In psychiatry:
“Dissociation is a disconnection between a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions or sense of who he or she is. This is a normal process that everyone has experienced. Examples of mild, common dissociation include daydreaming, highway hypnosis or “getting lost” in a book or movie, all of which involve “losing touch” with awareness of one’s immediate surroundings.”
- The Sidran Institute’s definition of dissociation
“Dissociation is a natural response to overwhelming experiences and sensations. Dissociation is a way our mind protects itself from complete overwhelm.”
“There is a small group of people who dissociate a lot, usually due to extreme distress and trauma. They can develop separate self-states or parts, which we are calling dissociative identities.”
- International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, Supporting a Person Who Lives with Dissociative Identities
“The phenomena of pathological dissociation are recurrent, jarring, involuntary intrusions into executive functioning and sense of self.”
– Paul F. Dell, PHD.
See also: Dissociative Identities