My post on ‘The Path to Subspace‘ generated a number of interesting comments. One common factor that came through in them was the problem of definition. How do I know the experience I describe as subspace is similar to that experienced by others? The same could be said of any mental state, but at least life provides us with many common references points to calibrate our understanding of happiness, anger, pain, etc. Subspace is far more complex, with no common path to it and no simple reference markers.
Alex commented that a therapist had attributed subspace to dissociation. At first glance that seems logical. Dissociation can be induced by stress and is described as a detachment from reality. Subspace is reached by stressful BDSM play, and often described as ‘floating away’ or ‘zoning out’, so that seems to fit. Yet, when I read the kind of questions they use to test for dissociation, the match seems less clear. And in fact, when I look back on my own descriptions of subspace, I’m not sure I’ve done a good job of capturing the sensation.
Dissociation is described as detachment from reality, where subspace to me often feels like reality has detached from me. That might seem like silly wordplay, but I think there’s an important difference. In subspace all that matters is the domme, me and the dynamic between us. The surroundings falls away. It’s not that I’m detached, or absent from my body, but that everything in our little bubble seems hyper-real. The domme fills my world with her presence and the sensations of our play. The pain, the smells, the touch, the intimacy and the intensity. It overwhelms me, and turns everything outside our space into an afterthought. It’s not the volume on the world being dialed down, but the volume on the two of us being dialed way way up.
If you’re interested in reading more about the post title then this is worth checking out.
“Dissociation is described as detachment from reality, where subspace to me often feels like reality has detached from me.”
I think that’s very well said and corresponds to my experience. Regarding the last several posts, I’m more of a “brain” sub than a “physical sensation” one, although the physical pain, etc. ties into the mental. I experience subspace very much as you wrote it, and it’s generally a positive feeling — even when it’s not.
Over the last few years I’ve dabbled a bit — off and on and quite modestly — in financial domination. That’s a very psychologically invasive fetish — it’s all mental — and the first time I played to a higher degree than normal I felt what you described as disassociation, and the feeling lasted, to diminishing degrees, for a couple of days. Days later, when I described it, the domme basically said that’s what it was — the brain detaching because it was going into protection mode. I can’t say it was pleasant experience but it was intense.
That’s fascinating. So would you say you’ve experienced two very distinct mental states: Subspace from more traditional play and disassociation (as classically understood) from financial domination? I think that was what you were suggesting, but just wanted to clarify 🙂
-paltego
It’s weird, but that is what I’m saying. And the disassociation really happened this one specific time. It felt qualitatively different than other experiences, whether real time or cyber.
I don’t want to bore those who have no interests in hypno-fetish. But since it’s my thing, it’s hard to resist to say a word of two about it.
Psychologist Milton Erickson describes trance as “the highly focused attention being directed on one experience at a time.”
“To become immersed in the activity and go into a trance state, removed from any other irrelevant stimuli.”
I think for an academic definition, what you described is a trance state.
You selectively focus attention on certain things and pay less attention to everything else.
What you focus on becomes more vivid than usual.
I know, not the Hollywood definition of trance.
Thanks. That’s interesting. It does seem to fit the description of subspace I gave, with the subject of the focus becoming more vivid and everything else fading out. Also seems similar to the pschological concept of ‘flow’. Although I suspect there’s also an overlay of endorphins and brain chemicals that also play a role in subspace and aren’t necessarily present in trance.
-paltego