Women feels so bad after talking about her childhood in therapy, she cannot drive.

After talking about my childhood in therapy, I feel so lost in my head. Things are so fuzzy, that it's not safe to drive. I do grounding but what is actually happening? Is it dissociation? Question on Quora Answered by Jean Collins, Ph.D. Psychology University of Calgary(1974) "It's called derealization and it is a type of dissociation which makes you and the world around you seem unreal. It's a way your brain tries to protect you from overwhelming stress. In this type of dissociation, you become disconnected from your body. This is how we survived unbearable abuse as children. When we couldn't escape physically, we learned to escape mentally, by leaving our body and going elsewhere. So when you are talking about your childhood in therapy, you get triggered and slip back into this old coping mechanism. It will help to dissipate it if you actively try to get back in touch with your body. So focus on bodily sensations, like the feeling of your clothes on your skin, the feelings of pressure from sitting or standing, the feeling of wind or rain on your skin, etc. If necessary, try patting yourself, or scratching yourself or digging your nails into your palms or scrunching up your toes in your shoes or anything which will give you a mild sensation of pain(emphasis on MILD-don't do anything which will be harmful). For the long haul, if this happens to you often, the I recommend taking up yoga, particularly mindful yoga which focuses on awareness of each body sensation, posture, stretching, etc. This will help you get back into and stay in touch with your body again. It will help you feel more in control."