STF

Counsellor's Office - Thus things continue to unfold

Posted May 15, 2021, 8:15 a.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) (Lindsay B)

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Counsellor’s Office - Thus things continue to unfold

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Janna Kingston (CNS) in Counsellor’s Office - Thus things continue to unfold

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Counsellor’s Office - Thus things continue to unfold
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Janna nodded slowly. “It can feel a lot of different ways, and it appears differently for each person, but there’s a name for it. We call it dissociation. It happens when our bodies get so overwhelmed with emotions we’re not able or ready to process in that moment, so the brain does what we can liken to pulling a rip cord on a parachute. It’s an escape and a way of coping in the moment. Our brains want to protect us from big bad scary things, and when we experience trauma, often our own emotions become associated with those big bad scary things. It’s a completely understandable reaction but it’s also one that isn’t helpful to us in the long run, because it separates us from parts of our life that might otherwise be moments of growth for us. Does that makes sense?” she asked, watching Viyara carefully.

~Janna Kingston, CNS

Viyara listened carefully, trying to understand what Janna was saying, while the frown on her face deepened. “I think so,” she replied hesitantly. “But it sounds more like one would feel nothing? But I did feel something, didn’t I?” She was feeling confused. In a way it made sense. Even if she had always tried to pretend it wasn’t there, there had been trauma in her life. A lot actually. So it made sense for her body and brain to try to protect themselves. But why now?

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

“The exact way dissociation shows up for is very individual. Some feel a tingling in their feet and feet, a ringing in the ears, a sense of being outside of our body and observing our own actions, feeling disconnected in general to the world around us, loss of memory and or a sense that things are happening and we can’t account for them, numbness… the list can go on and be a multitude of things and it might not always look and feel the same, though in general our particular set of coping mechanisms will reappear when we are triggered in some way.” Janna was watching carefully to see if there were any signs of outwards recognition to the basic list she had given. It wasn’t exclusive but this is where a framework for describing something could help a person identify what they did and didn’t feel.

~Janna Kingston

Viyara listened closely and for the most part without showing any reaction to what Janna was saying. But there were a few things that did sound familiar and made her look a little surprised. The numbness at times of course. But also memory loss and feeling she was watching herself from outside her own body. The latter two hadn’t happened in many years, at least as far as she knew. But she remembered those moments of watching herself; sometimes as if she was standing next to herself, sometimes as if she was flying above her body and looked down. Looking at Janna, she asked uncertainly, “What does that mean? For me? For my career? For everything?”

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Janna as reassuring a smile as she could. “For you it means that you are gaining knowledge and understanding about what’s happening to you and we’re going to slowly work on the why. For your career it only means that as we give you tools, ones that will hopefully help you cope better, you will actually be even better at your job. By learning to stay inside your body in moments of deep discomfort, you’ll train your body and mind to see that not all discomfort is bad and that some wonderful moments can come from the growth that accompanies it. This might not be today, or tomorrow, but together we’re going to take small steps together.” Janna leaned forward more. “Viyara, you’re in my office because a part of you knew that you had hit a tipping point and you could no longer carry on as you have been. The who and why we can talk about, but you made the conscious decision to talk to me. So what positive thing do you think that says about you?”

~Janna Kingston


Posts on USS Athena

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9