while it can show up in those with complex dissociative disorders, it’s not exclusive to them. this often stems from growing up in environments where caregivers reacted unpredictably—overreacting or underreacting—and punishing children for responding emotionally.

when you grow up constantly adjusting to someone else's emotional extremes, you lose your own internal compass for gauging reactions. trauma survivors often develop a sense of "self-alienation," where their natural instincts and responses feel disconnected. pete walker in Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving describes this as a symptom of emotional flashbacks from cptsd, where current emotions and reactions are tangled up with unresolved childhood trauma.

boon and colleagues in Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation emphasize the importance of learning to reflect on your emotions and experiences as part of the healing process, and this helps you to rebuild that lost internal gauge. over time, therapy and grounding techniques can help you relearn how to navigate your responses in a way that feels authentic, balanced, and something you can trust instead of second guessing.

so yeah, it’s a trauma-related issue that can be amplified in complex dissociative experiences, but in general it's tied to unpredictable and unsafe environments many survivors grow up in