What’s the Difference Between Dissociation and Emotional Overwhelm?

Dissociation and emotional overwhelm are separate experiences, but because they often occur together, the differences between them can become blurred.

Emotional overwhelm occurs when emotions feel as though they are becoming more than a person can tolerate. A person experiencing emotional overwhelm may feel flooded by intense emotions, while a person experiencing dissociation may feel detached, numb, or disconnected.

Dissociation is one way the nervous system attempts to protect itself from emotional overwhelm. It does so by disconnecting aspects of the overwhelming experience into smaller components. For instance, a person might have the experience of feeling like they are observing rather than experiencing the traumatic or overwhelming event.

Both emotional overwhelm and dissociation can occur independent of the other. Dissociation can follow emotional overwhelm and can also occur on its own. Examples of this include:

• Feeling detached during a routine conversation.
• Feeling emotionally numb upon waking up.
• Noticing numbness, distance, or a sense that your body doesn’t quite feel like yours while working.

Both dissociation and emotional overwhelm are common experiences for trauma survivors.

This page is part of the What Is Dissociation? section of the CommuniDID site, which explains how dissociation works and why it develops.

Explore related topics:

• Questions about dissociation
• Why Can Trauma Survivors Feel Disconnected from Their Own Experiences?
• How to Recognize When You’re Dissociating
• What Else Could It Be If It’s Not Dissociation?

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