Dissociation means the separation of things that were, or usually are, together (e.g., associated). In their minds, people usually remember a whole event, including sights, sounds, feelings, and meaning. When dissociation occurs, the remembered event may be devoid of meaning or feelings, which are separated and stored in another part of the mind. In other words, the different parts of the memory are recalled separately, not as a congruent whole.

Dissociation occurs when a person experiences extreme stress or stimulation. Under these conditions, life is experienced differently, and the memory of an event is stored differently in the mind. Research is suggests that the brain operates differently when experiencing or recalling stressful and non-stressful events. Here is a personal example that many people may be able to relate to. I remember skidding badly on an icy street.

Dissociative experiences are often confused with those of hypnosis. While the two experiences may exist together, they are not the same. For example, hypnotic absorption may be present in someone who is experiencing identity alteration, but it is not equivalent. To be hypnotically absorbed is to lose track of the background events and be completely absorbed by the foreground (e.g.

Research tends to show that dissociation stems from a combination of environmental and biological factors. The likelihood that a tendency to dissociate is inherited genetically is estimated to be zero (Simeon et al., 2001). Most commonly, repetitive childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and other forms of trauma are associated with the development of dissociative disorders (e.g., Putnam, 1985).

One of the core problems for the person with a dissociative disorder is affect dysregulation, or difficulty tolerating and regulating intense emotional experiences. This problem results in part from having had little opportunity to learn to soothe oneself or modulate feelings, due to growing up in an abusive or neglectful family, where parents did not teach these skills.

Traditional cortical inhibition theories hold that hypersuggestibility is the result of inhibition of the cerebral cortex (and thus the usual 'critical faculties') due to some sort of override by lower brain centers. This has proven to be an overly simplistic way of looking at it. A more recent version of that former Pavlovian theory is that the left cerebral hemisphere is somehow selectively inhibited during conditons of hypersuggesibility.

Remember the types of shifts in behavior, emotions, thinking, and body sensations we talked about in FAQ 3.

Training can come from reading, professional workshops and conferences, study groups, as well as university courses and ISSTD trauma and dissociation courses A careful and thorough assessment and, if recommended, therapy for your child will be important. The therapist should help you to: Understand dissociation, recognize when it is happening, and learn how to talk with your child at those times.

A17) The dissociation of water is common everyday thing! Any ultrasonic humidifier does this although not to the levels Keely did it. Further dissociation can be accomplished with methods employing acoustic and hydrodynamic cavitation - it is assumed. Cavitation dissociates water into a fine vapor. This is Keely's etheric vapor. Also Brown's Gas is similar in many respects to his etheric vapor. A18) I believe Keely went to some orthodox (Methodist?) Christian church as a matter of practice.

Dissociation is a blocking out of emotions, physical sensations, behaviors, or knowledge in order to feel safer when frightening things happen. It is like hiding somewhere in your mind where it feels safe while surviving on the outside in a dangerous situation.