Dissociation

Disassociation .7

Trying to connect myself with my own skin to familiarise my brain with my physical being. My skin. My body. My surroundings. Touch is the best sense when trying to ground myself when I find myself floating away.

I recently found out that those times and those days aren’t just a weird thing I do, it’s actually dissociation.

Using grounding techniques to bring myself back to the present time and reality has been really useful, especially after a panic attack. They don’t always work but I’ll keep trying, in the meantime it’s certainly interesting learning more about dissociation.

📇: @itslizzieh

Note: dissociation is different from dissociative identity disorder. Dissociation is a mental process whereas dissociative identity disorder is a mental disorder.

Pretend

I absorb the negative emotions of others around me. I feel them myself and then I make myself small so that I don’t get in their way. I don’t want to upset them.

If I am feeling negative emotions, personally, I keep them to myself. I stay quiet, but also, I smile and make myself appear positive on the outside. When I do tell someone that I am upset and that something is affecting me, they don’t believe me because I am not screaming and crying and visibly distraught. But I am.

I feel the emptiness inside me and the negativity seeping in and clawing in to tear and rip and make the emptiness grow.

– E.H.

Flowers

Repeating the same thing,

Every single day.

Lonely when I’m alone,

Even in a crowd of people.

Then I remember that everything is in transit,

Everything reaches an end and somehow that’s comforting. 

 

Sundays always come too soon,

The weekend speeds by,

Until the new week begins,

The same, the same again.

But change is the only constant in life.

 

I can never get my head on right,

Everything moves so fast.

Time cannot be controlled,

Cannot be contained.

My thoughts swirling down the drain,

Slipping away.

 

I send out so many letters,

I write even more.

But no post is for me,

Only bills and weeds.

Useful for cleaning up the stains.

 

So many games, so many rules,

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Everything’s written down,

But not everything is followed.

Whichever suits the suitor and their tailored ways,

A tuxedo, a three piece or maybe mourning.

 

I bought my own flowers,

I could have chosen better.

But my hands are cold,

and the soil was futile.

They manage to bring some comfort.

 

– E.H.

 

 

Coming Home

 

I can’t believe that anybody,
Would ever want to come home to me
I can’t see myself with with anybody,
Let alone anybody with me

Coming home to my own thoughts,
My own mind, no escape

I am alone, no one’s here
It’s just me, we’ll make it through
The same day, over and over and over again
It’s okay, we’ll make it through

Is this enough? I’ve always wanted more
(I thought there was more)
Dream, plan, wish, work, hope, work
Sleep, worry, work, stress, work, eat, work, work
Maybe more wasn’t for me

Nobody would ever want to come home to me
I can’t see anybody ever coming home to me

Repeat

I need people

I tell people

People leave

I get hurt

Time passes

 

I need people

I tell people

People leave

I get hurt

Time passes

 

I need people

But I stop telling people

I shut myself off

I don’t need anyone

Except I’m lying

I’m lonely, I’m struggling

I can’t do this alone

 

I need people

Finally, I tell people

But

People leave

I get hurt

Time passes