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chrisdh79 OP t1_ixquozy wrote

From the article: “Dissociating” has become an internet buzzword, but what does it mean and how common is it really? A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research suggests that this mental disconnect may be very common among people with depressive symptoms.

Dissociation is a word used to describe a mental detachment or separation. It is a popular word on social media now, and it can be used to describe normal forgetfulness, daydreaming, or absent-mindedness. It also has a pathological definition, which can include amnesia, hearing voices, flashbacks, derealization, depersonalization, identity fragmentation and more.

These symptoms can be associated with experiencing trauma or significant stress. Depression, which many people suffer from and can be very difficult to treat, can encompass these pathological dissociative symptoms as well. This study sought to explore the relationships between dissociative symptoms, depression, trauma, and other potential mediating factors.

Hong Wang Fung and colleagues utilized 410 adult participants with self-reported clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Participants were recruited online and completed their survey on the web. Measures included questionnaires regarding sociodemographic information, depression symptoms, dissociative symptoms, trauma experiences, interpersonal stress, family support, and perceived benefits of psychiatric medication.

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hhunkk t1_ixreavc wrote

Same thing happens with the word anxiety, people confuse impatience, being nervous and such with it. Anxiety is so much worse, it can make you feel things you can not explain.

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polaarbear t1_ixriwgv wrote

As an anxious person I always hear Morpheus explaining to Neo why his teeth are bleeding in the real world after he falls off the roof in the Matrix.

"The mind makes it real."

Anxiety can make you hear sounds, feel pain, feel itchy, all sorts of symptoms for ailments and problems that don't exist.

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KnightRider1987 t1_ixstz1s wrote

What’s super fun is when you have an anxiety attack with all the clinical signs - heart thundering, dizzy, weird skin sensations, feel like your suffocating - all without being the tiniest bit emotionally bothered by something on a conscious level. During the peak of my life long an anxiety disorder in grad school this would happen because of the constant high level of stress and exhaustion I was experiencing. So it would feel like an average Tuesday except for the part where I felt like I was spinning straight off the face of the world.

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AnOnlineHandle t1_ixtgr1d wrote

I could barely breath for a few weeks, got xrays and an asthma sprayer and everything, woke up breathless and panicking.

Then it went away when I finished a big work project, and it became clear that it had all been caused by anxiety. It's wild and not to be underestimated. Every few years I get some random pain which tends to go away after something stressful is finally finished. Some subconscious part of my brain just decides to over-fire and there's not much I can do about it except not stress about the stress response and make it worse. The worst thing is that it makes it harder to finish what is currently causing it.

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scarsinsideme t1_ixtgwn2 wrote

I've been going through exactly that! It took me a while to figure out it was coming from anxiety because I didn't feel anxious

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Sketch13 t1_ixrunpg wrote

I have health anxiety and it will literally manifest symptoms that testing shows as nothing. It's fucked. Stress and anxiety can cause all sorts of whack mental and physical changes.

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JohnnyMojo t1_ixs9564 wrote

Modern testing also fails to properly catch and diagnose a lot of things too. Anxiety and high stress hormones usually go hand in hand and over time, high stress hormones usually promote the development of disease and illness.

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Gloriathewitch t1_ixspbka wrote

Also they degrade the immune system as well as a result of that.

a lot of people assume that means they will get the flu more often, but what it actually means is if you're predisposed to something like crohns or lupus, it might activate. Truly terrifying stuff.

Stress is a killer Is a true and real quote

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carbonclasssix t1_ixt6m9s wrote

I'm so terrified stress is going to do me in eventually that I'm starting to take meditation really seriously. Even 15 minutes is magical and I haven't found any other way to destress besides exercise. It blows my mind medicine doesn't have more to say about that, my doctor is pretty much like "don't do the stressful things" I'm like ok yeah I'll just quit my job and live off the inheritance I don't have.

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manderrx t1_ixthwor wrote

I can tell I'm getting too stressed out when my eczema flares. Same happens with my mom's lupus.

It for sure is, never mind if someone has cardiovascular issues.

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TacoTornadoes t1_ixstpqe wrote

I have anxiety and depression and I recently started having issues with vertigo, tremors, and nerve damage. I'm wondering if that could be the case with me. Haven't had much testing done, thanks VA, to know much yet.

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skyHawk3613 t1_ixt6zqn wrote

What kind of symptoms will manifest with your health anxiety?

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manderrx t1_ixthr94 wrote

I do as well, and it seriously is. Furthermore, the non-stop self-monitoring for any little thing that could possibly be major illness. Mine is based upon my actual pre-existing/chronic conditions, and it always feels like I'm on alert for something to go wrong.

Probably the worst part of anxiety is that always feeling "on" part of it.

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Booomerz t1_ixt0x9i wrote

If a person believes a situation to be real it will be real in its consequences. Think of hysterical pregnancy. That’s a Durkheim quote I think…

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youreuglyasfu t1_ixutlv5 wrote

Yup. I’m 24 and have already had a colonoscopy and endoscopy because my anxiety has such convincing physical symptoms. They’ve found nothing of concern in both cases, but the feeling is still there. Messed up!

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Hmz_786 t1_ixs9edb wrote

Phobias of bugs is a big one

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TargetSignificant856 t1_ixrq0jh wrote

The multiverse affects your consciousness in this reality.

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Darkrush85 t1_ixrtfme wrote

Reality is not a marvel film

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[deleted] t1_ixrxrhp wrote

[deleted]

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Darkrush85 t1_ixs90sr wrote

There is a lack of evidence of other universes in our reality for one, and two I find it funny you assume I’m religious and the most strawman version of a religious person at that, when the reality is we still have so little understand of our universe, we have made great strides, but to claim evidence of a multiverse is as “real” as evidence of a God because that would require evidence and a complete change in how we perceive time, space and of reality itself.

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[deleted] t1_ixsd1jv wrote

[deleted]

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BrandoCalrissian1995 t1_ixsln7h wrote

Probably cuz you're in a r/science where it's supposed to be serious discussion and not jokes. And good job falling back on the old "i was just joking bro" excuse. Never fails.

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JuniperusRain t1_ixrj4hc wrote

The word anxiety existed long before the clinical concept of an anxiety disorder and it did originally just mean nervousness or a troubled mind, so that casual usage is totally valid.

The first time dissociation was used to refer to a mental state was in the 19th century and it was considered a kind of hysteria. Casual, nonclinical use of the term is very recent.

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MultiGeometry t1_ixt6m9b wrote

“It’s not that big a deal/no need to worry”

Yeah. I know. But the anxiety has different plans and I can’t stop it. It’s not logical. It’s not grounded in reality. And that’s why it’s so scary. I agree, most people don’t truly understand what is meant when talking about anxiety.

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NoodlerFrom20XX t1_ixtfurz wrote

I’d like to add “oh that was so ADD of me” from neurotypicals who think that having a short attention span or being forgetful means “see I have problems too so your diagnosed disorder that has made your life hell means nothing to me”

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O118999881999II97253 t1_ixtha27 wrote

I love your profile icon though

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hhunkk t1_ixuhp70 wrote

Ty, made it my self in paint years ago while we were bored in discord with my friends

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[deleted] t1_ixs10mr wrote

[removed]

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FantasyThrowaway321 t1_ixt9yr7 wrote

Well said, I’ve been clinically/severely depressed what now appears to be my entire life with ~15 of therapy, many medications, plenty of other attempts/ideas, and even today with my therapist I had a new ‘breakthrough’ or moment or tendril or whatever. It doesn’t stop, and you never know what another is wrestling with even during their greatest perceived successes. ‘It’s complicated’, well said

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Catinthemirror t1_ixuk8yx wrote

With the usual caveat of a grain of salt to accompany advice from an internet stranger, have you been tested for the MTHFR genetic issue with methylation of folates? It can result in drug-resistant depression but is in itself treatable with supplements. I only suggest it because "lifelong" depression is a flag; my son and I both have it. Feel free to totally ignore this info.

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ZippytheKlown t1_iy3x02s wrote

Yup! I have this and I was prescribed Spravato (esketamine) for major depressive disorder

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twelveski t1_ixun323 wrote

What is the best way to test for that?

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hepakrese t1_ixyw0i7 wrote

Ask your therapist/doctor about genetic testing to help identify medications or therapies that may be more or less likely to be helpful for you and your issue. The tests may help shed light on how your body processes chemicals in each medication. Some are metabolized quickly or slowly, others not well at all, which affects how well you respond to the medication and at dosages. There are variations for other conditions and medication types.

I've had severe depression many times in my life and tried upward of 20 medications with intolerable side effects. The genetic testing corroborated what I knew: most don't affect me like intended, so just don't. Don't bother prescribing ::gestures broadly:: those ones.

It doesn't tell you what will cure you, but it may help inform decisionmaking during conversations with your care team.

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zeroniusrex t1_ixtny0v wrote

Andrew Solomon said in a TED talk that the opposite of depression isn't happiness, but vitality. That stuck with me for how true it feels to me.

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[deleted] t1_ixty3wt wrote

[removed]

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indiefatiguable t1_ixurzx1 wrote

I think depression and resilience go hand in hand more than being opposites. It takes an enormous amount of resilience to keep going through the motions of life when everything seems pointless and impossible.

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raginghappy t1_ixxpr4w wrote

>It takes an enormous amount of resilience to keep going through the motions of life when everything seems pointless and impossible.

Or fake ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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AceOfShades_ t1_ixt6t24 wrote

I’ve heard a common part of depression being like the default mode network is stuck on, so you’re forced to always be thinking about yourself.

It can make you lose weight, gain weight, sleep too much, sleep too little, it does all sorts of weird stuff to your brain.

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Hmz_786 t1_ixs9iuq wrote

Wow, that's a really good way to put it

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Head-like-a-carp t1_ixrtsm5 wrote

I read the article and perhaps it is for people with greater knowledge of the terminology . Mentioning that dissociation is a word used to describe mental detachment or separation which covers everything from normal forgetfulness to identity fragmentation does not bring any clarity to me

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sprucenoose t1_ixt88aa wrote

Yeah it sounds more like they are going with the ambiguous social media definition rather than anything meaningful for a clinical diagnosis.

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RWBreddit t1_ixuj1kb wrote

Dissociative drug experience really brings clarity to what that term means in a clinical description. “Out of body experience” is a phrase often used to describe it. Surreal feeling and as if you’re just observing yourself. Similar to how a lucid dream experience is; reality is fractal and seems non-linear. You know in a sense it’s not normal and you can’t really control it. You are along for the ride.

If you’ve purposefully taken chemicals to induce this feeling then you’re more likely to be fortunate enough to enjoy the “trip” without terrifying anxiety and sometimes panic. But if you find yourself having these dissociative experiences organically, with no explanation as to why, you have a problem on your hands. A one-off episode is just life perhaps but repeated episodes likely means you have some moderate to severe mental health disorder(s).

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RWBreddit t1_ixujzh5 wrote

Research “ego death” for more insight. It can be quite terrifying and “ego” is another term used socially as a kind if watered-down “full of one’s self”. That is just part of the definition. It is the experience of yourself in your reality. And when that fabric of your reality experience starts to unravel it is intense. A lot of people say you are never the same person again after ego death. Similar, just altered in a way. That is somewhat embraced in drug culture though.

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cote112 t1_ixr8oyi wrote

I had a night of derealization in Amsterdam. Didn't know that's what it was until I heard it described on a podcast decades later.

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sneckste t1_ixtctxh wrote

I read a books about techniques to handle dissociative states - probably the most helpful book I’ve read in the past 15 years. It’s called Coping with Trauma Related Association. Very practical tips that never came up in 6 years if therapy.

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mfza t1_ixti8av wrote

To me it sounds like schizoid is essentially dissociation delux

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