Dissociation is an involuntary human response to stress or trauma that causes the conscious mind to withdraw and turn inward Stages( end of session) Compassion Meditation | Meditation Mind

Ten Stages( end of session) Compassion Meditation | Meditation Mind

What children — or, for that matter, adults — generally do when exposed to physical violence or other trauma they can’t flee from or prevent: They “dissociate.”

Dissociation is an involuntary human response to stress or trauma that causes the conscious mind to withdraw and turn inward, reducing incoming stimuli and mitigating the effects of overwhelming emotion. The feeling is one of being present but not consciously aware of oneself or one’s surroundings and is characterised by memory loss and a sense of disconnection. For victims of trauma, experts say, dissociation is often lifesaving.

But when the dissociative response is called on repeatedly, especially in early childhood, the defence can become fixed and ingrained, disrupting normal functioning and undermining emotional and physical well-being. The most common cause is child maltreatment — physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

Gazing into a mirror, what is it that you see?

Gazing into a mirror, what is it that you see? You see a reflection of the person others see when they look at you. If the mirror should shatter you would then see not just one, but many reflections of yourself in the fragments.

Our Orphaned Adult

Our Orphaned Adult

Everyone knows their parents are going to die one day, but many people are bewildered by their degree of loss.

They’re the forgotten grievers, the lucky ones whose parents had a good innings, the people who after a few months or even weeks are expected to dust themselves down, put their pain behind them and get back to a normal, happy life.

Midlife orphans, orphaned adults — there’s no established term for them, yet losing your parents is one of adult life’s most significant rites of passage. And while society recognises the loss that children feel when their parents die, adults are supposed to be fundamentally different, quickly dealing with the grief of losing the people that raised them from the cradle.

If only it were that simple. Psychologists warn that the impact of losing your parents goes way beyond organising the funeral and sorting out the will. It might be the natural order of things that parents die before their children, but the sheer inevitability is no cushion to the pain, soul-searching and sheer feeling of rudderlessness that so often follows.