Dissociation and Symptoms

Dissociation, a symptom of mental health, renders one detached from their thoughts, feelings, and identity. This symptom, born from trauma, can stand alone or be part of a dissociative disorder like DID. Controversy and misunderstandings muddle the clinical images of dissociation, making therapy and other treatments more complicated.

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What Is Dissociation?

In matters of mental health, dissociation denotes a state wherein one feels detached from their own being. In a state of dissociation, one loses the capacity to discern their thoughts, emotions, deeds, recollections, or even their very self. The individual might possess no memory of the events that transpired amidst the dissociative state. Dissociation endures, be it brief or prolonged, contingent upon the person and their circumstances.

Trauma, be it physical, mental, or emotional, often sparks dissociation. Yet, dissociations, even mild ones, are a regular occurrence in life. One might encounter benign dissociative episodes in a typical week. Mild dissociations, though disconcerting, are usually innocuous.

Let's explore some situations or activities that are commonly associated with dissociation.

1. Child or adult Daydreaming
2. Experiencing a phenomenon known as highway hypnosis, where you feel disconnected from both yourself and your surroundings while driving.
3. Getting deeply absorbed in a book, film, or game.

Dissociation ain't always a problem. Dissociation, in truth, may offer a measure of security and solace as a coping mechanism. Intense strain from a car crash, a calamity of nature, or an act of maltreatment can prove excessively burdensome for an individual to endure, thus dissociation acts as a protective barrier against the predicament.

Types of Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders, a cluster of mental afflictions, are united by the shared manifestation of dissociation. These disorders arise from life's traumas, akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet dissociative disorders stand apart as their own group. Diagnosing and treating DDs is a challenge, for there exists a plethora of misinformation and confusion surrounding these diagnoses.

There are three types of dissociative disorders.

1. Dissociative Identity Disorder: A state of being wherein multiple personalities reside, with the individual transitioning between these identities.?When one shifts identities, they reveal alterations in their appearance, conduct, cognition, discourse, and recollection. They won't remember much, not even their own past.

2. Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder: A worry arises when one undergoes bouts of depersonalization and derealization.

Depersonalization happens when one feels separated from their own body, perceiving thoughts, emotions, and actions as if they belonged to another.?

Derealization happens when one feels disconnected from their surroundings, perceiving others, animals, and objects as unreal or distorted.

3. Dissociative Amnesia: A diagnosis bestowed upon an individual who lacks the capacity to recollect or retrieve intricate particulars of their existence, such as their place of residence, occupational pursuit, or even their own appellation (occasionally culminating in a dissociative fugue episode). They often forget stress-linked or traumatic information. Those afflicted may roam aimlessly, devoid of purpose or direction.

It's crucial to mention that these conditions must arise sans alcohol or any other substances. If one feels detached or dissociated on a hallucinogenic drug, it does not signify a dissociative disorder. Certain individuals employ drugs, such as ketamine, for their capacity to induce dissociative effects.

Dissociative disorders cannot arise from other mental health disorders. Yet, certain disorders yield symptoms that may intertwine with dissociative disorders.

Psychological conditions can mimic dissociative disorders.

1. PTSD
2. Acute Stress Disorder
3. Somatic Symptom Disorder
4. Schizophrenia
5. Panic Disorder
6. Major Depressive Disorder

Mental health pros abstain from diagnosing dissociative disorders when a physical ailment causes the symptom.

Dissociation may manifest as a symptom of certain physical ailments or conditions.

1. Epilepsy
2. Global Amnesia
3. TBI(Traumatic Brain Injury)
4. Brain Tumor
5. Neurological Conditions
6. Migraine
7. Extreme Sleep Deprivation

Symptoms

Dissociation, a solitary entity, manifests as a mental health symptom, yet its intricate nature begets manifold consequences. Dissociation symptoms revolve around the notion of a person's detachment from their own identity, past encounters, and current surroundings.

Symptoms include

1. Memory loss tied to time, circumstances, significant individuals, or personal details.
2. Emotional and feelings of disconnection.
3. Sensing the falseness, unreality, distortion, and oddity of those nearby.
4. Lacking a clear sense of self.
5. Mood shifts, swift and unforeseen.
6. Handling intense emotions is a challenge.
7. Lack of focus, the mind wanders.
8. Compelled to act with purpose.
9. Behaving or uttering in manners that appear to be inherently objectionable.

One person with dissociation may feel only a few symptoms, while another might observe all manifestations of the condition intermittently. Once more, dissociation spans from mild and harmless to severe and crippling. Severe dissociation hinders relationships, work, and life duties.

Causes

Causes and risks of dissociation differ among individuals, yet certain bonds exist, such as trauma, harrowing encounters, and capricious upbringings. Not all who endure such situations shall undergo dissociation, but many shall sense the disconnection and detachment from oneself.

Possible causes for disassociation:

1. Enduring abuse, be it sexual, physical, or emotional, over an extended period.
2. Perilous surroundings and capricious guardians.
3. War and social unrest and encounters with them.
4. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tsunamis, and blizzards - all natural disasters.
5. Kidnapping
6. Medical Procedures During Early Years

Long-term abuse, it appears, is closely tied to dissociation. When a child suffers at the hands of a parent, relative, or adult, be it through physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, dissociation may swiftly ensue. War, perilous living, and nature's wrath can also breed dissociation symptoms.

Experts say that kids in awful situations use dissociation to cope and survive. A young child, enduring ongoing abuse, may find solace in dissociation, a means to detach from the ordeal.

Certain individuals master the art of dissociation, performing it at their whim, while others stumble upon it unwittingly. When one seeks solace in dissociation, it becomes a familiar refuge in the face of stress, fear, or uncertainty.

Outcome

Dissociation burdens heavily. The symptom may expand, extend, and impact diverse facets of one's existence and welfare.

With the passage of time, dissociation may expose one to heightened vulnerability, leading to the emergence of fresh predicaments and related maladies such as:?

1. Alcohol abuse
2. Substance abuse
3. Anxiety
4. PTSD
5. BPD or NPD
6. Sleep Disorders
7. Eating Disorders
8. Sexual Dysfunction
9. Self Harm?
10. Suicidal Thoughts