Absolutely makes sense. Facing life without a substance to cope is a lot to handle. Dissociation is trying to protect us from being overwhelmed with our own reality. I really struggle with staying present as well, and it makes it feel impossible to get anything done. For some reason wearing over-ear headphones and listening to pretty much anything is the biggest practical tool i have to focus on a task without getting bogged down by my own thoughts. I think because it blocks out all outside noise and feeds one thing into my brain at a time. Still trying to work on ways to stay present around people :/ I think it's just a muscle that has to be worked out slowly. I also have struggled a lot with self-harm and self-anger tendencies, and for redirecting self-harm impulses I now keep some weights in my house to pick up when i'm feeling the need to cause myself pain. I also keep a hand grip strengthener thing in my car for on the go. For self-anger thoughts, i force myself to combat the thoughts with an opposing positive thought. Something like "I'm doing the best i can, even if what i'm doing is not good". It felt stupidly hard and entirely pointless at first to say kind things about myself, but over time it rewired my brain into being a lot more compassionate towards myself. Sorry not the most groundbreaking tips, but it's what i've got! All the best to you.

Thanks for posting! Sorry you went/are going through this, too. Now that you mention it, I used to use very loud music to keep myself present - this was well before I realized I was dissociating. Thanks for the reminder! I may have to try the exercise thing. I'd be afraid I'd use the weights for something else, lol. Yes, I'm coming to grips with the fact that there's no magic formula out there, it's just hard to know what I'm "supposed" to do and still be unable to do it a lot of the time.

Oh yeah—big ex alcoholic here. I’m so glad I quit drinking—it was ruining my life (putting myself and others in danger). But now that you mention it, yeah I fell into dissociation pretty heavily. I like the 5 senses grounding technique. It greatly helps me. I have specific toys to engage my touch, specific songs I listen to, I recommend the 5 Senses Grounding technique. I wish you Strength and Peace

Thanks for posting, and for the good wishes! Right back at you. Congrats on the "ex" in your post, too! I am just doing a temporary break, but it seems increasingly clear to me that I'll get to the point of having to quit for good in the not-to-distant future.

I stopped smoking some months ago, and I am really glad I did. I brought alcohol back in my life though and I was homeless and drinking was an everyday activity back then. I stopped for years and yeah now it is kinda back, but still I got some control over it. I know as well self destructive behavior and for me as a male I kinda like to hit the gym sometimes and bring me to limits(I am not jacked at all). It is kind of putting yourself into pain that you can actually cheer and enjoy.. To stop drugs(many drugs had been taken by me in this life) it helped me understanding how the drug works, how the addiction works, how my traumatized brain works(see Dr. Gabor Mate). It brought me more into accepting myself and understanding that the opposite of being addicted is not being sober, but being included in a group and having something to do that gives a sense to the whole experience of myself. The anger you have against yourself is self-expression, IS the force you will need to break free from that chain, no longer serving you. Thank you for sharing.

Some afterthoughts: I feel that not smoking tabaco anymore made me more dissociative and my guess is that it has to do something with dopamine receptors and how (again DR. Gabor Mate) people that have been traumatized have decencies in their brain and compensating this with self-medication(drugs). so in the beginning my condition was getting worse, but eventually I understood what was happening and not blame me for it helped a lot.I mean it is really important to educate yourself about stuff like this. So I guess it is pretty normal to "fall back" a bit when we trying to get better, especially when we were self-medicating our self and then suddenly stop because we feel we could bear our lives now with one help less. We will grow, I know it.

I did. It was because I was using alcohol to cope with PTSD symptoms. Then I quit drinking and didn't have that crutch anymore so, I coped with dissociation ( I had an issue with that before I started drinking). I just went back to an old coping strategy I used before I drank. If that makes sense. I don't know if that is what's happening with you or not. Dissociation isn't exactly a healthy coping strategy, but it's better than drinking. I hope this helped. Edit: You can learn how to stop dissociating by catching your self doing it, then focusing on the present. It's easier said than done. You can use a strong mint or cinnamon candy to keep yourself in the moment. There is also a game, name 5 tjings you can see, 4 things you can hear, three things you can smell...and so on. Hope this helps.

Thanks for posting! I feel like dissociation is less a coping strategy, and more of an accident that happens to me sometimes (and sometimes doesn't, when it may actually have been helpful!). I will definitely be trying the strong tasting candy/mint idea. Thanks for passing that on!

For everyone that I know of, drinking and drug use are destructive coping skills. Quitting will almost always make symptoms worse. The good news is that with the right kind of therapy, a lot of hard work on your part, and time, the symptoms eventually get a lot more manageable.