Does any one have any suggestions on how to handle disassotiatvie episodes. I have been able to tell myself that this is temporary and will go away as my stress goes down. But last night I found myself driving my van with out being conscious of what i was doing. As I woke I up I turned around and headed back home once I figuered out where I was. My wife was awake and worried about me and from now on she is locking up the keys before bed. I am scared that I am starting to really lose it and do not want to go to the hospital again. Most of my disassociative episodes have been me sleep walking out side at night. This I was able to handle but driving while sleeping is a whole new issue. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I am calling my therapist today to let him know what has happened and see what he tells me to do. I look forward to seeing some suggestions or comments since I know I am not alone with disassociative episodes.

Hi Pitt Bull,

I've had problems with dissociation, too, though not to the extent you have. Have you heard back from your therapist? I hope so. This sounds serious. I'm glad your wife is locking the car keys away at night!

Take care!

Hodge

No I have not heard from my therapist yet. Things are getting a little more out of control for me. This is a pain in Arsse to have to deal with. I am surprised at how you are the only one to respond to this post. I was told htis is common among PTSD sufferers. What have you done to get over the disassociations?

Have you heard back from your therapist yet? Do you have a doctor or see a psychiatrist? I think two days is too long to go without hearing back on this.

I haven't gotten over the dissociations. I have bad days and not so bad days. There's another recent thread on this forum where people posted what they do to help themselves. I'll see if I can find it and somehow make a link to it here.

Found it: Does Anyone Have Helpful Hints On Dealing With Disassociation?

If clicking this doesn't work, just go to the next page on this chat section.

Folks may not reply if they don't feel they have anything constructive to tell you...(just a thought). For example, i dissociate a lot, but not to the extent that you describe, so I don't have any suggestions besides calling your treatment provider.

I hope you get some relief soon. It sounds like it must be scary for you.

Also, you may not get as many responses as you hope as what is said covers the bases and been asked recently in other posts. It is a huge forum and why repeat what another says to your post? Not like it isn't read but no point in responding when help is provided.

Hey Pitt Bull,

I hadn't replied because I don't dissociate to the level that you do. But you are not alone, people do dissociate on this level, just not me. It sounds really scary. I don't really know what to say about how you can help yourself with this, because you are obviously so dissociated that you don't know it at the time, and as it happens during sleep, you can't interrupt it when you feel it coming on - which is usually what I try to do when I go spacey.

I don't know how you can deal with this, a professional would have some ideas, but I agree that it is serious enough for your therapist to be getting back to you sooner rather than later... it seems dangerous to be driving while dissociated. But it's good that your wife is keeping the keys away from you to avoid that. I guess once the trauma is dealt with, that will help with all problems relating to PTSD. I wish I could offer something more immediate, sorry. Do you know why you are dissociating in this way? Like what the trigger is?

Thank you to all who have responded. I went out and read the thread that was already out there and have gotten some good ideas. My therapist called back and we talked about things and he tried to encourage me to go to the hospital for a more indept interview since he was leaving work. I told him I could not go to the hospital because I can not afford to be out of work right now. I am training someone how to do my job and need to be there. I will do what I can to be safe and keep my head when stess levels get high.

Lisa I have a good idea what is triggering things for me and I am trying to address them. My wife has been a big help in keeping me safe and honest about what is going on. I will use your tip on refocusing when I get spacey and maybe that will be a stepping stone for when I first realize I am disassociating. Thanks.

New to threapy. Have no advice to give. But would like to say there must be someone on here thats did this and has had some type of treatment for it.




Good question. Let me know if you get some good advice.

Be safe