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johnxinxscruz -> RE: Question about "sub space" (4/3/2006 11:25:29 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Littlepita
I have been wondering a lot about subspace myself. I don't understand how pain gets you there. Like today we were playing with the floggers and the crop and I find for myself pain puts me right in the heat of the moment. I can't see how I would be able to let go and enter subspace. My Dom and I are both new to D/s, both new to each other and living together. We are going really slow with everything we do so any advice I could get would be helpful. So much of what I read is so vague and I would love to get a sense on what it takes to get there.
Ok, I don't want to cheapen it by being analytical and clinical... plus, I am only an amateur psychologist (a minor in college) ... but, I'll tell you how pain gets you there.
First, I think we can all agree that at least in the extreme BDSM cases, a scene can be traumatic. Sure, you mind might be ready for it, it might be wanting it, it might be enjoying it. But that doesn't mean your body doesn't react to it like the extreme beating it might be. And ... who knows whether or not there are underlying brain processes that ignore your conscious mind's acceptance of the situation and thinks of it as trauma as well. Especially if you have a history of some kind of trauma upon which to build.
When you undergo trauma, your body reacts a couple different ways (adrenaline for the energy to for "fight or flight", but also shock: gathering blood in your torso and reducing circulation to your limbs, to protect your blood supply for the vital organs and brain).
Your brain, on the other hand, goes through something else under extreme trauma. In extreme causes, you brain sort of shuts off, so that you don't have to deal with what you're going through. You "go to your happy place". In the most extreme causes, you go catatonic: complete shut down, the lights are on, but nobody is home. In less extreme cases, you go into a dissociative state. That means you're conscious and mobile, but you're not _fully_ aware of what's happening to you. It's like you're not really there. Some people develop a personality that is strong enough to deal with the trauma, which is the root of multiple personality disorder. Some people go into a conscious black-out state (awake and functional, but they don't remember anything about the events later). Child abuse (especially sexual abuse) victims often develop this dissociative disorder, which kicks in under that situation. The ones who go on to become porn stars (and a HUGE number of female porn stars come from a sexual abuse background) often have a dissociative disorder.
(and, it's possible that while it may take extreme trauma the first few times you go into a dissociative state, or maybe even just the very first time, after that you might go there more and more quickly with each traumatic event (even if it's not the same source of trauma; thus porn stars who go there VERY quickly, even when the event becomes more consensual as a career choice))
The way "sub space" has been described sounds very much, to me, like a mild dissociative state. Only, one that is enjoyed and encouraged by the people who are going through it, instead of being a debilitating disorder. I could easily be wrong that "sub space" is "a consensual/enjoyable dissociative state", but that's really what it sounds like to me.
But, again, for those of you who get there, and enjoy being there, don't let the clinical view ruin it for you. I think the descriptions so far are beautiful.
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