There is a silence that passes through the new generations and makes no noise: it is that of dissociation. A delicate, often invisible condition, which today strongly enters public debate. It is really interesting the contribution published by AdnKronos because it manages to clearly explain a complex psychological response, connecting it to the daily life of the boys and to the social contexts that surround them.
In the piece we read that dissociation is “a momentary disconnection between thoughts, emotions, body or surroundings”, a process that “is nothing but a way in which the brain protects itself from stress or emotions that judges excessive.”.
An effective definition that presents it as a defence strategy. AdnKronos describes it as a “brain safety switch” that is activated when emotional habits become too intense.
It affects the data reported: According to studies cited by the British newspaper Independent, this condition would cover “between 7 and 11% of high school students”, making it as widespread as anxiety disorders. A number that invites us to reflect, especially if we consider that many light forms “can go unnoticed”.
The growth of dissociative processes among young people tells much not only about individual psychology, but about the social structure in which teenagers are immersed. We live in an era of “liquid modernity”, as defined by the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman: a condition in which social relations, identities and reference points are no longer stable and solid, but fluid and in constant transformation. In this scenario, the construction of youth identity compares with uncertainty and instability, exposing children to new forms of disorientation and discomfort just as they try to orientate in the world.
According to this perspective, digital technology and media, although they offer connectivity and relationship opportunities, can at the same time fragment social experience and decrease the sense of belonging to stable communities, transforming interaction into a series of rapid and superficial signals. The continuous exposure to violent images, distressing content, episodes of cyberbullying and social pressure becomes a daily reality for many boys, and as AdnKronos recalls, also “the vision of violent videos or episodes of online abuse” can activate automatic detachment responses.
Emile Durkheim, one of the founding fathers of sociology, had already observed how modernization and fragmentation of social bonds could lead to anomy conditions – a state of normlessness (absence of norms) in which individuals feel disconnected from traditional social rules and networks. Although Durkheim spoke of suicide and social integration, his concept remains useful in understanding how the loss of shared sense structures can affect mental health and the sense of identity of young people.
Dissociation thus becomes an adaptive dynamic to a perceived situation as excessive: a temporary distance that the body and mind adopt when there are no safe spaces to process fears, frustrations or failures. It is important to read this phenomenon as a social signal: Young people react so because the social environment in which they grow often does not offer stable and shared tools to support their emotional balance.
It becomes, therefore, part of a broader framework in which collective structures – from family relations to local communities, from educational practices to digital media – do not always provide firm points of reference, nor integrated support networks. To address this scenario effectively, it is necessary to consider the social conditions that produce it and work on multiple levels: strengthen social links, promote spaces for dialogue and communities, and rethink how society supports the evolutionary transitions of young people in modernity.
Contrasting the phenomenon does not mean “spegnere” dissociation, but reduce the conditions that make it necessary. AdnKronos suggests simple but fundamental gestures: “maintain calm and offer a form of physical presence”, stimulate the senses, breathe slowly, walk. At a collective level, emotional education is needed in schools, digital literacy, authentic family listening and greater accessibility to psychological services. Normalizing the request for help is first of all a cultural choice.
AdnKronos’ analysis has the merit of lighting a light on this submerged dimension. He is now at the social system – adults, institutions, media – learning not to look away and offer a real closeness.
L’articolo Disconnects from the world: dissociation as a silent language of youth discomfort proviene da IlNewyorkese.
