This is how it feels to become disconnected from one’s body during a traumatic event. Many are familiar with the “fight or flight” response. There is also a “freezing” of the body that occurs when one feels death is imminent. Some believe this is a way to not experience pain during death. Survivors are then left to wonder why they did not fight when the body went to sleep and froze, against their will.

Please take the time to read this courageous and beautifully told story of one woman’s loss of and then reclaiming of her own body.

See a girl below you on a bed, her dress red just like yours, her yellow hair in a pixie cut, just like yours. You will notice ash on her sleeve. You will view all this from your balloon perch on the ceiling. Glance back at the girl, you’ll see a zombie: mouth agape, arms glued to her sides, body frozen in place, eyes focused on a distant world. The big boy with the dark hair is there, his hands ripping her zipper.

via The Alpha and Omega of The Out of Body Girl by Joyce Hayden — Dear Hope