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Ask Dr. Dombeck
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Psychotherapy and Mental Health Questions

Checking-Out

What is the condition/syndrome which causes an individual to "check out" mentally when some situation occurs? The example I tend to see most often relates to the medical field: A shy and self-conscious female patient undergoing some kind of significant physical or other procedure by a male doctor. She "checks out" when things start (or before), and doesn't "come back" until after things are completed. What happened, what was said, advice, questions, etc, cannot be remembered at all. She will walk out of the office (after dressing, etc), and have no clue what just transpired. I have a family member who suffers from this (not just in medical situations), and would like to give her a direction to look for help.

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Disclaimer

  • Dr. Dombeck responds to questions about psychotherapy and mental health problems, from the perspective of his training in clinical psychology.
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