ their emotional pain.ย
In a sense, dissociation is their brainโs attempt to shield them from further suffering by โremovingโ you from an agonizing situation while it is occurring. Unfortunately, in many cases, dissociation may exacerbate a personโs distress instead of relieving it.
Do Other Mental Health Disorders Cause Dissociation?
The connection between dissociation and anxiety isnโt the only relationship between mental illness and depersonalization or derealization.ย
The Dissociative Disorders section of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) contains entries for the following conditions:
- Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
- Dissociative amnesia
- Depersonalization/derealization disorderย
Other mental illnesses that can cause dissociative episodes include:
- Depressive disorders
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
- Substance use disorders (addictions)
How Are Dissociation and Anxiety Treated?
Treatment for dissociation and anxiety can occur at both the residential and outpatient levels, and may involve a wide range of therapies, and support services.ย
Depending on each patientโs history, needs, and treatment goals, their care may include elements such as:
- Prescription medication
- Individual psychotherapy
- Group therapy
- Family counseling
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Trauma-focused services
- Holistic therapies
Learn More Treatment for Anxiety and Dissociation in Georgia
Serenity Grove is a premier provider of life-affirming care for adults who have been living with anxiety disorders and other mental health concerns.ย
Treatment options at our center in Athens, GA, include detox, residential rehab, and multiple outpatient programs. Our team of experienced professionals will work closely with you to identify the full scope of your needs, then select the programs and therapies that can help you make sustained progress to a much healthier and more hopeful life.
To learn more about how we can help you or a loved one, or to schedule a free consultation, please visit our Admissions page or call us today.
