Breakdown of automatization

In the normal experience of the self there is a global awareness subsuming the various features and having reference to context. The component experiences function in a balanced and interactive way and one is not aware of them individually. However, if attention is focused on features not normally receiving prominence there is an imbalance in relationships.

At the physical level, focusing on one part of a skilled task can disrupt the whole activity. What was normally an automatic process becomes stilted. This may arise under conditions of stress, for example during a championship match of some sport or during an emergency when driving a car.

The same approach may be applied to disruption of cognitive skills. Depersonalization, for example, is the sensation arising when normal integrated experience breaks down. There is a change in emphasis of attention due to a shift in hierarchical organization. Such a shift may occur intentionally, such as in contemplative exercise of meditation, or it may arise in response to stress. The hierarchical organization may be that which determines the individual's personality so that, when it breaks down, he will no longer recognize himself.

When the process of deautomatization or depersonalization is intentional, the aim is to dispel blindness and reveal a new perception, variously referred to as enlightenment or illumination.