Expository Writing 101: Section EA Professor Morrone

Dissociation is Normal

Dissociation is when an individual mentally spaces out in order to not remember or remove themselves from a situation. The dissociation can be triggered by anything at any point in time and is often related to a traumatic experience. Individuals who dissociate intensely usually do not know that they are dissociating, and many who do seek psychiatric help. Anyone can dissociate and in her essay “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It was Friday,” Martha Stout, a psychologist, speaks about her successful, ordinary, normal patients who dissociate due to traumatic experiences. Society perceives individuals who seek psychiatric assistance to be “abnormal,” but Stout challenges this concept by illustrating how her patients defy this generalization. Therapy is not just for “insane” individuals because Stout’s patients are intellectual individuals who carry through conventional lifestyles. Society labels individuals who acquire psychiatric help as irregular simply because the individuals seek the therapy. Seeking therapeutic help is the first step towards fixing personal problems that cannot be fought alone. Everyone has issues that are difficult to face on their own; in Stout’s patients’ cases, the issues are severe episodes of dissociation that hinder their everyday routines. One patient in particular, named Julia, is a successful producer of documentary films. As a child, Julia underwent child abuse and was skillfully able to remove herself from the horrific situations. The trauma Julia experienced as a child causes her to dissociate now as an adult yet, she carries her life as anyone else would. “I met her when I she was thirty-two, and an intellectual force to be reckoned with. A conversation with her reminds me of the New York Review of Books, except that she is funnier, and also a living breathing human being who wears amethyst jewelry to contrast with her electric auburn hair” (Stout 385). From the description given by Stout in her essay, Julia does not fit into the category that society has placed her in. She overrides the stereotypes and labels because she is not any different from what society perceives as “normal.” She is intelligent and successful; everything society wants her to be but for some reason she is perceived otherwise. Dissociation is an obstacle that Stout’s patients encounter on a day to day basis, and, unfortunately, classifies them in society to be “abnormal.” Society has a picture of what “normal” is supposed to be; but what makes one individual more “normal” than the next? While Stout’s patients are looked upon negatively as being strange because they dissociate; they are no different from a man who enjoys a film at a theatre. “This perfectly ordinary man is dissociated from reality. Effectively, he is in a trance. We might label his perceptions as psychotic, except for the fact that when the movie is over, he will return to his usual mental status almost instantly. He will see the credits. He will notice that he has spilled some popcorn, although he will not remember doing so” (Stout 388). Someone who society would categorize as a “normal man,” experiences an example of what Stout’s patients bear regularly. The film watcher is in no contrast with Julia, or any of Stout’s other patients; therefore, society has misinterpreted what is considered the norm. Although society identifies individuals who pursue therapy and or psychiatric assistance to be alien, the average individual, one who in perceived as “normal” in the eyes of society, cannot differentiate between themselves and one of Stout’s patients. If walking down a street it would be impossible to decipher who receives therapy and who does not. Dissociation is not something that can be seen. Julia carried about her life for three days under a dissociative episode and no one around her noticed a difference. Julia said, “I don’t understand any of it, but the thing I understand the least is that apparently I go about my business during these times, and nobody notices any difference in me. At least, no one ever says a thing. After the meeting this morning, I realized that on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I must have done a mountain of editing. There it was, all finished. I did a good job even. And I don’t remember a bloody thing” (392). Julia was not seen as altered within the duration of the dissociation because she herself did not know what was going on. She went about her daily routines as if nothing had changed. No one around her recognized that she was dissociated because her actions were so orthodox. What is not seen cannot be perceived; therefore, Julia was not perceived as deviating during her three day long dissociative state. Stout’s patients do not recognize when they are in the dissociative state; furthermore, on lookers perception of Stout’s patients is not obstructed. In society what is seen is real. If an individual is spotted walking into a therapeutic office, it is assumed that person is atypical; but if that same individual is seen walking into an office building of a successful company, it is assumed that person is stable and successful. People are deeper than what is seen on the surface and have the ability to do the same things as anyone else can. Stout says, “All human beings have the capacity to dissociate psychologically, though most of us are unaware of this, and consider “out of body” episodes to be far beyond the boundaries of our normal experience. In fact, dissociative experiences happen to everyone and most of these events are quite ordinary” (388). Due to dissociation being an occurrence that is not identified with ease, the majority of society does not recognize that we all in fact dissociate. Although Stout’s patients see themselves as being normal, society says otherwise. Society is quick to assign labels to peoples without giving that particular “group” of the benefit of the doubt. Since one cannot know what another individual is feeling it is unfair to categorize them without allowing the individual to voice their opinion and or perceptions. Stout says, “I believe that most of us cannot know what we would do, trapped in a situation that required such a seemingly no-win decision” (382). Stout’s patients are wrongfully perceived as “insane”, yet no one has bothered to put themselves in their position. Dissociation experienced at the caliber that Stout’s patients do, is normal to them. What society perceives as “normal,” and what Stout’s patients perceive as normal, is identical because Stout’s patients see themselves that way. Dissociative episodes are what they have been experiencing for most of their lives; therefore, it is what they see as the norm and society should not reprimand them for that. . Dissociation is not a taboo event, and therefore should not ostracize Stout’s patients from the norms of society. Dissociation is not an out of the ordinary event that only an array of people goes through. Patients like Julia commonly experience dissociation more severely because of the traumatic experiences they have been through. Dissociation happens to everyone whether or not the individual realizes it or not. “Sometimes dissociation can occur when we are simply confused or frustrated or nervous, whether we recognize it or not” (Stout 384). Why should someone who dissociates, and receives therapeutic assistance to confront their issues, be perceived in society as being different from someone who does not? Dissociation should not negatively categorize its victims, but rather serve as a common ground between people because all people dissociate. “We can go somewhere else. The part of consciousness that we nearly always conceive as the ‘self’ can not be there for a few moments, for a few hours, and in heinous circumstances, for much longer” (Stout 388). Everyone has moments where they go somewhere else in their own head to cope or protect themselves from a situation. Being distracted by something, mentally escaping into a film at a theatre, or getting lost in a day dream are all minuet examples of how ordinary, everyday individuals dissociate. Dissociation is not only limited to those who undergo it in severity, it does not discriminate against anyone so why should people discriminate again the people who are affected by it most? If we all dissociate why only single out those who look for help to stop it? Stout’s patients like Julia carry out their lives day to day just as any other person would. They are ordinary individuals like anyone else, only they have gone through traumatic experiences that cause them to dissociate more oppressively from everyone else. Society has painfully hindered the minds of its citizens because it forces them to generalize groups of people into categories. If everyone were to stop and take a gander at what every man had to exhibit, society would recognize that each person has something to offer besides what is seen at first glance. Stout expresses her patients in such a way that eliminates society’s negative perceptions, labels, and categories of them; making her patients no different from what society considers being “normal.” Individuals who pursue therapy due to dissociation are the same as everyone else in society because everyone dissociates.

Work Cited Stout, Martha. “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,” in The Myth of Sanity: Divided Consciousness and the Promise of Awareness. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.