Hi Spirit,

I heavily dissociate and have been doing it since I was 8. One of my favorite things to do is shop. But I don't have to shop for anything expensive, I could have just as much fun at the dollar store as I would have at the mall. For me, it's all about occupying my mind with new things that I can touch and smell and feel. It's more of a sensory experience for me, but I always buy the products. I've heard of people taking a shopping cart , putting things in it and then leaving the cart in the middle of the store after they have done their "shopping". I still have to buy the things I feel attracted to at that moment. My husband thinks I have a "problem" when it comes to shopping.

Cleaning is another way that I dissociate. One minute I could be talking to my husband and without ending the conversation, I start obsessively vacuuming the rugs, wiping down counters, febreezing the furniture. It's absurd.

I do like to paint and write but that for me has never been a form of dissociating, those periods are always when I am very much inside of myself.