What is disembodiment? Signs to watch out for | Health

Disembodiment refers to the state where one feels dissociated from their own body and mind. This can happen due to various reasons. When we are burdened with past experiences and trauma, we start to dissociate from the body – this happens as a survival strategy to escape from distressing and difficult emotions. Disembodiment is never done as a conscious choice, but as a survival mode of the body to avoid pain and trauma. Therapist Deniz Ahmadinia addressed this and spoke of the things that get difficult to do in disembodiment.

When a person is facing disembodiment, they are unable to process the communication from the body. Hence, these things get difficult:

ALSO READ: What is dissociation? How to return to safety?

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Meeting the needs: We have difficulty in understanding the needs, wants and expectations we have. Hence, we are unable to fulfill them.

Safe and unsafe: The gut feeling and the ways to process a person or a situation as safe or unsafe is not possible in case of disembodiment. This can often get us in trouble.

Expressing ourselves: We have a difficult time getting clarity on the emotions we are facing – hence, we are not able to clearly communicate the same to others.

Setting boundaries: As we are not able to understand what is good for us or safe for us, we fail to set healthy boundaries for ourselves and also for others.

Signs of disembodiment to watch out for:

Neglecting health: Since we are not able to understand our needs, we end up neglecting our physical, mental and emotional health.

Feeling numb or detached: Dissociation from the body leads to the feeling of numbness or detachment.

Difficulty identifying emotions: The clarity of knowing the emotions and finding healthy ways to address them is absent in case of disembodiment.

Disconnection from physical sensations: We feel less – dissociation from the body also leads to disconnection from the sensations felt in the body.

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