Ideas of Dissociation in Martha Stout’s When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,”

1103 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A essay on dissociative identity disorder

Even though our bodies are in one place, our minds may be in another. In Martha Stout’s essay “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,” the author introduces us to the idea of dissociation. Dissociation is when one’s mind is away from the body and he or she does not know what is going on in the physical world. Those that have traumatic histories may experience this. But because of dissociation, victims may not know if they had a traumatic past because a memory of it never really formed. Stout also finds that individuals may use dissociation as a way to protect themselves from trauma. Sometimes the slightest and smallest piece of a traumatic memory may bring into play the dissociation. When these individuals experience dissociation and become their “flyaway selves,” they do not remember what happened to them in the time they were “away.” For example, whenever “Los Angeles” was mentioned to Julia, one of Stout’s patients, she would “flyaway” as a way to protect herself from remembering any of the traumatic experiences that happened to her when she lived in Los Angeles. But Julia did not remember going through any traumatic experiences in her history because the memory never really formed. When she would “flyaway,” Julia would blackout and not recall any of the things she had done in the days previous to her “waking up” again. Stout came to the conclusion that Julia was abused as a child and as a way to escape during the abuse, she would become dissociated with her surroundings and what was happening to her. To not remember one’s own past puts them on a very vulnerable and difficult trail; dissociation may seem a way to protect oneself, but at the same time it’s harmful.
If a patient were to not know their past and go into a ...

... middle of paper ...

...ike they are dying, but Julia had no clue anything was the matter with her. Being in a dissociative state could have hurt Julia more than protect her. One moment she could be well and the next in a hospital with no way of knowing how she got there. Even though she has tried to kill herself, she knew what was happening, she was in control. But when she was in a flyaway state, and she was dying, she wasn’t in control. Julia wants to take back the control on her life. If Stout’s patients cannot find a way to control their dissociation, they may see dangerous outcomes.
In conclusion, dissociation can leave those that have it vulnerable. The may be manipulated into thinking their past was something it really was not and the people they are surrounded by may become distant. Stout never finds a real cure, so her patients may have to live with not knowing their real pasts.

Show More
Related

  • The Weekend By Ann Beattie Analysis

    194 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Weekend,” George cheats on Lenore with Sarah, and she still chooses to stay with him and work out their issues. The story by Ann Beattie can relate to “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin because Edna cheats on Leonce with Robert and Alcee Arobin. After learning Edna cheats on him, Leonce decides to stay with Edna to work their relationship out. While nothing is wrong with their significant others, they cheat because something in them is unfulfilled. Lenore knows George cheats because he spends much of his time with the other women, but she never acknowledges it, until she talks with Julie one day; “she’s really the best friend I’ve ever had. We understand things—we don’t always have to talk about them. ‘Like her relationship with George,’

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Martha Sandweiss's 'Passing Strange'

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Emancipation of the once enslaved African American was the first stepping stone to the America that we know of today. Emancipation did not, however automatically equate to equality, as many will read from the awe-inspiring novel Passing Strange written by the talented Martha Sandweiss. The book gives us, at first glance, a seemingly tall tale of love, deception, and social importance that color played into the lives of all Americans post-emancipation. The ambiguity that King, the protagonist, so elegantly played into his daily life is unraveled, allowing a backstage view of the very paradox that was Charles King’s life.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Susanna Kaysen's Hierarchy Of Needs

    2021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Susanna’s actions prove that she is continually working towards recovering. Jim Watson visits Susanna, asking her to run away with him, however, Susanna denies his proposal and stays at the institution: “For ten seconds I imagined this other life...the whole thing...was hazy. The vinyl chairs, the security screens, the buzzing of the nursing-station door: Those things were clear. ‘I’m here now, Jim,’ I said. ‘I think I’ve got to stay here’” (Kaysen 27). Susanna wants to stay at McLean until she is ready to leave; her choice supports what Buddha said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting” (Buddha). Susanna finds reassurance from McClean as she undergoes her journey. Susanna sees the young nurses at the ward who remind her of the life she could be living: “They shared apartments and had boyfriends and talked about clothes. We wanted to protect them so that they could go on living these lives. They were our proxies” (Kaysen 91). Susanna chooses to take these reminders as a positive motivating force along her journey. However, Susanna is also surrounded by patients who have different, more severe psychoses. These girls do not hinder Susanna’s progression, but instead emphasize her

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Abigail Frazier's 'Dearly Disconnected'

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the passage of time continues inventions and traditions come and go, and with them the feelings and memories of those around them. Some of these people will let go willingly, because they had nothing special about them, and they are quickly forgotten. Others, however, hold significance to the societies of their time. In Dearly Disconnected, author Ian Frazier shows the more physical side of this, how old pay phones hold sentimental value to him, and probably to many others in the city. On the other hand,Defining a Doctor, with a Tear, a Shrug, and a Schedule by Abigail Zuger shows the difference between two doctors, one with modern values and one with traditional values, and how ideas and cultures are hard to let go. In both of the essays,

    Read More

  • Awake And Dreaming: A Literary Analysis

    1958 Words  | 4 Pages

    The long journey on planet earth known as life has it ups and downs, growing up as a young individual in today’s world is an obvious rollercoaster. The characters of Phoebe and Theo, are two young girls who endured completely different lives in the books The Hollow Tree, and Awake and Dreaming although they did encounter some similarities throughout their stories. The two children encountered similar family complications, utilised similar coping mechanisms to escape reality, and both became more assertive over their lifespans in the novels. These two novels offer young females readers a logical view on how tough life can get, and how the readers can overcome similar complications they have in their personal lives, while doing all this generating

    Read More

  • Martha Stout’s When I Woke up On Tuesday, It Was Friday

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...individuals to lose sense of time, to lose sense of whom one is, to emotionally detach, and to prolong disengagement from the world. Dissociation can cause people to feel like they are a passenger in their body rather than the driver. In other words, they truly believe they have no choice. Society needs to help and accept these people for whom they are and not look upon them as some sort of maniac. My perspective, at one point in time, was that dissociating was good, because it was a way to let people numb pain and get away. After reading Stout’s essay, I know now that there are many disadvantages to dissociating that people need to be made aware of before they harm anybody.

    Read More

  • Dissociative Identity Disorder in the Secret Window

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Barlow, Durand & Stewart (2012), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of several dissociative disorders in which a person experiences involve detachment or depersonalization. They go on to explain that people with DID ha...

    Read More

  • Recovered Memory Theory

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those who are in favor of retrieved memories state that these memories can be repressed and remain unattainable for years until an individual seeks therapy, where these memories can often be uncovered and trauma related to them can be treated (Freyd, 1994). On the other hand, some individuals have expressed concerns with the concept of repressed memories since, according to them, there is little scientific evidence that can support the theory (Patihis, Ho, Tingen, Lilienfeld & Loftus, 2014). In other words, cases where individuals experience traumatic events but often lack memories of these, often do not provide sufficient reliable evidence to make credible arguments. Memory research offers further insight into the controversial topic of “memory wars” by explaining if the notion of repressing memories and placing them into the unconscious is a feasible hypothesis. Furthermore, research presented in this brief will discuss the reliability and usefulness of using recovered memories as evidence in a court cases. Due to the controversial nature of recovered memories in judicial courts and scientific communities, it is important to consider research in the area to determine truthfulness in allegations involving recovered memories, as these have previously posed

    Read More

  • Recovered Memories versus False Memories: Is It Possible to Determine What Is Real?

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Repressed memories is a topic that has been an ongoing dispute among some, however ac...

    Read More

  • Exploring Dissociative Identity Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    When a person is being dissociative, it is thought that they are using it as a coping mechanism and that the person is dissociating him or herself from a violent, traumatic, painful or uncomfortable situation they do not want to be put in or be of conscious awareness of. Another statistic about dissociative identity disorder is that dissociative disorders were seen in 17.2% of a large inpatient group seeking treatment for substance abuse. (Tracy, 2016) There is no "cure" for dissociative identity disorder but there is long-term treatment that can help the side effects of DID, but like most treatments, it is only effective if the patient sticks with it.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Recovered Memories

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    Recovered memories of childhood trauma and abuse has become one of the most controversial issues within the field of psychology. Controversy surrounding repressed memory - sometimes referred to as the memory wars – reached its’ peak in the early 1990s, where there was a rise in the number of people reporting memories of childhood trauma and abuse that had allegedly been repressed for many years (Lindsay & Read, 2001). There are a number of different factors that have contributed to the dispute surrounding recovered memories. Firstly, there is an ongoing debate about whether these types of memories actually exist or whether these accusations arose as a result of suggestive therapeutic procedures. In particular, this debate focuses on two main

    Read More

  • Identity Immigder: The Causes Of Dissociative Identity Disorder

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dissociative identity disorder, a condition that has plagued and altered the minds of those who were diagnosed for many years, represents the condition in which an individual displays multiple personalities that overpower his or her behavior around others and even alone. Such personalities or identities can have staggering differences between them even being characterized by a disparate gender, race, or age. One of the sides of them can even be animal-like and display feral qualities. Also, the disorder severs the connection between the victim’s sense of identity, emotions, actions, and even memories from their own consciousness. The cause for this is known to be a very traumatic experience that the person had gone through previously and fails to cope with it, thus they dissociate themselves from the memory in order to keep their mental state in one piece. All these results from the disorder do not begin to tell of the rest of the horrors that gnaw away at the affected human.

    Read More

  • Dissociative Disorders

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    All of the disorders in the Dissociative Disorders category need to be distinguished from conditions which are due to a General Medical Condition or the use of a Substance. Moreover, Dissociative Amnesia is within the diagnostic criteria for Dissociative Fugue, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder and Somatization Disorder; hence, an additional diagnosis of Dissociate Amnesia is not given. Dissociative Amnesia must be differentiated from Age-Related Cognitive Decline and nonpathological forms of amnesia.

    Read More

  • Repressed Memories

    3889 Words  | 8 Pages

    Kowalski, M.(1998, December). Applying the "two schools of thought" doctrine to the repressed memory controversy. The Journal of Legal Medicine. Retrieved September 14, 2000 from Lexis-Nexis database (Academic Universe) on the World Wide Web: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe

    Read More

  • Dissociative Identity Disorder

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    My topic of choice for this research paper is Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. This appellation is rather new; therefore, most are more familiar with the disorder's older, less technical name: Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD. When first presented with the task of selecting a topic on which to center this paper, I immediately dismissed Dissociative Identity Disorder (which for the sake of brevity will be referred to as DID for the remainder of this paper) as a viable topic due to the sheer scope of the disorder. However after an exhaustive examination of other prospective topics, I found myself back at my original choice. There are several reasons why I chose DID. The foremost of which is the widespread fascination of this disorder by many different types of people; most of whom otherwise have no interest in psychology or its associated fields. One would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been captivated at one time or another by the extraordinary, all too well known symptoms of this disorder. This fascination… dare I say ‘allure’ to this disorder is exemplified by the myriad of motion pictures that have been produced based on cases, real or fictitious, of DID. Another reason for my choice is what I feel is the insufficiency of effective treatments for DID. Despite what is known about this disorder, (which is relatively a lot) there are only two chief treatments for DID; the first and most prevalent is psychotherapy; also known as ”talk therapy”, the second is medication. The third and final reason for my choice is my own enchantment with DID. I must admit that ever since I read about Sue Tinker, a woman who was diagnosed with over 200 different personalities. In writing this paper I hope to discover more about this disorder and perhaps be able to identify a few areas that I feel might require more research on the part of psychologists specializing in DID.

    Read More

More about Ideas of Dissociation in Martha Stout’s When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday,”

Open Document