Video Transcript
Dr. Skinner, is disassociation a major concern? How do you help a teen who is doing this? Uh, well, there there’s a little bit of complexity to the question itself. So in all human behaviors, in some ways, we all disassociate, daydreaming could be a form of disassociating. So I, I almost have to say, what is the severity and the reason for the disassociation? Is it be related to stress? Is it related to trauma? Is it disassociating not paying attention to what’s going on around me because my mind is elsewhere. Not necessarily trauma related, it’s just thinking about other things. So I, I, I guess that’s, uh, part of the question is disassociation, is to be separate from self. Uh, that’s one simple definition. And so I would want to understand the reason, or for the disassociation, don’t know the why. I would want to understand the why there. So I think, uh, the first part of it, uh, disassociation can be for protection purposes. It’s actually the body’s way of saying, I don’t want to be present in this experience because I don’t know how to deal with this event or this stress. So it’s not a uncommon or atypical for individuals in high levels of stress or, or trauma to disassociate from self because it’s overwhelming their system. Now, if that’s the extent of it, that that’s pretty significant, but just understand it is the body’s way of protecting itself. And so Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry, Dr. Bruce Perry, wrote a wonderful book. Boy, I don’t know if I can come up with that title on my own. It’s, uh, maybe what happened to you. Uh, I think that’s what it’s called. Uh, Bruce Perry and, uh, Dr. Perry and, and Oprah Winfrey, I think it’s called What Happened To You. But they, in that book, there’s a wonderful description of disassociation, which makes it actually understood. And it’s not a negative thing, it’s just a way that we respond. He has a section in there on disassociation. Uh, it’s a really powerful book. I, think if you wanna understand human behavior, that book or in and of itself is really a powerful, uh, book that explores how life happens and, and, and how it changes us. So I, I really like that book as a reference, Michelle.
