Dissociation is one of the many mental health issues that can accompany addiction. Dissociation can exacerbate our addictions and function as co-occurring disorders alongside them. When we’ve dissociated ourselves mentally and emotionally, we often will experience disconnected, fragmented thoughts, as ways of self-identifying. We might be delusional and imagine things that aren’t real. We might forget things that are real, such as traumatic experiences we’ve been through that we come to associate with other people but not with our own lives. Dissociation can be painful and can be a source of confusion, panic, and terror for us. How can dissociation prevent us from recovering?
Disconnecting From Our Experiences With Addiction
When we dissociate from our true identities, one of the many things we disconnect from is the truth of our experience as addicts. We might not realize how bad our problems have become. We might forget entire incidents, times we’ve hurt ourselves or endangered others, events where we caused ourselves embarrassment or shame. Sometimes what causes us to dissociate in the first place is the sheer amount of mental and emotional pain we’ve experienced from trauma, and we can break down under the pressure of it all. Our dissociation can be accompanied by major depressive episodes, huge crises in our lives, even nervous breakdowns. After these events, we often don’t feel like ourselves at all. We struggle to remember who we were beforehand and what brought us to this point. In the confusion and turmoil, we might unconsciously shed our self-identification as addicts, meaning we no longer identify as addicts because we’ve forgotten our past experiences or have blocked them out because they’re too painful. Sometimes we develop dissociation as a self-protective coping mechanism.
Resistance to Recovery
Because we’re lacking in clarity and mindfulness, it can be hard to live intentionally when we’ve dissociated and our recovery can feel practically impossible. We don’t know who we are, let alone what we need to recover. We think the people around us are making up stories of our past problems with addiction. We can come to believe that we must be cured if have no memory of our addictions, so we avoid recovery altogether. Sometimes it’s all so overwhelming, confusing, and depressing that we resist recovery of any kind, for our addictions or our mental health issues.
Recovery is Possible
Recovery from addiction while also managing such complex mental health issues is not impossible. With professional treatment, therapy, medication, guided self-discovery work, and energy healing, it is possible to heal our minds and bodies from our patterns of both dissociation and addiction.
At The Guest House Ocala, we are uniquely equipped to help our guests heal from trauma-induced substance abuse, process addiction and mental illness in a safe, comfortable and confidential setting.
Call 855-483-7800 today for more information on our treatment programs.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488