How Anxiety and Dissociation Are Connected — And What You Can Do About It

When Anxiety Feels Overwhelming

During moments of intense anxiety, the world can feel frightening, distorted, or completely surreal. These experiences don’t mean you’re “going crazy.” Instead, they’re often your brain’s way of protecting itself from what feels emotionally overwhelming.

One common response to anxiety that’s often misunderstood is dissociation—a mental process where you feel disconnected from your thoughts, body, or surroundings. It can feel like you're watching your life from outside yourself or that the world isn’t real.

Dissociation and Anxiety Symptoms: What’s the Link?

While dissociation is commonly associated with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it frequently appears in people struggling with anxiety disorders, especially when there is a history of early trauma or chronic stress.

People experiencing dissociation from anxiety may report:

• Feeling emotionally numb

• Blanking out or losing time

• Experiencing their body or the world as unreal

• Difficulty recalling memories or staying present

Though dissociation may have once helped you cope, it often becomes maladaptive, interfering with your ability to function, maintain relationships, or heal from trauma.

Depersonalization and Panic Attacks

A particularly frightening form of dissociation is depersonalization, where individuals feel disconnected from their body or sense of self. This often occurs during or after a panic attack. According to research, nearly 50% of individuals with panic disorder experience symptoms of depersonalization or derealization, particularly those with unresolved trauma.

The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) lists depersonalization and derealization among the key symptoms of panic attacks. Other signs include:

• Heart palpitations or rapid heartbeat

• Difficulty breathing

• Sweating or shaking

• Dizziness or feeling faint

• Fear of losing control or dying

• Numbness or tingling

• Chills or hot flashes

  
  

These symptoms can create a sense of physical and emotional detachment that can be terrifying in the moment.

The Vicious Cycle: Anxiety and Dissociation

One of the most challenging aspects of dissociation is the feedback loop it can create with anxiety. Here’s how it works:

1. Intense anxiety triggers dissociation as a protective mechanism.

2. The dissociation itself feels scary, unfamiliar, or confusing.

3. That fear creates more anxiety, which increases the likelihood of further dissociation.

Over time, this loop can lead to avoidance behaviors, obsessive thoughts about mental health, and emotional shutdown. Activities like socializing, going to crowded places, or engaging in trauma therapy can become sources of fear and reactivity.

Breaking this cycle requires intentional therapeutic support, often involving trauma-responsive care, somatic awareness, and grounded coping strategies.

CBT and ACT for Anxiety and Dissociation

Both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are effective in treating dissociation related to anxiety.

• CBT for dissociation helps clients identify unhelpful thinking patterns that contribute to disconnection and fear. It teaches grounding techniques to re-engage with the present.

• ACT therapy for trauma and anxiety focuses on increasing psychological flexibility. Clients learn to observe their internal experiences without judgment and shift their relationship with distressing symptoms.

  
  

These approaches reduce the fear of dissociation, enabling clients to reengage with life more fully.

Grounding and Mindfulness for Dissociation

Mindfulness-based interventions are essential tools for managing dissociation. By gently reorienting the mind and body to the present, mindfulness practices reduce the impact of overwhelming emotions and body-based anxiety.

Effective grounding and mindfulness techniques include:

• Focused breathing

• Body scans

• Sensory tracking (e.g., naming 5 things you see, 4 things you can touch, etc.)

• Movement-based grounding (e.g., stretching, walking)

  
  

Practicing mindfulness regularly helps rewire the nervous system to feel safer in the present, which can lessen the frequency and intensity of dissociative episodes.

How We Can Help

At Woven Wholeness, Zach uses an integrative approach combining CBT, ACT, and mindfulness-based techniques to support clients navigating anxiety and dissociation. Sessions often include:

• Psychoeducation on trauma and the nervous system

• Breathwork and body-based grounding

• Cognitive reframing and exposure therapy

• Supportive exploration of trauma histories

• Relational attunement and nervous system regulation

  
  

Therapy isn’t about eliminating dissociation overnight. It’s about building a new, more compassionate relationship with your body and internal experiences.

I also support clients in exploring broader lifestyle changes that promote nervous system health—nutrition, sleep, movement, and social connection—as these have a significant impact on recovery.

If you’ve been struggling with anxiety, panic, or dissociation, know this: you are not broken. These symptoms are adaptive responses to overwhelming life experiences.

Your brain is doing what it believes it must to keep you safe.

But healing is possible. With the right tools, support, and compassion, you can reduce your symptoms, reconnect with your body, and feel safe in your own mind again.

Therapy is a powerful space to start this process.