![\"Here's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_283796454-fe8f.jpg\")
\n\t\tDissociating might not always be the best word to use (Credits: JDawnInk)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDissociating might not always be the best word to use (Credits: JDawnInk)<\/p>\n
At 6am on a Monday morning, assaulted by the big light in my bedroom and barely able to sit up, I texted my best friend<\/a>: \u2018I can\u2019t face the commute, I\u2019m literally dissociating<\/a> right now.\u2019<\/p>\n But was I though? <\/p>\n The term \u2018dissociating\u2019 gets banded around a lot. And while I might have been feeling tired and overwhelmed, I was okay. I had my coffee<\/a>, shook off the cobwebs, and went to work.<\/p>\n While using mental health terms in conversation can encourage more open dialogue around conditions such as anxiety<\/a>, depression<\/a>, OCD<\/a>, and ADHD<\/a>, it can also mean we forget to assign adequate weight to serious conditions.<\/p>\n There are currently 113,000 posts on TikTok using the hashtag \u2018dissociation\u2019, and while some of them offer genuine clinical advice, others are memifications of a serious mental health issue.<\/p>\n According to the NHS<\/a>, dissociative disorders are \u2018a range of conditions that can cause physical and psychological problems\u2019. <\/p>\n Symptoms might include feeling disconnected from yourself and the world are you, feeling uncertain about who you are, or forgetting certain time periods and events.<\/p>\n Currently, data shows that approximately 1% to 3% of the UK population suffers from a form of dissociative disorder.<\/p>\n What are dissociative disorders?<\/p>\n The NHS states that there are three main types of dissociative disorder:<\/p>\n Depersonalisation-derealisation disorder. People who experience this report that people and things around them feel \u2018foggy\u2019 or \u2018lifeless\u2019. It might feel as though you\u2019re existing outside of yourself.<\/p>\n Dissociative amnesia. This disorder is categorised by having periods where you can\u2019t remember information about yourself or your surroundings. You might forget a learned skill or trait. Much more seriousness than forgetfulness, some people might also arrive at random destinations, having no recollection of how they got there.<\/p>\n Dissociative identity disorder (DID). This used to be referred to as multiple personality disorder. The most distinctive characteristic of DID is the presence of other identities, with their own voices, mannerisms, and personalities.<\/p>\n \t\t So if the majority of Brits don\u2019t actually have a diagnosable dissociative disorder, why do so many of us relate to the concept?<\/p>\n Dr Lauren Lebois is a cognitive neuroscientist, and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n In her opinion<\/a>, the reason why we might say we\u2019re dissociating, is probably because we actually are.<\/p>\n In the same way that there\u2019s a difference between feeling anxious and being diagnosed with anxiety disorder, dissociative disorders also work on a spectrum, and most people are likely to be experiencing a more \u2018normative type\u2019 of dissociation.<\/p>\n She tells Metro: \u2018Most people have had the experience of becoming so absorbed in a task or a thought that you lose awareness of what\u2019s happening around you \u2013 it might happen with a riveting book or driving home. <\/p>\n \u2018These types of dissociation don\u2019t typically impact your daily functioning in a negative way.<\/p>\n \u2018But it\u2019s when these trauma-related dissociative experiences persist well beyond the moment, into your routine day-to-day, and become responses that you\u2019ve lost control over and they interfere in your work, school, relationships, is where we enter the land of complex dissociative disorders.\u2019<\/p>\n While Dr Lebois understands that this can be \u2018confusing\u2019, she emphasises the importance of using the term \u2018dissociating\u2019 correctly.<\/p>\n She says: \u2018We need to be careful that our use of the word \u201cdissociating\u201d to describe more mundane absorptive experiences, doesn\u2019t minimise the more severe and distressing experiences of those with dissociative disorders.\u2019<\/p>\n What does \u2018normative disassociation\u2019 feel like?<\/p>\n Matt Bordonada is the deputy clinical director at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies in London.<\/p>\n He tells Metro that dissociation is in many ways a \u2018normal human reaction to situations that are stressful, overwhelming, frightening, or even just boring.<\/p>\n He says: \u2018It\u2019s about the mind and body disconnecting and coping.<\/p>\n \u2018For example, you might get on a bus or train and arrive at your destination, and it feels like time has disappeared, and you can\u2019t remember the journey. This is normal.\u2019<\/p>\n This tends to be where people lean on the phrase \u2018zoning out\u2019, Matt explains.<\/p>\n \u2018Some people talk about feeling like they are floating away from their bodies, or like the world around them doesn\u2019t feel real, and like they are in a video game,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n \t\t Dr Lebois shares a very basic analogy, which describes the difference between anxiety, depression and a dissociative disorder.<\/p>\n She says: \u2018Imagine you\u2019re driving a car through a tense intersection. Anxiety is gripping the wheel too tightly with sweaty palms slipping on the wheel. <\/p>\n \u2018Depression is feeling like you don\u2019t want to drive anymore and maybe all the other cars would be better off if you weren\u2019t on the road. <\/p>\n \u2018Dissociation is feeling as if you\u2019re in the backseat watching yourself drive.\u00a0 In more extreme cases, dissociation is like being in the backseat watching yourself drive \u2013 but somehow that person driving feels like they are someone else.\u2019<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share?<\/p>\n Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Upset](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1510833335.jpg\")
\n\t\tPeople may use the phrase \u2018zoning out\u2019 (Picture: Getty Images)
\nWhy do so many of us relate to the idea of dissociating?<\/p>\n![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-641377142.jpg\")
\n\t\tEver been on a train and forgotten the journey? That\u2019s normal (Picture: Getty Images)
\nHow do you differentiate between anxiety, depression and a dissociative disorder?<\/p>\n
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