Out of Body Experience - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Message Board

SunnyDarkness · 08-25-2003, 06:30 PM

A lot of sh*t happened in my childhood and now things that are really small that people say or do can really **** me off. When I get really angry or upset its like I'm not in my body anymore. I can see myself doing whatever I'm doing and I hear my own voice as if it were someone else talking. I can't stop doin whatever it is Im in the middle of or control my behavior at all. And all while this is going on I don't really feel angry or upset, just kinda numb. It's really annoying. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there a way to stop it from happening?

09-16-2003, 07:00 PM

That happens to me sometimes. It used to happen a lot. I dunno what the cause is though. For me it helps to just stay out of situations that would cause it to happen and stay away from people that would cause it to happen. If it starts to happen then try to think about something happy or humorous to distract yourself.

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~*~ Kristy ~*~

sniffy · 11-06-2003, 08:20 PM

I get this all the time. It is called dissociation. It happens when something is threatening you or scaring you or too hard to deal with. I have had this since childhood. I would dissociate while the sexual abuse was going on. I would feel outside of my body or floating above it. It was like I was watching a movie. No emotion, no pain. My mind was taken away from the situation, only the body was left.

This is a very common defense mechanism for people who have suffered great trauma. I am seeing a therapist and it is helping me a lot. I am working on not dissociating anymore and realizing that I don't need to do this because I am safe now. However it does come in really handy when I go to the dentist and it hurts!

If you are seeing a therapist you should tell them about the dissociation. If you are not seeing a therapist you might want to consider it. It is both educating me and helping me a lot.

take good care of yourselves
heather