Dissociation is the feeling of being detached, as if your mind has hit the eject button to get you through the experience. It can be separated into three categories: amnesia, depersonalization (feeling detached from self), and derealization (detaching from your surroundings). Our perceptions change; we forget, zone out, and feel incapable of action. It’s an extreme involuntary coping strategy, a last-ditch effort for survival.
