Extreme sleepiness during challenging moment?

[storyworld]

Hello, all,

I would love to hear your experiences with this, if you have any. Do you ever have, when in a challenging or painful moment/circumstance, where you feel so sleepy, you struggle to keep your eyes open? Like, where you are sitting with and talking with others (so, not a time when you should doze off!)

[Kizzie]

Definitely, it's one way of "going away" when a situation feels scary or painful.

[Moondance]

Yes I do as well.  I appreciate you mentioning it as I am new and learning about all the systems - would this be considered I symptom?

[storyworld]

Moondance, I'm new also and have no idea! H

[Kizzie]

It may be a form of dissociation although I can't say for sure. I know when I would get into some tough issues in past therapy I would often start to yawn and want to go for a nap.   

OK I looked it up and according to this site sleepiness can be a symptom of dissociation - https://harleytherapy.com/blog/posts/dissociation-symptoms-sound-familiar. 

[Moondance]

Thank you Kizzie for taking the time to look up this info and providing the link.

I very much appreciate all that you do.

[Kizzie]

No worries, I like doing  it. It's my background in education - always wanting to know that is lol.   

[Bermuda]

I don't have first hand experience with this but my husband does. It used to frustrate me so much, and then he explained it to me almost exactly how you described it. He does not have a trauma background at all. I don't know if that helps, but you're not alone.

[Kizzie]

That's interesting Bermuda, does he have any idea why it happens?

[Bermuda]

He says that it feels to him as if it draws too much energy to try focus on what's happening so his body feels like it's trying to save power but shutting off.

[storyworld]

Thanks, Kizzie, and all.

[Armee]

Yes. It's actually my most powerful form of dissociation and happens when i try to power through something very challenging and ignore the more subtle forms of dissociation. Usually when I am confessing something in writing to T, or when I tried to tell my H about my SA. I just pass out even if I'm sitting up.

[storyworld]

Armee,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with me! It's helpful to read how others experience trauma-related things.

[Armee]

It happeend again just yesterday evening. Trying to send something in writing to T related to SA. Keep going. You're not crazy. This is just how we survived trauma. Unlearning automatic patterns of survival is hard work, lots of repetitions in the mental gym.

[storyworld]

I'm so sorry for the pain that caused you to develop this coping mechanism. I'm grateful our brains are so great at helping us survive hard things. I admire your courage and strength to keep trying to share with your therapist. And I'm grateful to hear your experiences as I find that helpful and encouraging.