Dissociation Treatment in Dubai
Dr Millia Begum is a Consultant Psychiatrist and trauma specialist in Dubai with extensive experience assessing and treating dissociation in the context of Complex PTSD, developmental trauma and other trauma-related difficulties.
She has particular experience differentiating dissociative symptoms from difficulties that may also occur in neurodivergence, including problems with attention, interoception, emotional overwhelm and shutdown.
Her stabilisation work may draw on Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT) to help people develop greater awareness of internal bodily experience. When trauma processing is appropriate, she may integrate somatically informed trauma approaches, including EMDR, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), depending on the individual presentation.
Written and medically reviewed by: Dr Millia Begum, Consultant Psychiatrist (MRCPsych, DHA Licensed)
What Is Dissociation?
Dissociation is an experience of disconnection from aspects of yourself or your surroundings. This may involve feeling detached from your emotions, thoughts, memories, body or the world around you.
Dissociation can occur during overwhelming stress or trauma as an automatic protective response. Rather than remaining fully connected to an experience that feels too intense, the mind and nervous system may reduce awareness of emotions, sensations or what is happening around you.
Some people describe dissociation as:
“I feel like I am being pulled out of my own body.”
“Nothing around me feels real.”
“It feels as though I am watching myself from the outside.”
Dissociation exists on a spectrum. Brief experiences can occur in everyday life, while more persistent or severe dissociation can significantly affect memory, identity, relationships and everyday functioning.
Few examples of dissociation are
- I feel like I am getting sucked out of my own body
- I feel like nothing around me is real and everything seems robotic.
- I am looking at myself from the outside, as if it is not my life
Why Does Dissociation Happen?
Dissociation can occur for different reasons. In trauma-related dissociation, it may develop when an experience becomes so overwhelming that the person cannot easily escape, change what is happening or remain fully connected to the experience.
When the brain and nervous system detect overwhelming threat, pain or helplessness, protective responses can occur automatically. For some people, this may involve becoming emotionally numb, mentally foggy, detached from the body or less aware of what is happening around them.
This can be understood as a survival response rather than something the person is consciously choosing to do. Experiences of being trapped, powerless or unable to escape may make dissociative responses particularly likely.
Over time, similar responses may sometimes be triggered by situations, emotions, sensations or relationships that remind the nervous system of earlier overwhelming experiences, even when the original danger is no longer present.
Dissociation can occur in people who have experienced prolonged childhood, developmental or relational trauma, including Complex PTSD.
What Are the Symptoms of Dissociation?
Dissociation can range from subtle experiences of disconnection to more pronounced changes in awareness, memory or sense of self. Symptoms can vary considerably between people.
Common experiences may include:
Feeling spaced out, foggy, blank or “not fully present”
Difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly
Forgetfulness or gaps in memory
Emotional numbness or feeling shut down
Feeling disconnected from your body
Feeling as though you are observing yourself from outside
Feeling that your surroundings are unreal, distant or dreamlike
Losing track of time
Feeling as though you are functioning on “autopilot”
Changes in sensory experience, such as sounds seeming distant or muffled
Experiences of different identity states in more complex forms of dissociation
Some of these experiences can also occur with anxiety, panic, depression, ADHD, sleep difficulties, medication effects or physical health conditions. A clinical assessment can help clarify whether the symptoms are related to dissociation or another cause.
Mr X stops driving because each time he feels anxious about getting hit by a car. He starts to feel dizzy (a dissociative symptom), which gives him a sense of loss of control over his body. This then triggers a panic attack. In response, a fogginess (dissociative symptom) develops, which escalates the panic attacks further. This cycle becomes endless.
What is DPDR? Learn about depersonalization, derealization, panic, trauma-related dissociation, causes and treatment approaches from Dr Millia Begum in Dubai.
Book an Appointment
Book a consultation with Dr Millia Begum at First Psychiatry Clinic, Dubai.
Book at First Psychiatry ClinicHow Do Different Therapies Understand Dissociation?
Different trauma therapies use different frameworks to understand dissociation. These models are not necessarily competing explanations; rather, they provide different ways of understanding and working therapeutically with experiences of disconnection.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS) understands dissociation through the language of protective parts. A protective part may distance a person from emotions, memories or bodily experiences that feel overwhelming.
Rather than trying to eliminate the dissociation, IFS explores what the protective response may be trying to prevent or protect the person from. As greater internal safety develops, these protective responses may no longer need to work as intensely.
Read more here- IFS Therapy
EMDR Therapy
In EMDR therapy, dissociation may be understood in relation to traumatic experiences that have not been fully processed or integrated.
Significant dissociation can also interfere with a person’s ability to remain sufficiently present during trauma processing. Assessment, preparation, pacing and appropriate modification of EMDR may therefore be particularly important when working with more complex dissociation.
When dissociation is present, EMDR therapy for trauma may need careful pacing, assessment and adaptation rather than immediately processing highly activating memories.
Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)
When dissociation is linked to unresolved shock or early trauma responses, DBR therapy may be considered as part of a broader trauma treatment plan.
Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) approaches traumatic experience by working with early responses to threat, including orienting, shock and subsequent emotional and defensive responses while helping the person remain sufficiently oriented to the present.
If you are looking for a CPTSD specialist in Dubai, please contact Dr Millia Begum at the First Psychiatry Clinic, Dubai.
Dr Millia Explains Dissociation of Trauma in this Video
Although these models use different languages, they share a common understanding: dissociation is usually a protective adaptation in the face of overwhelming stress. Therapy, therefore, focuses on helping the nervous system regain stability and safely process underlying experiences.
Does Dissociation Come From the Brain’s Chemicals?
Dissociation cannot currently be explained by a single brain chemical or neurotransmitter. Research suggests that trauma-related dissociation involves several interacting brain and nervous-system processes involved in threat, stress, pain and emotional regulation.
Research has explored the possible involvement of the brain’s endogenous opioid system and endocannabinoid system, including naturally occurring endocannabinoids such as anandamide (AEA) and 2-AG. These systems are involved in regulating stress responses, fear, pain and emotional processing and may contribute to some aspects of dissociative or shutdown responses following overwhelming stress.
However, the neurobiology of dissociation remains an evolving area of research. These mechanisms should therefore be understood as possible contributors rather than a complete explanation for why an individual experiences dissociation.
Read also about Dissociative subtype of PTSD– a concept developed by Dr Lanius and her team.
To work with a therapist specializing in PTSD in and around the Jumeriah area, contact Dr Millia Begum at the First Psychiatry Clinic.
Dissociation Self-Check
Dissociation is the mind and body’s way of protecting you from overwhelm. This reflection explores whether you may be experiencing dissociative patterns.
1. I feel disconnected from myself, my body, or my surroundings.
2. I feel “spaced out,” foggy, or not fully present.
3. I lose track of time or feel like time has passed without me noticing.
4. I feel emotionally numb or detached, even in situations that should feel meaningful.
5. When I feel overwhelmed, my mind seems to “shut down” or go blank.
6. I feel like I am watching myself from the outside or not fully “in” my body.
7. My attention suddenly narrows or disappears when I feel stressed or unsafe.
8. I find it difficult to stay connected to my internal experience (thoughts, feelings, body sensations).
9. These experiences tend to happen when I feel overwhelmed, stressed, or emotionally triggered.
10. I feel like part of me “switches off” to protect me from difficult experiences.
Reflecting on Your Answers
This self-check is intended to help you notice patterns in your experience rather than determine whether you have a dissociative disorder.
If you recognise several of these experiences—particularly if they occur frequently, involve memory gaps or loss of time, or interfere with relationships, work or everyday life—a professional assessment may help clarify what is happening.
Dissociative experiences can occur alongside trauma-related conditions but can also overlap with anxiety, depression, ADHD, sleep difficulties and other psychiatric or medical conditions.
This is a self-reflection tool and not a diagnostic test.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dissociation
What is dissociation?
Dissociation describes an internal experience of feeling disconnected from emotions, thoughts, bodily sensations, sense of self, self-location or surroundings.
The intensity can range from brief experiences to more persistent symptoms, particularly in association with complex trauma and other mental health difficulties.
What does dissociation feel like?
People describe dissociation in different ways. It may feel like being detached, unreal, spaced out, numb, emotionally distant or without an internal anchor.
Some people describe feeling as though they are observing themselves from outside their body or viewing the world from behind a pane of glass.
What do we mean by emotionally shutting down?
When someone says they feel emotionally shut down, they may feel slowed down, withdrawn, disconnected or less able to respond to what is happening internally or around them.
This can happen when a person feels overwhelmed, although the experience varies between individuals.
Why does dissociation happen?
Dissociation can happen for many reasons, including overwhelming stress, unresolved trauma, severe anxiety or panic, extreme sleep deprivation, substance use or some physical or neurological conditions.
Persistent symptoms may therefore need a broader clinical assessment rather than automatically being assumed to be trauma-related.
Can dissociation happen after trauma?
Yes. Some people experience dissociation during or after traumatic events.
During trauma, this may occur as peritraumatic dissociation, where a person feels disconnected from their emotions, body or surroundings during an overwhelming experience. For some this settles, while for others it may persist.
You can read more about complex trauma and Complex PTSD.
Does dissociation go away?
Dissociation can improve significantly.
People can gradually become more aware of when disconnection is happening and develop a greater capacity to remain connected with bodily and emotional experience without becoming overwhelmed.
How can I stop feeling dissociated?
Increasing present-moment awareness can be helpful, but this usually needs to be gradual.
For some people, fully returning to the present may itself feel overwhelming, so therapy may focus on developing the ability to move towards present awareness safely, moment by moment.
You can also explore the different trauma therapy approaches available in Dubai.
Is dissociation the same as psychosis?
No. Dissociation and psychosis are different experiences.
In many dissociative experiences, reality testing remains broadly intact, whereas psychosis involves a more significant alteration in how reality is perceived or interpreted.
What is the difference between dissociation, depersonalisation and derealisation?
Dissociation is the broader term.
Depersonalisation refers to feeling detached from yourself or your body, while derealisation refers to feeling that the outside world seems unreal, dreamlike, distant or unfamiliar.
You can read more about depersonalisation and derealisation.
When should I seek an assessment for dissociation?
An assessment may be helpful if dissociation is persistent, prolonged, distressing, affects work or relationships, involves memory gaps, or occurs alongside panic, depression, trauma symptoms or significant difficulty functioning.
A clinical assessment can also help clarify whether another psychiatric or physical condition may be contributing.