Client: Can you describe what disturbances in sense of self might look or feel like? For some reason this resonates with me and I believe it may be what I experienced from a very young age.
Cedric: Sure, so disturbances in the sense of self can be multifaceted, for example:
- The sense that I don’t know what I want
- I have no opinions or feel like I only have a vert tentative grasp on my opinions and desires.
- What I want doesn’t matter,
- I lack agency and control over my life
- I don’t feel good about myself
- I don’t feel like I can separate myself from others even when that is the right thing to do
- I can’t make my own decisions
Also dissociation is a disturbance of the sense of self as there are parts of the self that aren’t communicating with each other. Another type of disturbance in the sense of self is just a sense of inner-void (a fugue state, a dissociative state).
If these are issues for you look at this course on developing the Healthy Adult, which starts this Monday 12th December: