Dissociation & Depersonalization: Why the Brain Switches “Off”

There is a state where you have a constant sense of “not being present,” where the body feels not yours and even the heart feels “as if it isn’t yours.” This is what the method calls mild dissociation. The key is not to panic at the sensation itself, but to look at where it grows from.

Why the brain “switches off”

Switching off is not a breakdown — it is a mechanism. In working with severe states, the doctor himself deliberately uses “techniques to switch off for a while,” to keep clarity and remove fear and excess emotion. So the ability to step away from affect is a working tool of the psyche. The trouble begins when this switching-off stops being controllable and turns on by itself, without your consent.

What usually lies behind mild dissociation

By the logic of the method, a constant sense of unreality is a signal, not a diagnosis in itself. Behind it there is usually a background: asthenia, exhaustion, overload. When your resource is at its limit, the psyche “dims” perception so you don’t burn out completely. So the first step is not to fight the symptom, but to find the cause.

“We need to look at where these mild dissociations come from — maybe some asthenia, or you’re overtired, or something of that kind — this can be fixed, and everything’s fine.”

When you need a specialist

If the sense of “not being present” is constant, if the “heart feels as if it isn’t yours” and it stays all the time — that is a reason to see a psychiatrist, to look at exactly what is driving it. It is important to separate the mild, fixable form from states where the brain is working “at its limit”: in such cases, any techniques that “rev up” perception don’t help and may push you deeper.

Why techniques aren’t always the way out

The method warns: what helps one person worsens another. Autosuggestion and inner training “work uniquely well” with anxiety on a normal background — but “if heavy thoughts are already running,” if there is production, they can even harm. The same goes for any external “revving” influences: if you don’t touch the foundation and the cause, everything “goes back.”

“If heavy thoughts are already running… then autogenic training and hypnosis only make it worse.”

Practice: a sober re-check of the sensation

The method suggests not trusting the sensation blindly, but checking it “with a sober head,” as in the classical Swiss school:

1. Caught the “not-present” feeling — don’t panic; acknowledge: right now the psyche has dimmed perception.
2. Write down on paper exactly what you feel and when it switches on (fatigue, overload, specific situations).
3. Put the note aside, go for a walk, rest — let the background recover.
4. Come back and reread it “with a sober head”: is this a sign of exhaustion — or a reason to see a specialist?
5. If the state is constant and doesn’t pass with rest — don’t “rev” yourself with techniques; see a psychiatrist.